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DNA, Fifty Years To the Day

Posted by Hemos on from the changing-the-world dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Today being the fiftieth anniversary (April 2, 1953) of the Watson-Crick double-helical, DNA discovery [to quote, 'We wish to put forward a radically different structure...'], there is an interesting tally of completed gene sequences here, and ones still being worked, including the Ames strain of the anthrax bacteria. It also appears that the only lifeforms not using DNA for code storage are a few viruses like the common cold."

7 of 202 comments (clear)

  1. In Other News... by Ken@WearableTech · · Score: 2, Funny

    Also today a new base pair was found. In addition to TA,AT,GC,CG the EV pair was found.

    Scientists are calling this the EVIL PAIR. Finding this in DNA insures that the organism is PURE EVIL.

    1. Re:In Other News... by silhouette · · Score: 4, Funny

      Like so many other things, the Simpsons have been predicting this for years. And without duplicates, too.

      Lionel Hutz: Ladies and gentlemen, I'm going to prove to you not only that Freddy Quimby is guilty, but that he is also innocent of not being guilty. I refer you to my expert witness, Dr. Hibbert.

      Hibbert: Well, only one in two million people has what we call the "evil gene". (holds up a card showing DNA) Hitler had it, Walt Disney had it, and Freddy Quimby has it. (chuckles)

      Hutz: Thank you, Dr. Hibbert. I rest my case.

      Judge: You rest your case?

      Hutz: What? Oh no, I thought that was just a figure of speech. Case closed.

      --
      Experts agree: everything is fine.
  2. To celebrate... by japhar81 · · Score: 3, Funny

    The first 500 people to request one, will recieve their very own four-assed monkey.

  3. What I want to know is... by ahkbarr · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...will it be another fifty years before I can grow a custom pet?

    My real spider monkey can't wait that long to meet the world. Oooo AH AH AHHH!!!!

    Seriously, happy 50th, DNA!

    --
    Compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance. God, how I love it. - Gen. George Patton
  4. they should.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    have eliminated the troll-genes back then, before it became too late...

  5. Bake a Cake by Ken@WearableTech · · Score: 5, Funny

    In honor of the birthday I'm going to make a a cellular peptide cake with mint frosting ;-)

  6. Also in this month's Smithsonian Magazine by I-R-Baboon · · Score: 2, Funny

    This story was also covered in this month's Smithsonian magazine and was a decent read.

    Now if they could only create a DNA custom engineered beowulf cluster of atomic supermen...

    --
    -1 Overrated (Too many big words for me to comprehend)