GMO, short for Genetically-Modified Organisms, is the general term for recombining DNA to produce novel results. One of the many scientific breakthroughs from GMO research was the creation of glow-in-the-dark tropical fish which have been brightening aquaria at Wal-Mart ever since.
GMO is one of the all-time favorite scientific topics for social network scientists (i.e. people who probably had trouble passing driver training). GMO will inevitably result in some type of nightmare even worse than Jurassic Park, they cry.
That's such a low-rent middle-class nightmare, tho. While it does seem scary in considering the idea of huge dinosaurs rampaging through your neighborhood and you probably don't like the idea of being eaten by a velociraptor, with or without gorgeous feathered plumage, this is such a nothing nightmare relative to the Big Genetic Kahuna.
(Ed: what is a Big Genetic Kahuna?)
No idea but if there is one then this is it.
All DNA is made up of combinations of four different nucleotides, abbreviated as A, G, C, T, which make up the helix of the DNA molecule. Everything you have read about GMO involves some method for juggling the A, G, C, T, content of a DNA molecule.
But that's not the Big Genetic Kahuna.
Noooo, the BGK is when you make a new and improved DNA. The existing structure of DNA has been discovered everywhere on Earth in every creature and evidence of organic precursors is seen on other planets so it appears reasonable to conclude the AGCT model for DNA is generic for an area much larger than the Earth alone and perhaps holds true for all carbon-based life forms.
(Ed: what makes it Big Genetic Kahuna DNA?)
That's when you stick more stuff into the molecule, when A, G, C, T are not enough and you want some more letters in there, say P and Z. Right away we see trouble as the scientists are not watching their P's and Q's or they would not have lost one already. Scientists need to accept the fact that simple substitution of another ten-point SCRABBLE letter is not sufficient rationale for this model.
Nevertheless, scientists in, of all places, Florida at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution have synthesized a stable version of DNA with the P and Z components acting like any of the four primary A, G, C, T components. In other words, this DNA replicates as easily as if it were the type invented by the Creative Design Steering Committee. All of God's chilluns are made of AGCT DNA but these wise guys in Florida have come up with better DNA with AGCTPZ. (Wired: Chemists Invent New Letters for Nature’s Genetic Alphabet)
In more other words, these guys won't just bring you Jurassic Park as those were the good Lord's creatures. With AGCTPZ, they can make creatures even the Lord couldn't make and that will make for a summer movie you just won't believe. Well, you won't have to believe it for long as you probably won't survive it anyway.
"When better creatures are needed, man will make them" - Motto and mission statement of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution
Coming tomorrow: discussion of the discovery of the ability to make proteins out of dark matter. The first Sith lord cannot be far away.
GMO is one of the all-time favorite scientific topics for social network scientists (i.e. people who probably had trouble passing driver training). GMO will inevitably result in some type of nightmare even worse than Jurassic Park, they cry.
That's such a low-rent middle-class nightmare, tho. While it does seem scary in considering the idea of huge dinosaurs rampaging through your neighborhood and you probably don't like the idea of being eaten by a velociraptor, with or without gorgeous feathered plumage, this is such a nothing nightmare relative to the Big Genetic Kahuna.
(Ed: what is a Big Genetic Kahuna?)
No idea but if there is one then this is it.
All DNA is made up of combinations of four different nucleotides, abbreviated as A, G, C, T, which make up the helix of the DNA molecule. Everything you have read about GMO involves some method for juggling the A, G, C, T, content of a DNA molecule.
But that's not the Big Genetic Kahuna.
Noooo, the BGK is when you make a new and improved DNA. The existing structure of DNA has been discovered everywhere on Earth in every creature and evidence of organic precursors is seen on other planets so it appears reasonable to conclude the AGCT model for DNA is generic for an area much larger than the Earth alone and perhaps holds true for all carbon-based life forms.
(Ed: what makes it Big Genetic Kahuna DNA?)
That's when you stick more stuff into the molecule, when A, G, C, T are not enough and you want some more letters in there, say P and Z. Right away we see trouble as the scientists are not watching their P's and Q's or they would not have lost one already. Scientists need to accept the fact that simple substitution of another ten-point SCRABBLE letter is not sufficient rationale for this model.
Nevertheless, scientists in, of all places, Florida at the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution have synthesized a stable version of DNA with the P and Z components acting like any of the four primary A, G, C, T components. In other words, this DNA replicates as easily as if it were the type invented by the Creative Design Steering Committee. All of God's chilluns are made of AGCT DNA but these wise guys in Florida have come up with better DNA with AGCTPZ. (Wired: Chemists Invent New Letters for Nature’s Genetic Alphabet)
In more other words, these guys won't just bring you Jurassic Park as those were the good Lord's creatures. With AGCTPZ, they can make creatures even the Lord couldn't make and that will make for a summer movie you just won't believe. Well, you won't have to believe it for long as you probably won't survive it anyway.
"When better creatures are needed, man will make them" - Motto and mission statement of the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution
Coming tomorrow: discussion of the discovery of the ability to make proteins out of dark matter. The first Sith lord cannot be far away.
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