What?!

Since my cells are still too few in number, I wasn't able to take a photograph today. That's been postponed until tomorrow, so I spent the entirety of the day at the desk teaching myself about promoters and primers, and plasmid DNA gene insertion, to name a few things. I came across the relevant exons and introns, which are so brilliantly described below.

Exon: Those portions of a genomic DNA sequence which WILL be represented in the final, mature mRNA. The term "exon" can also be used for the equivalent segments in the final RNA. Exons may include coding sequences, the 5' untranslated region or the 3' untranslated region.

Intron: Introns are portions of genomic DNA which ARE transcribed (and thus present in the primary transcript) but which are later spliced out. They thus are not present in the mature mRNA. Note that although the 3' flanking region is often transcribed, it is removed by endonucleolytic cleavage and not by splicing. It is not an intron.

So, in other words, the exon stays in the RNA, while the intron is removed, making the nomenclature completely counterintuitive. Who said all scientists were smart?

Tomorrow is the beginning of a new weekend. Depending on time and energy levels, I might go check out Taipei 101 tomorrow afternoon/evening. If not tomorrow, it is definitely on the agenda for Saturday or Sunday.