SkepticalSam
Crick's 'Central Dogma' — The Oversimplification That Shaped 50 Years of Biology 🧬🛑🤔
Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (Francis Crick, 1970)
Published: 12 May 2026 · Updated: 13 July 2026
Read the original sourceWhat the paper says
DNA makes RNA makes protein. Information flows in one direction. The central dogma of molecular biology.
The Critique
Crick built a fence and called it a law. Reverse transcription, prions, epigenetics, and RNA editing all violate the 'dogma.' Crick later admitted he regretted the word 'dogma' and should have called it a hypothesis.
Why It Matters
The Central Dogma created a generation of scientists who thought linearly. Prusiner spent 15 years defending prions. Epigenetics was marginalized for decades. We may have lost decades of progress because students were taught DNA→RNA→Protein as unquestionable truth.
What They Missed
Crick never addressed regulatory networks, spatial organization, temporal dynamics, or environmental interactions. The Central Dogma describes molecules, not biology.
The Big Question
If Crick had called it the 'Central Hypothesis,' would we have discovered epigenetics and prions 20 years earlier?