On the history of human genetics

I have listened to multiple accounts by people that claim humans of antiquity may have had more than two strands of DNA. While this could explain how some were embodied with massive stature and/or strength, I am pretty sure that this is actually not how DNA works, however since I haven't the experience as an empirical chemist, I haven't a good way to prove this either and thus could, of course, be wrong.

That being said, I have been learning about this stuff for a while and still feel more qualified to discuss it than many other humans.

I believe some channelers (using the term broadly) could be mistaken not in the idea itself, but in their use of untrained language while attempting to describe its substance.

Here's what I mean:

Specifically, I have heard one account suggesting that ancient Lemurians (the supposed precursor civilization to the Atlantians) had 22-stranded DNA and one account suggesting that the Nephalim (referring to giant people and/or their relatives that may have existed sometime during the age of the Old Testament) had 3-stranded DNA. Both accounts can be found on YouTube. While perhaps not utterly and completely impossible, both of these theories are highly improbable based on what we know so far about the phylogeny of organisms worldwide.

Now we'll get a little bit more technical:

DNA, as it exists in the genomes of almost if not every single living (nonviral) cell on Earth, is a dimeric polymer, meaning that it is composed of two complimentary, long nucleotide chains that are held together due to the fairly strong interstrand (from one to another) noncolvalent Hydrogen bonds that form between nitrogenous bases. It can be difficult to picture, so Figure 1 is a schematic drawing translated into two dimensions:

Figure 1.  Parallel-stranded DNA. Genes can be encoded on both strands of the double helix. Strands are complimentary, meaning that each one is unique and attracts specifically to its partner. In DNA, Adenine pairs with Thymine and Guanine pairs with Cytosine. The G-C interaction holds two strands together more tightly because there is one more Hydrogen bond between the nitrogenous bases, thus organisms that must thrive in high-temperature environments like deep sea vents tend to have G/C-rich genomes that were naturally selected to keep their genetic material from unraveling.

... Just imagine the chains in Figure 1 spiraling around in their characteristic 'double helix' shape, with just over ten nucleotides (the polymeric units labeled in Figure 1, ending in -ine) constituting one complete 'link' (turn) per strand in a biological environment. Google Images would be a useful tool if you cannot visualize this.

Sequences roughly matching the code for protein machinery that handles RNA transcription from double-stranded DNA in modern humans, among other things, were recovered from ancient Pandoraviruses found preserved in a circa 30,000 year-old permafrost sample found in modern-day Siberia. Interestingly, these viruses were successfully revived and are about 4 times larger than relatively large viruses that thrive today. Two 'species' of Pandoravirus were found in the sample, both of them containing machinery designed to infect amoeba, but not humans. Their genomes are currently the largest viral genomes discovered, containing up to 2.5 million base-pairs (1,2). For reference, the human genome contains around 3 billion base pairs, which is more than one thousand times the [unwound] size of the Pandoravirus genome.

This could mean one of two things:

1. A widespread viral pandemic infected ancient humans with genetic machinery that no longer allowed them to handle many-stranded DNA (possible, but unlikely)

OR

2. Nonviral coding DNA has always (at least for the past 30,000 years) been double-stranded on Earth.

While my gut supports option number two, that wouldn't mean that the channelers are completely wrong. They would, however, probably benefit from taking a biochemistry class.

Humans today are diploid, meaning that they have two copies of all 23 human chromosomes (with the exception of the X and Y chromosomes in males), totaling 46. Many plants and animals are polyploid, meaning that they have more than two copies of each unique chromosome, which are themselves composed of condensed double-stranded DNA and protein. The most common polyploids have three or four copies of each chromosome, but many have more. Among polyploids, many are reportedly also hermaphroditic and/or native to temperate climates and higher elevation (3).

Here's the revised theory: At some point(s) in history, humans were polyploid.

It would make sense based on the science and what channelers have said, but that's all I have to go on at the moment. Unfortunately, DNA doesn't stick around long enough to be recovered from unfrozen lithospheric fossils, so proving this could be difficult (but not impossible).


References:

(1) Nadège Philippe, et al. “Pandoraviruses: amoeba viruses with genomes up to 2.5 Mb reaching that of parasitic eukaryotes”, Science, 341(6143), 281-286. (2013)
(2) Cory Camasta. "Life and a Half: Engineering a Better Future". Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282979913_Life_and_a_Half_Engineering_a_Better_Future. (2015)
(3) Richard Smith-Unna. Referenced forum post. Available from: http://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/935/why-is-polyploidy-lethal-for-some-organisms-while-for-others-is-not. (June 8th, 2012)