IJAM: the fact that I use "constitutive" in conversation

glennmagusharvey

In genetics, "constitutive" means that a specific mutation causes a gene to be always expressed.  Lots of genes depend on signaling pathways to work properly, and that means that you need one piece of DNA that another molecule (such as a protein) can bind to to activate/deactivate the DNA following that piece (which actually codes for something).  One example is that you have some chunk of whatnot protein that's stuck to an upstream signaling piece of DNA, and as long as that chunk is there, the enzyme that copies the following DNA code into RNA (which can then become protein and then become stuff that does stuff in and outside the cell) can't bind right, and the code isn't "expressed".  But if you throw in the proper signaling molecule, the chunk changes shape and lets the transcription enzyme start copying the DNA code.

Sometimes, the chunk of whatnot or the controlling piece of DNA is broken.  It might be broken in such a way that the transcription enzyme can copy the DNA code anytime.  This leads to it being "always on", and a mutation that causes this is constitutive mutation.

So I started using that term to describe other things, that just should ideally be signalled but are not, for whatever reason.  For example, I thought that the Groupees Build-a-Greenlight-Bundle said that they'd only give Steam keys for each game to people who upvoted that game on Steam Greenlight.

Except I can't figure out how they'd check whether the purchaser has upvoted the game (or even has a Steam account, heck).  So I would expect them to just provide the Steam keys anyway.  Thus, I think they're giving the Steam keys away constitutively.

Icalasari

I think that makes perfect sense