Another Successful Prediction of Intelligent Design: Cell Paper Reports Functions for Synonymous Codons

In the past we've noted papers finding function for synonymous codons (for example, see here and here) -- but the functions reported in those papers generally pertained to controlling translation speed. Now a paper in the journal Cell has found a new potential function, namely that synonymous codons can control the rate at which mRNA transcripts degrade and are broken down within cells:

Substitution of optimal codons with synonymous, non-optimal codons results in dramatic mRNA destabilization...