New But Not New

 
Another major breakthrough in molecular biology has just been reported [Jefferson researchers discover new way nature turns genes on and off]. (I've lost track of how many times traditional molecular biology has been overturned in 2006—has anyone kept a list?)

Here's the startling news,

Peering deep within the cells of fruit flies, developmental biologists at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia may have discovered a new way that genes are turned on and off during development.

Reading a bit further, we find,

According to Dr. Mazo, the researchers found that one of the likely mechanisms behind ncRNAs' ability to regulate essential coding genes is through a "transcription interference" mechanism. "Such mechanisms are known in bacteria and yeast, but not much is known in higher organisms," he explains.

In other words, it's not new at all. I've been teaching transcriptional interference during bacteriophage lambda development since 1979 and it's in many textbooks, including mine (1994).

Question: What the heck is a "higher organism?"
Answer: It's a term we look for in order to identify people who don't understand evolution.