I can think of another problem with the idea that the "junk" DNA might hold a message. I see two possiblities.

Firstly it isn't "junk", we just don't know what purpose it serves. I suspect that might be the case.

Secondly it is junk and might contain a message BUT then it's going to be invisible to evolution. As there'd be no evolutionary pressure to conserve the meaning of a message unless it also coded for something useful there'd be no reason for corruptions in copying errors not to build up over the generations. Even though DNA copies itself very well, natural selection still weeds out lots of mutations. But natural selection wouldn't act on the message. So I think it would gradually dissolve into "noise". I don't know enough about the error rate in copying to say how long this would take...

Of course it could be an astoundingly clever message, doubling up as something useful and so conserved in the genome. But then how would you tell it was a message?

Intriguing idea though...

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> is anyone else thinking 42?

Well, close. I was thinking it might translate to, "We're sorry for the inconvenience."

"Junk" DNA isn't junk. Don't you chaps read the latest reports?

The reason why only 30% of human DNA performs any useful function is
that the rest of it is comments.
Once we decode a typical human genome, we see that the contents begin as
follows:

/* HUMAN_DNA.H
*
* Human Genome
* Version 2.1
*
* © God
*/
/* Revision history:
*
* 0000-00-01 00:00 1.0 Adam.
* 0000-00-02 10:00 1.1 Eve.
* 0000-00-03 02:11 1.2 Added penis code to male version. A bit messy --
* will require a rewrite later on to make it neater.
* 0017-03-12 03:14 1.3 Added extra sex drive to male.h; took code from
* elephant-dna.c
* 0145-10-03 16:33 1.4 Removed tail.
* 1115-00-31 17:20 1.5 Shortened forearms, expanded brain case.
* 2091-08-20 13:56 1.6 Opposable thumbs added to hand() routine.
* 2501-04-09 14:04 1.7 Minor cosmetic improvements-skin colour made
* darker to match my own image.
* 2909-07-12 02:21 1.8 Dentition inadequate; added extra 'wisdom' teeth.
* Must remember to make mouth bigger to compensate.
* 4501-12-31 14:18 1.9 Increase average height.
* 5533-02-12 17:09 2.0 Added gay option, triggered by high population
* density, to try and slow the overpopulation problem.
* 6004-11-04 16:11 2.1 Made forefinger narrower to fit hole in centre of
* CD.
*/
>
/* Standard definitions
*/
>
#define SEX male
#define HEIGHT 1.84
#define MASS 68
#define RACE caucasian
>
/* Include inherited traits from parent DNA files.
*
* Files must be pre-processed with MENDEL program to provide proper
* inheritance features.
*/
>
#include "mother.h"
#include "father.h"
>
#infndef FATHER
#warn("Father unknown-guessingn")
#include "bastard.h"
#endif
>
/* Set up sex-specific functions and variables
*/
#include [sex.h]
/* Kludged code-I'll re-design this lot and re-write it as a proper
* library sometime soon.
*/
struct genitals
{
#ifdef MALE
Penis *jt;
#endif
/* G_spot *g; Removed for debugging purposes */
#ifdef FEMALE
Vagina *p;
#endif
}
>
/* Initialization bootstrap routine-called before DNA duplication.
* Allocates buffers and sets up protein file pointers
*/
DNA *zygote_initialize(Sperm *, Ovum *);
/* MAIN INITIALIZATION CODE
*
* Returns structures containing pre-processed phenotypes for the organism
* to display at birth.
*
* Will be improved later to make output less ugly.
*/
Characteristic *lookup_phenotype(Identifier *i);
>
...and so on.

[ Note that God uses three-space tabs ]

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LOL! I'd better change my programming practices then. I only use two-space tabs. Wouldn't want to incur divine disfavour :-)

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