In Biology, what is the Central Dogma?

The central dogma (sometimes capitalized as Central Dogma) of molecular biology is that information in biological systems only flows in one direction: from DNA to RNA to proteins. The central dogma was first formulated by Francis Crick, one of the co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA, in 1958 and popularized in a Nature paper published in 1970. Since it was formulated, it has been found that the central dogma does not always hold (contrary to its name), and under some conditions, such as those involving viruses or special interventions in a laboratory, other types of information flow are possible. The term "central dogma" is just a phrase; it doesn't mean the idea is infallible or somehow associated with religious dogma. Crick later regretted using the word "dogma" to explain his idea, due to all the trouble it caused him. In biology, there are three typical types of information flow that occur in all living cells: DNA modifying itself, DNA to RNA, and RNA to proteins. DNA is ...  more