Periannan Senapathy
Encyclopedia
Periannan Senapathy is a molecular biologist and genome
researcher. He is president and scientific director of Genome Life Sciences, a Genome International company in Madison, Wisconsin
, which develops next-generation DNA sequencing
technologies.
in molecular biology. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the National Institutes of Health
in 1980.
Before becoming president of Genome Life Sciences, Senapathy worked for the National Institutes of Health
's Division of Computer Research and Technology in Bethesda, Maryland
, and the Biotechnology Center of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
, and has suggested the split-gene model, in which the most primitive unicellular eukaryotes a selective pressure existed to generate longer coding sequences and random sequences that were populated with in-frame nonsense codons, and intervened between short reading frames, started to be excised by an already existing spliceosome. This model proposes not only that the sequences excised contained random clusters of in-frame nonsense codons but also that the splice junction signal sequences and the branchpoint sequence originate from nonsense codons.
Senapathy claimed that the book was the result of 12 years research in molecular biology
.
Andrew Petto of University of Wisconsin reviewed Senapathy's book saying that even though Senapathy had written a book arguing for natural origins, that the first half of Senapathy's book read like a typical creationist treatise with arguments based on gaps in the fossil record and the mention of mutations to descredit evolutionary biology. However Petto also said: "If the read manages to survive the first 199 pages of anti-evolutionary diatribe, however, there are a couple of interesting ideas in this book". Petto further explained that Senapathy has some very interesting views about the origins of life, such as his interpretation of the primordial soup theory and that these ideas should be taken seriously by the reader.
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
researcher. He is president and scientific director of Genome Life Sciences, a Genome International company in Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
, which develops next-generation DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing includes several methods and technologies that are used for determining the order of the nucleotide bases—adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine—in a molecule of DNA....
technologies.
Biography
Senapathy has a Ph.D.Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in molecular biology. He conducted postdoctoral studies at the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
in 1980.
Before becoming president of Genome Life Sciences, Senapathy worked for the National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
's Division of Computer Research and Technology in Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, and the Biotechnology Center of the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Notable works
Senapathy has observed that the reading-frame lengths in a random nucleotide sequence follow an exponential distributionExponential distribution
In probability theory and statistics, the exponential distribution is a family of continuous probability distributions. It describes the time between events in a Poisson process, i.e...
, and has suggested the split-gene model, in which the most primitive unicellular eukaryotes a selective pressure existed to generate longer coding sequences and random sequences that were populated with in-frame nonsense codons, and intervened between short reading frames, started to be excised by an already existing spliceosome. This model proposes not only that the sequences excised contained random clusters of in-frame nonsense codons but also that the splice junction signal sequences and the branchpoint sequence originate from nonsense codons.
Independent Birth of Organisms
Senapathy published a book titled Independent Birth of Organisms in 1994, he claimed in the book that all organisms on earth had originated independently from a number of chemical ponds, thus rejecting common descentCommon descent
In evolutionary biology, a group of organisms share common descent if they have a common ancestor. There is strong quantitative support for the theory that all living organisms on Earth are descended from a common ancestor....
Senapathy claimed that the book was the result of 12 years research in molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
.
Andrew Petto of University of Wisconsin reviewed Senapathy's book saying that even though Senapathy had written a book arguing for natural origins, that the first half of Senapathy's book read like a typical creationist treatise with arguments based on gaps in the fossil record and the mention of mutations to descredit evolutionary biology. However Petto also said: "If the read manages to survive the first 199 pages of anti-evolutionary diatribe, however, there are a couple of interesting ideas in this book". Petto further explained that Senapathy has some very interesting views about the origins of life, such as his interpretation of the primordial soup theory and that these ideas should be taken seriously by the reader.