Ozzy Osbourne To Be Genetically Decoded

Dashiva Dan writes "DNA research lab Knome has announced that it is going to sequence Ozzy's entire genome. Ozzy, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, reality television star, and spokesman for World of Warcraft among many other things, has been selected so they can discover, among other things, how drugs are absorbed in the body. The amount of abuse Ozzy has put himself through and survived is a large part of why he was chosen."

Comments

The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

Eating the heads off Bats. It gives him superpowers .... Shwing!

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

Eating the heads off Bats. It gives him superpowers .... Shwing!

and rabies...

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, it has. He has been dead twice, and come back twice. That's more than Jesus.

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

Schwing!

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[fractoid]

I guess that's another valid response. I always preferred just shouting "You can't stop here! This is bat country!"

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[munozdj]

Don't let anybody from Texas hear you

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Renegade Iconoclast]

Actually, we have atheists in Texas too. In fact, they're bigger and better than your atheists.

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[alexo]

Actually, we have atheists in Texas too. In fact, they're bigger and better than your atheists.

Good one. Thanks.

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[cayenne8]

I dunno...I think Keith Richards has been rumored to have been dead for decades now.

As someone said before, no one has has the heart to tell the poor boy!!

(What can a poor boy do...'cept play for a rock and roll band...)

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[jameskojiro]

"For instance, why not pick an addicted scientist who has created great wonders."

My my, them sure sound like some sour grapes there Doctor Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture.

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

No scientist has ever partaken in the way that Ozzy did.

A scientist would take a little of one drug. They then might take a little more trying to find the "right dose."
(like my 3 drink limit)

A Rockstar takes a little of everything, then takes a lot of everything, then screws your girlfriend a month before proclaiming "bro's before Ho's"... I'm not bitter. :)

Seriously though, no scientist would still be productive had they put their body through the Abuse that Ozzy did. They should also look into decoding the Genome of Peter Steel.

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

What about Keith Richards if we're going to talk about drug absorption why not go all out?

Re:The secret to his DNA revealed

[Anonymous Coward]

Eating the heads off Bats. It gives him superpowers .... Shwing!

It's sicking... look this--http://www.scaffoldingcn.com,you can get something unexpected.

Survived?

[JorDan Clock]

I think this all really hinges on your definition of "survived."

Re:Survived?

[blair1q]

In this case it's, "made more money letting a few cameras wander around his family's life than in decades of laborious rock and roll."

Re:Survived?

[interkin3tic]

He's more coherent than a lot of younger meth or crack users out there.

Re:Survived?

[sg_oneill]

I think this all really hinges on your definition of "survived."

"Somehow isn't dead after snorting the entire cocaine output of a small south american nation."

Re:Survived?

[NewbieProgrammerMan]

I think Keith Richards qualifies for that; is he being decoded as well?

Re:Survived?

[JanneM]

"is he being decoded as well?"

He's already pickled; they can wait and do that at any time.

Re:Survived?

[BluBrick]

It's too late for Keith - he's already dead.
He actually died in 1992, but no-one had the heart to tell him.

Re:Survived?

[CAIMLAS]

Watch: after finding out that Ozzie's DNA has decayed to only slightly-worse-than-average they get permission to dig up his mom and dad and sequence their DNA. The result will be astounding: they'll be from out of this world.

The secret to human evolution, it will seem, may have been drug abuse.

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

The reason is the drug war. In the olden days, Illegal drugs were made by professional chemists in white coats who had pride in the quality of their product.
It also had the backing of big money from that are better unnamed sources and pure intermediate chemicals to work with.
Today, It's made using the simplest and usually worst methods, using filthy chemicals by thugs.

Re:Survived?

[MokuMokuRyoushi]

Depends on your definition of "coherent".

Re:Survived?

[AchilleTalon]

Well, am I alone to think they really picked the wrong subject? Shouldn't they have picked Sharon instead since she survived Ozzy?

Re:Survived?

[hitmark]

makes one wonder how it would have worked out, had it been sold next to alcohol.

Re:Survived?

[adamofgreyskull]

Shouldn't they have picked Sharon instead since she survived Ozzy?

Perhaps, but what insight into the human genome would that provide? Never forget.

Re:Survived?

[NoPantsJim]

To use the show Breaking Bad as an analogy, it's Walter White vs. Jesse Pinkman. Who would you want making your drugs?

Re:Survived?

[DesScorp]

The reason is the drug war. In the olden days, Illegal drugs were made by professional chemists in white coats who had pride in the quality of their product.
It also had the backing of big money from that are better unnamed sources and pure intermediate chemicals to work with.
Today, It's made using the simplest and usually worst methods, using filthy chemicals by thugs.

You have a very idealized version of drug use's "Good Ole' Days". There really weren't any. To begin with, the first Federal prohibition against drugs didn't come until 1914, when the Harrison Act was passed. And many of the drugs on the prohibited list aren't very common on the streets today.

Do you know when America had its biggest addiction problem, by far? If you said "the sixties" or "today", you'd be flat wrong. The high water mark for addiction in this country was between the Civil War and right before WWI. Between 2 and 5 percent of the population was addicted to drugs. And I mean really addicted. Do you know who helped cause this? Dirty street pushers? Columbian gangs? No.

Doctors.

That's right, our biggest addiction rates came from the men in "clean white coats".... but it was all legal. After morphine became widely available, doctors so overused opiates for even minor patient problems that addiction became common. You could literally go the hospital with a middling ailment and come home addicted to morphine.

  Do you know what the most common profile of the American drug addict was prior to WWI? The white, middle class housewife. The closest thing to a "drug pusher" was the snake oil salesman that offered a bottle of liquid for whatever ailed you. And that bottle was often up to 50 percent morphine-based, and was often cut with dangerous chemicals. So much for pride in quality of the product.

There are legitimate criticisms of the drug war, many of them. But don't pretend that before the "drug war" that we didn't have a huge problem. The biggest aid in bringing down both the addiction rate, and cleaning up the quality of drugs? A government law. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which prohibited the consumption of opiates without a prescription.

Re:Survived?

[fractoid]

I read a short story recently that described a guy from 2100ish re-engineering his liver to produce heroin and then going back in time with the intent of investing the drug money and becoming rich. When he arrived back in present-day America it was this utopia and the only difference was that all drugs were legalised (and hence there were no drug gangs, no cartels, far fewer deaths due to questionable-quality black market drugs etc.) I've googled for it to no avail, can anyone name the story?

Re:Survived?

[Brett Buck]

The mans the picture of health, both mental and physical.

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Keith Richards qualifies for that;

Keef Richards is fucking immortal
(...decapitation by sword excepted)

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

Your wiki searches are correct, but if you were into the drug scene in the late 60's and 70's you would know that drugs, like LSD, amphetamines, downers, Quaalude's and other pharma were at a apex of quality and quantity. This was a result of available precursor chemicals. After the feds shutdown the Ethel ether trade, cocaine use in the 80's hit the skids with the use of petroleum ether and it's diesel smell.

Re:Survived?

[JockTroll]

Don't diss off impurities so fast, buddy. Those impurities enabled doctor Jekyll to keep turning back into his original self. When he had access to the "pure" chemicals, he lost the ability to avoid being locked into the Hyde personality.

Re:Survived?

[Xest]

If the amount of alcohol abuse that goes on in the UK is anything to go by then I suspect there'd be a lot more Ozzy Osbournes roaming the streets.

I know it's popular amongst some to suggest that because the war on drugs hasn't worked, the answer is the absolute opposite i.e. that legalisation of drugs would solve the problem, but I suspect that the real answer is that whatever you do drugs will be a problem, the difficulty is finding the balance which lessens the problem the most. Again, if alcohol or cigarettes are anything to go by then the answer is certainly not legalisation.

The ban on smoking in public in the UK has done absolute wonders for reducing the problem, so clearly some level of enforcement can work in reducing the problem. If I had to guess then, I'd say light enforcement is probably the best option, as certainly strong enforcement and legalisation haven't worked too well.

Re:Survived?

[damienl451]

That's right, our biggest addiction rates came from the men in "clean white coats".... but it was all legal.

[...]

The biggest aid in bringing down both the addiction rate, and cleaning up the quality of drugs? A government law. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which prohibited the consumption of opiates without a prescription.

Presumably, obtaining a prescription would not have been very hard if, as you argue, doctors were so keen on giving morphine to their patients. I think your post is quite self-contradictory. If the large addiction rates came from men in clean white coats, then the Food and Drug Act would not have made any difference. Might it not be like OHSA, i.e. the law came into force as other factors were influencing drug use/workplace safety and did not directly cause any change? Could it not indicate that, by 1906, people, including the government, had realized the risks associated with the use of morphine and were becoming less willing to use it? This would make a lot of sense since the Act was only passed *after* journalists wrote scathing articles about the patent medicine industry. Another element that bears this out is that Coca Cola stopped including cocaine in its beverage in 1903.

Furthermore, the Act did not even prohibit the consumption of opiates without a prescription. Rather, it imposed mandatory labeling requirements for drugs and food containing alcohol, opiates, etc. Most of the rules laid out in the Act are common sense rules that are simply meant to prevent fraud and ensure that individuals can give informed consent before taking a drug. Seems a lot better than assuming that people can't make the right decision when they are presented with all the facts. My point of view is that drug abuse and alcoholism were rampant in the 19th and early 20th century because standards of living were much lower, many diseases that are now considered minor inconveniences could kill you, and, for many people, life was overall much less enjoyable than it is now. Given these constraints, it is understandable that these people would have different time preferences than we do and favor present enjoyment (i.e. getting high, smoking, etc.) over future benefits.

Re:Survived?

[Dexy]

How can you have a level of enforcement on something that's already illegal? Banning smoking in public places worked, because it was previously legal to smoke in public places. It's never been legal to shoot up in a supermarket.

Re:Survived?

[fuzzix]

To use the show Breaking Bad as an analogy, it's Walter White vs. Jesse Pinkman. Who would you want making your drugs?

Jesse's shit is good now, he learned well from Walter.

That said, I'm probably not going to be buying a lot of crystal unless things really go downhill

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I was there. And drugs were produced in clean labs everywere, but mostly south of the border. All the precursors were pharmaceutical quality. To drag the 20's-50's drug scene into the 60's-80 drug scene is not knowledgeable.

Re:Survived?

[Gordonjcp]

It's also illegal to stumble about drunk - "Drunk and Incapable" - but the law isn't enforced. It should be. As recently as ten years ago the police would hoover up the seriously drunk and cart them off for an overnight stay in a drying-out centre. Quite often, they'd be fined enough money to keep them off the drink for a week or two. Now what happens is that people (increasingly, young women) get taken to A&E where they are given fluids and a bed for the night. They don't even end up with a hangover, far less any more serious consequences.

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

Between 2 and 5 percent of the population was addicted to drugs. And I mean really addicted.

Yet it all pales in comparison to how many people were and still are addicted to cigarettes. And I mean really addicted.

Re:Survived?

[SargentDU]

Where do you live that people aren't arrested for drunk and incapable? We have many arrested for DUI and public intoxication here. What you describe sounds like some fantasy land.

Re:Survived?

[Muros]

know it's popular amongst some to suggest that because the war on drugs hasn't worked, the answer is the absolute opposite i.e. that legalisation of drugs would solve the problem

I prefer to think that instead of just burying our heads in the sand and outlawing everything, we should instead encourage research into safer drugs. People will never stop using drugs.

Re:Survived?

[sgt scrub]

Don't just hate on the opium. I'm pretty sure Cocaine, being a border drug, was more popular. However, the majority of the distribution was by embedding it in popular products like drinks and salves purchased off the shelf. Mandatory labeling is responsible for killing them.

Re:Survived?

[Xest]

In the UK we have different classes of drugs, and whilst they're all illegal, enforcement of handling is different.

For some enforcement regime for example, you could choose to allow people to have personal possesion of a small amount, but punish carrying large amounts, or using it in public with a caution or similar. Dealing it however may be treated as punishable by a jail term.

In all cases it's illegal, but the enforcement of that illegality depends on what you're doing with it.

It's probably worth noting that in the Netherlands for example, contrary to popular belief, Cannabis is still illegal. Their national policy however is simply that whilst illegal, it's also tolerated, in that there will be no punishment.

Something being illegal doesn't make the punishment binary, if you kill someone it's illegal either way, but punishment- i.e. enforcement of breaking that law depends entirely on how you killed them. If you went out, kidnapped them, tortured, and maimed them, and planned it all, then the law is going to come down a hell of a lot harder on you than if someone jumped out in front your car and got killed and you could do nothing to avoid them.

Besides, I think you'll find it actually is legal to shoot up in a supermarket, if it's a prescription drug, and that illustrates the point perfectly- not all ownership or use of drugs is equal.

Further examples include speeding, whilst it's against the law, if you have good reason- i.e. someone was trying to kill you, then by law, you can actually avoid punishment. Punishment for grievous bodily harm can be avoided if you were defending yourself from an aggressor, and treepass laws cannot be enforced if the tresspass was not intentional- i.e. your car blew a tyre and you veered off into the road.

So that's what's meant by different levels of enforcement, the idea that not all circumstances for some law being broken are equal.

Re:Survived?

[Keebler71]

What? No Kennedy's are available for this?! Thank you very much! I'll be here all week!

Re:Survived?

[xaxa]

Where do you live that people aren't arrested for drunk and incapable? We have many arrested for DUI and public intoxication here. What you describe sounds like some fantasy land.

I think he's describing the UK. Drunk and incapable is unlikely to get you arrested unless you're causing trouble. See e.g. these articles, perhaps this one.

Driving while intoxicated is quite different, and you're certain to be arrested and charged if caught. The penalty is reasonably harsh, and it's socially unacceptable too -- being drunk in public isn't (unless you're causing trouble). (See here).

Re:Survived?

[Muad'Dave]

Laudanum. Wow. Available everywhere, widely consumed, pushed onto children.

Re:Survived?

[daem0n1x]

In this case it's, "made more money letting a few cameras wander around his family's life than in decades of laborious rock and roll."

It's not like the decades of Rock n' Roll didn't give him money. He just can't remember where he left it. He probably can't remember those decades, either.

Re:Survived?

[daem0n1x]

Legalise marijuana. It's better if people get high on natural products they can grow in their own homes. And it would bankrupt most of the drug cartels overnight. And marijuana is pretty harmless, even compared with legal drugs like tobacco and alcohol.

Re:Survived?

[sorak]

I have to admit, I was wandering how many men in clean white coats were producing drugs in the seventies, but people from the 1900s had the exact same problems we do today. Drugs were largely deregulated, and people had no problem buying "medicine" from snake oil salesmen. By legalizing this, it will fall under the control of the FDA, and we will come a little closer to seeing his "men in white coats".

Re:Survived?

[Xest]

Is it even possible to recreate some of the mind altering effects without creating addiction or having a negative effect on the mind though?

Would it be possible to prevent people who'd taken such "safe" drugs going out driving whilst high on them and killing someone in a car crash for example?

I agree it's a sensible option, but is it feasible?

Re:Survived?

[pigeon768]

The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which prohibited the consumption of opiates without a prescription.

[...]

I think your post is quite self-contradictory.

[...]

Furthermore, the Act did not even prohibit the consumption of opiates without a prescription.

As the wise man once said, "I think your post is quite self-contradictory."

Re:Survived?

[Muros]

I'm sure there could be ways of making drugs with fewer negative health impacts. Your point about people doing stupid things when on drugs is taken though.

Re:Survived?

[butterflysrage]

Is it even possible to recreate some of the mind altering effects without creating addiction or having a negative effect on the mind though?

Tantra will do it... not only is it not bad for you, the cardio can do you a world of good.

Re:Survived?

[Creepy]

That may be true for meth since manufacture is terribly toxic and generally noticeable, but something like LSD could easily be manufactured in a lab for all we know. And if you go to plant based drugs, they are much more potent and often grown by professionals growers. Some strains of opiates are so powerful that shooting them will kill you (so heroin users snort them), cocaine was purified years ago, and pot is significantly more potent now than ever.

I've known a lot of users over the years and am very glad I stayed away, especially while as a touring musician, where just about everything was available. My touring band was probably my best band, too, but it cost me two long friendships due to drugs, sex, and the band self destructed due to that and too much ego and not enough compromise. Kinda par for the course in the music industry amongst has-been bands that failed to make it.

Re:Survived?

[bill_mcgonigle]

What? No Kennedy's are available for this?!

You don't want the DNA of people who go to sex parties with their sister.

Re:Survived?

[comingstorm]

IIRC the author was Charles Stross, and the story was "Yellow Snow".

Re:Survived?

[crafty.munchkin]

And it would bankrupt most of the drug cartels overnight.

How exactly would legalising marijuana affect the cocaine, amphetamine and heroin cartels?

Re:Survived?

[Anonymous Coward]

Interesting. What do you make of America's addition to Prozac, Valium etc. then?

It seems to me these drugs can have a far more devastating impact on people than some of the currently illegal ones. And the legal ones are being pushed by doctors as well.

Perhaps I should reconsider those drugs that are recommended by my local pusher off the street...

Re:Survived?

[fractoid]

That's the one!

Re:Survived?

[daem0n1x]

I saw a documentary the other day about the Mexican drug cartels and the huge problems they cause. Cities like Ciudad Juarez have the same bodycount as a war zone.

The doc said most of this is because of marijuana money. I was amazed, but if you think of it, it's simple: The sheer numbers of people smoking marijuana are very high compared to other drugs, making it a huge and highly profitable market. Also, marijuana is not hard to manufacture, comparing with say, cocaine, which allows for great margins.

Most of the people that smoke a few joints are just normal people that will never touch any other drug. We're talking about many many millions of otherwise law abiding, tax-paying people. Those who use the other drugs you mentioned are junkies, and that's just a small segment of the population. And the junkies smoke joints, too :-)

Do they have any of his old DNA

[blair1q]

Do they have any of Ozzy's old DNA?

i'd love to see a before-and-after diff...

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

At worst they can probably check his kid's dna to get a rough idea.

Also, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think(?) that anything other than radiation can break down dna.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[biryokumaru]

Retroviruses would work. Or, you know, normal viruses, but those are less science fictiony sounding, and usually don't get 100% coverage.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    I was thinking something similar. With everything he's done, there's a possibility his DNA is tainted beyond recognition. Before and after comparisons would be great.

    Don't do drugs kids, it'll melt your DNA. Don't be like Ozzy. :)

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[hedwards]

All sorts of things can, from free radicals, to cell duplication to sun exposure. But in this case they aren't interested in that so much as what about his DNA might have contributed to him surviving that much abuse.

It's hard to say, but he could always just happen to represent the long tail of the distribution.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[interkin3tic]

Also, I'm not entirely sure, but I don't think(?) that anything other than radiation can break down dna.

Epigenetics are proving to be far more influenced by our environment than we thought. Here's one article that suggests BPA affects the epigenetics of mice.

As far as DNA goes, it's actually pretty easy to break down or otherwise make inoperable. Ionizing radiation does do it quickly, but normal cellular processes even damage it. Thousands of chemicals and proteins are mutagenic. Fortunately, your cells, skin, and clothing help protect the DNA, and there's a lot of active repair. Still, it seems that many (almost all?) cancers are caused initially damage to the DNA.

Many drugs probably have mutagenic properties and could damage your DNA. Having said that, it wouldn't make -specific changes- to the DNA in your -whole body- and thus would not fundamentally alter your DNA sequence. Maybe cocaine would cause breaks in your DNA at random places. There's a lot of DNA, the chances that it would break your DNA at a specific point in every single cell in your body... it's virtually impossible.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[ZirconCode]

No, a Common mutagen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutagen) are Alkaloid plants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid) which include Cocaine. I'm sure there are more but that's what I was able to figure out after a quick google.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[jamesh]

Retroviruses would work

Retroviruses are so last-century.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    With the bit I know about street drugs, and the amount he has done over the years, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if some was tainted with some sort of radioactive material. I'm afraid to know many radiation tainted drugs came out of Eastern Europe around 1986/1987.

    I knew someone who OD'd (and survived). I knew what drugs she thought she had been taking. I also had the opportunity to read her toxicology report. Thank goodness it wasn't a postmortem report, and she gave it to me to read. The report almost read like a complete list on every street drug and several pharmaceuticals. Everything *EXCEPT* for the ones she had taken. For some reason, I pictured a drug manufacturer sweeping the floor, taking everything that was the right color, and pressing it into the pills she had taken.

    The report didn't have anything else on it, so I'm guessing they didn't test for heavy metals or anything of that sort. If they had, I wouldn't have been all that surprised to see mercury and lead in the list.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought DNA doesn't change? Guess I was wrong ...

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

There's a lot of DNA

That's ok, he took a lot of drugs to compensate.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[peragrin]

Retroviruses would work

Retroviruses are so last-century.

That's right This century it is nano self modifying viruses

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[gringofrijolero]

Do they have any of Ozzy's old DNA?

If they didn't cremate him..

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[vxice]

More importantly cells also know when they are damaged beyond repair and destroy themselves. Cancerous cells loose this ability and also replicate out of control. Without both of those conditions the cancer is mostly harmless.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[wisty]

So that's where he gained his mutant powers?

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[oztiks]

diff -q ozzy-dna.01-01-1980.c ozzy-dna.01-01-2010.c

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Cryacin]

Thank goodness it wasn't a postmortem report, and she gave it to me to read.

Yes. Thank goodness. Or else... ZOMBIE!!!

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Kaeso]

The report didn't have anything else on it, so I'm guessing they didn't test for heavy metals or anything of that sort. If they had, I wouldn't have been all that surprised to see mercury and lead in the list.

As for Ozzy, he at least ought to test positive for heavy metal...

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    hehe. Ya, but as far as I know, that kind of metal isn't poisonousness. Well, unless you talk to some religious nutjobs, but they'll tell you sex and drugs are bad too, and we all know that isn't true. :)

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

Old being the operative word. It's a shame someone has to work that late into his life. You'd think he'd be sitting in the dungeon of a nice dank castle somewhere by now, puttering away at some bat breeding hobby.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[mibe]

Even assuming some sort of massive DNA damage, if he's alive and doesn't have cancer then he has (apparently) recovered just fine. This means that (a) his cells are overwhelmingly about the same as they were when he was born - the fidelity of one's genome is kind of a top priority for the body, after all - and more interestingly (b) his cells are extraordinarily resistant to DNA damage, likely through highly efficient repair mechanisms. That's the kind of thing they want to find out about, although it probably won't end up being DNA repair genes that are most interesting in Mr. Osbourne, but rather something more related with drug processing.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

Just can't see hot street drugs; radio-laced material is too valuable on its own market. I suppose those Chernobyl poppies maybe, or maybe organics around Krasnoyarsk.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[dmomo]

I don't think the point here is to see what drugs do to your DNA (if anything). It's to see "just what is it about this Rockers DNA that allows him to still be alive"?

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Weaselmancer]

Segmentation Fault (core dumped)

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    That's pretty much what I was thinking. Nothing intentionally radioactive, just accidentally done (i.e., Chernobyl). I'd stretch the suspicion from growing areas to things that may have been out and exposed. You know perfectly well, if illegal stuff was exposed, the dealers will still sell it. There's no money in drugs that are thrown away.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[fractoid]

Yeah but they're totally back in fashion dude!

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

If not, I'm throwing away all my C... erh, deleting all my MP3s!

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Hognoxious]

It's a shame someone has to work that late into his life.

Work?

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[vandelais]

Do they have any of Ozzy's old DNA?

actgactacgactg

i-i-i

acggactatacccagg

i-i-i

caccttgaggca

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Phat_Tony]

Actually, a human adult generally experiences about 10,000 oxidative lesions to their DNA per cell per day* due to free radicals randomly interacting chemically with our DNA . So using the estimate of 50 trillion cells in the human body, with no particular radiation exposure, we're talking about 500 quadrillion "breakdowns" in a typical person's DNA each day.

So eat your anti-oxidants.

*Ames, B. N., Shigenaga, M. K. and Hagen, T. M. (1993) Oxidants, Antioxidants, and the Degenerative Diseases of Aging. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90, 7915-7922

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Joey Vegetables]

"Religious nutjob" here. And in my opinion, which is strongly influenced by biblical, historical Christianity as well as libertarian and anarcho-capitalist theory and also being a semi-trained musician:

• Sex within marriage is fine. I don't recommend it outside marriage for many reasons, but, as long as no one is getting hurt, it's none of my business and I won't try to hassle anyone about it.
• Drugs are fine as long as no one is getting hurt. Most if not all naturally-occurring drugs have legitimate uses. I don't recommend abusing any of them, but again, as long as no one is getting hurt, it's none of my business and I won't try to hassle anyone about it.
• Rock and roll, metal, and most other forms of music are fine with me. As a musician, though I write and perform mostly in the neo-Baroque style, almost all of the others influence it to at least some extent. However . . . and this is really important . . . .
• Rap and hip hop is of the devil!!!!!!!

(Disclaimer: I don't really believe any musical genre is inherently evil. But I really do wish there were less violence and misogyny in a lot of the lyrics of rap, hip hop, and similar genres. Yes, I know, they're trying to accurately depict the experience of the urban jungle. I get it. I live in one. I still don't understand why so many people think it necessary to refer to all women as "bitches" and "hos" and to say they're going to "187" all the cops.)

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Dashiva Dan]

Danmit. Quit being rational and making sense. it's ruining your image.
Please repost with something we can ridicule. Your post has no material for that.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    I think your opinion of your self being a "religions nutjob" may be a bit off. Being religious and being a nutjob are not inherently inclusive. Folks all have their opinions and beliefs, and why there may be some I disagree with, you don't seem to be the type to beat me in the head with your bible to save my soul. :)

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

+1 didn't get the joke

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Joey Vegetables]

Thank you for acknowledging that "religious" and "nutjob" are not identical sets. :) But even I would have to admit that there is more overlap between the two than what would be ideal.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

You know, I really like venn diagrams. :)

    This one should explain it for everyone else.

    I'd watch out for the folks where all three circles overlap. They're dangerous.

    Some people will still say I belong slightly more towards the red circle though. So far I've stayed away from sociopathic tendencies, which is probably why I haven't formed my own world dominating cult yet. :) Not too many of those have gone all that well though, and I'd rather not die in a government induced fire in a place called Wacko.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[jgrahn]

No, a Common mutagen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutagen) are Alkaloid plants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkaloid) which include Cocaine. I'm sure there are more but that's what I was able to figure out after a quick google.

You make that sound as if alkaloids are generally mutagens. I really doubt that is true, and you have provided no information to support that idea -- the impressive links nonwithstanding.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[jgrahn]

With the bit I know about street drugs, and the amount he has done over the years, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if some was tainted with some sort of radioactive material. I'm afraid to know many radiation tainted drugs came out of Eastern Europe around 1986/1987.

Sorry, but that just screams "urban legend". Did they even *have* drug labs there before the 1990s? And if they had, where would the drug manufactures get hold of radioactives? And why?

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[JWSmythe]

    HAHAHAHAHAHAA

    Nope, drug labs were created in 1990. There were no illegal drugs before that. Well, except:

• Opium
• Morphine
• Heroin
• Cocaine
• Crack cocaine (popularized in the 1980's)
• Marijuana (sorting and processing counts as a lab),
• Methamphetamine (invented 1893, popularized in the 1960's)
• Crystal methamphetamine (invented 1919)
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA/Adam/Ecstasy/X) (invented 1912, popularized in the 1970's and 1980's),
• and we can't forget the all time favorite Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) (invented 1938, popularized in the 1960's)

    Sorry, it's not an all inclusive list, it's just a sampling of .... well .... popular non-pharmaceutical drugs. Some were pharmaceuticals, but most that you'll find on the street aren't commercially produced.

  You can find more information at Erowid and Lycaeum

    The Chernobyl accident happened April 25th, 1986. Since I'm guessing you weren't alive yet, or old enough to remember, there was a bit of a pesky problem of nuclear fallout that spread quite a bit.

    Drugs a bit tainted by radioactive fallout could still be sold for a profit. Who are you going to complain to. It's just like if you buy an 8 ball of coke, but it turns out to be baby powder. It's not like you can just call the cops and say "I paid for coke, but he gave me baby powder!" Drugs destroyed because they may be radioactive are lost money. Drug manufacturers and dealers are just like any big business. They want to make a profit. They aren't going to throw away perfectly good product, if they can sell it.

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

Whooooooooooooooooooooosh!

Did you see it coming and duck, or were you bending over for some reason and didn't even notice the thing go flying over your head?

Re:Do they have any of his old DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

    If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it must be an AC troll.

The CEO of Knome...

[The Grim Reefer2]

Must really hate bats.

Suprising Results

[Pazy]

This makes sense, people are always wanting proof that aliens are among us.

Re:Suprising Results

[Hognoxious]

Maybe one day we'll find some that are intelligent.

Ozzy?

[Anonymous Coward]

I would peg Ozzy as a baptist angel compared to the substance abuse by Keith Richards....
If I could get a blood transfusion, I would opt for Keith's.

Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[Anonymous Coward]

Congratulations to Knome on a PR scheme that's getting them mainstream advertising for almost no money. I haven't seen this much bogosity from actual scientists since they shot John Glenn into space to "learn about the effects on space on old people".

I'm sure they'll find the drug abuse resistance gene in no time. (Which seems like a really priority scientific endeavor.)

Will their next genetic decoding involve LiLo? TMZ wants to know.

If you play it backwards

[Anonymous Coward]

then implant it into an organism, you get a clone of Satan.

Now that I think about it, I remember some fanatics saying that the antichrist will be born in a test tube.

Re:If you play it backwards

[Anonymous Coward]

I was.

Better idea

[lyinhart]

Should've chosen Keith Richards. Man's practically indestructible. If we could reverse engineer him, we'd have a genetically perfect superarmy.

Re:Better idea

[jamesh]

Should've chosen Keith Richards. Man's practically indestructible. If we could reverse engineer him, we'd have a genetically perfect superarmy.

An army that's only useful for an attack on the playboy mansion or a large alcohol factory.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Or perhaps they should exhume Hunter S. Thompson or WIlliam S. Burroughs ?
(although I believe both of them may have been cremated)
Rockers like Ozzy are substance-abuse lightweights compared to some of the more self-destructive writers.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

An army that's only useful for an attack on the playboy mansion or a large alcohol factory.

That'd be a hell of lot more entertaining than most of what's on TV.

Re:Better idea

[GaryOlson]

An army that's only useful for an attack on the playboy mansion or a large alcohol factory.

Depriving the opposing forces of necessary supplies is an effective tactic.

Re:Better idea

[nastro]

They tried. After eating the brain of the third geneticist, they gave up.

Re:Better idea

[royallthefourth]

Just think! They could use up the entire Afghan opium supply. It would keep farmers in business while keeping down the black market!

Re:Better idea

[H0p313ss]

Should've chosen Keith Richards. Man's practically indestructible. If we could reverse engineer him, we'd have a genetically perfect superarmy.

An army that's only useful for an attack on the playboy mansion or a large alcohol factory.

You make that sound like a bad thing.

Re:Better idea

[bizitch]

... and all the awesome music they would generate ;)

Re:Better idea

[endymion.nz]

Hunter Thompson had his ashes shot out of a cannon.

Re:Better idea

[SendBot]

Don't underestimate the man! Check out this vid of him rocking on stage, anticipating some dude running up on him in time to start properly beating him with his guitar, and resume rocking out like it was no thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyK0y02HvVc

Re:Better idea

[Sulphur]

The fire would not go out.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

I second this. Keith Richards cannot be killed by conventional weapons.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

Iggy Pop, anyone?

He can also hold coherent sentences, despite the years of self-abuse.

Re:Better idea

[Anonymous Coward]

It would be one happened to be a teetotal person of the joyous persuasion. Just sayin'

Re:Better idea

[SharpFang]

But that army would be unstoppable, and if the enemy ran out of alcohol factories and playboy mansions, we'd be in deep trouble.

Re:Better idea

[Drakkenmensch]

You'll need access to his philactery first. Historically, most liches protect those with dungeons crawling with undead abominations and murderous curses.

Re:Better idea

[Ceriel Nosforit]

Reminds me,
http://i48.tinypic.com/e81o2x.png
Dunno if this precious cargo is coming or going, but those padlocks sure look heavy duty.

Re:Better idea

[sorak]

Should've chosen Keith Richards. Man's practically indestructible. If we could reverse engineer him, we'd have a genetically perfect superarmy.

An army that's only useful for an attack on the playboy mansion or a large alcohol factory.

Now that Afghanistan has all these resources, what do you think they're going to build?

Re:Better idea

[splatter]

Or David Crosby. That man did so much Blow, Heroin and liquer back in the 60's it's amazing he's still alive. Of course he has a new kidney and has been clean for a while so maybe he would be a good after profile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Crosby#Medical_issues

Is some lifestyle survival stuff epigenetic?

[Anonymous Coward]

It would be interesting to see what is turned on or silenced in the epigenetic states (methylation, etc.) to see exactly how Ozzy's runtime has responded to his lifestyle choices.

Do these genome samples cover any of that stuff?

Spokesman for WoW?

[Anonymous Coward]

He didn't really speak in that commercial unless you count mumbling.

Re:Spokesman for WoW?

[osu-neko]

He didn't really speak in that commercial unless you count mumbling.

After visiting some murlocs off the coast of Borean Tundra and learning their language, I find Ozzy quite easy to comprehend.

Chuck Norris?

[AffidavitDonda]

What about Chucks genome? he is indestructible and, after all, he invented genetics, didn't he? But maybe his genome would be too complicated for research...

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Kitkoan]

What about Chucks genome? he is indestructible

You don't pull apart Chuck Norris's genome, Chuck Norris's genome pulls you apart

Re:Chuck Norris?

[AffidavitDonda]

and you have obviously more in common with him than you would like to admit (while your statement admits exactly that...) Anonymous Coward...

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Anonymous Coward]

In Soviet Russia, Chuck Norris still drive car.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[X0563511]

... you unfunny newfag...

Does this look like 4chan to you? Get the fuck out of here.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[GaryOlson]

You don't take samples of Chuck's genome, Chuck's genome takes samples of you.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[H0p313ss]

What about Chucks genome? he is indestructible and, after all, he invented genetics, didn't he? But maybe his genome would be too complicated for research...

They already sequenced Chuck, but they only get as far as R O U N D H O U S E . K I C K before the machine breaks.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Canosoup]

I think a problem with this would be trying to get a needle to pierce Chuck's steel biceps.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Sulphur]

They can't get past the Chuck sum.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[the grace of R'hllor]

Chuck Norris' DNA will take researchers apart before giving up its secrets.

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Sulphur]

What about the Dear Leader's genome? he is indestructible and, after all, he invented genetics, didn't he? But maybe his genome would be too complicated for research...

Re:Chuck Norris?

[Joe Tie.]

They tried, but Chuck Norris proceeded to lecture them about the evils of genetics and that they needed to accept god and creation science.

you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[circletimessquare]

bouymen didi surviveorSURVIVEDidunno WHAT yourtryinto saybout me MAN survival im striving surviving man i dunnowhatyer talking someone wheres my drin i said ineed mydrinkwhered didiput the keyys

SHARRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN

Re:you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[kiwijapan]

" Ozzy Osbourne To Be Genetically Decoded" So that's why we can't understand what he's saying .... it's all encoded. Doesn't seem that complicated a code though; I'm pretty sure one of the boffins at Bletchley Park could figure it out in a few days ... (former) President G.W. Bush on the other hand - there's a challenge that would stump even the geniuses over at the NSA.

Re:you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[Jeian]

I seriously wish I could mod this higher than 5.

Re:you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[mjwx]

bouymen didi surviveorSURVIVEDidunno WHAT yourtryinto saybout me MAN survival im striving surviving man i dunnowhatyer talking someone wheres my drin i said ineed mydrinkwhered didiput the keyys

This is the sound of your average Yorkie, sober.

Re:you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[Anonymous Coward]

He's from Birmingham (not the one in Alabama) you stupid lardass.

Re:you dunnnowhattyertalkin

[sorak]

That's cruel. Trying to decode random noise will make you go mad.

Concentrations

[Dachannien]

I don't think Ozzy absorbs drugs anymore. After all, osmosis only works for moving stuff from high to low concentrations.

Re:Concentrations

[Zak3056]

I don't think Ozzy absorbs drugs anymore. After all, osmosis only works for moving stuff from high to low concentrations.

I guess what you're saying is that in Soviet Russia, drugs absorb Ozzy?

Re:Concentrations

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think Ozzy absorbs drugs anymore. After all, osmosis only works for moving stuff from high to low concentrations.

After all, OZmosis only works for moving stuff from hi to low concentrations.

There, fixed that for you.

Re:Concentrations

[infinitelink]

No you didn't. And for such an innocuous comment, why'd you go A.C.?

Re:Concentrations

[Anonymous Coward]

I think your confused. Ozzy uses ozmosis.

(my captcha is snorting. no, really, it is.)

Re:Concentrations

[ed1park]

Osmosis is only the movement of water.

Re:Concentrations

[Anonymous Coward]

What "go A.C.?" Not everyone has a Slashdot account.

Re:Concentrations

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, this ain't osmosis, this is ozz-mosis, and any amount of concentration is completely imposs- Where are my pants?

This isn't the only reason he was chosen

[dmomo]

I'm sure publicity is the number one reason. For Ozzy or Knome? I'm not sure. But I can tell you that if they wanted a candidate who has taken great "bodily abuse" from drugs or whatever, they'd have no trouble finding one who isn't a high profile personality.

Science geek

[Anonymous Coward]

This is A-C-G-T. This is A-C-G-T on drugs.

Re:Science geek

[GaryOlson]

That is a prime bumper sticker slogan.

Huh?

[Improv]

Do they think the drugs he's taken changed his genetic code? Really? Either the summary is bad, or whomever is doing this is a bit short on clue.

Re:Huh?

[Scubaraf]

Retarded headline. It would be as valid to analyze his iPhone to see how electronics deal with toxins. Sequencing his genome is a publicity stunt. Nothing more.

Re:Huh?

[infinitelink]

It's a publicity stunt, but it's not "just" a publicity stunt: epigenetics research can use this sort of information, and Ozzie is an easy choice given that it's out in the open. As others have pointed-out, though, having samples prior to his binge of abuse would be useful: maybe him mom has hair or a foreskin laying around from childhood (yes, people do actually keep that sort of stuff).

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just look at his kids and ask the question again. Are you still in any doubt?

Re:Huh?

[jd]

It's not just =a= publicity stunt, it's a publicity stunt that will have tens of thousands of screaming rock fans getting sequenced, and will have preachers claim that if you play the DNA backwards over some iron filings, you can hear "The soda's in the fridge, all hail the antichrist" repeatedly.

Re:Huh?

[Improv]

Taking drugs will not change his genes! There's no point whatsoever in having genetic samples prior to his drug use. Your genes, with the exception of any cells infected by a virus, affected by cancer, or affected by radiation, do not change over your lifetime. The *only* way I imagine his genes might be interested in any way would be if we suspect he has an unusual resistance to drugs that's genetically rooted, and that's pretty unlikely.

Any epigenetic effects would also not change his genes, it would only affect the gene expressions (so a genetic test would be useless).

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

Other way around. They want to know what in his genetics allowed him to survive...

Re:Huh?

[H0p313ss]

will have preachers claim that if you play the DNA backwards over some iron filings, you can hear "The soda's in the fridge, all hail the antichrist" repeatedly.

I would sort of expect Ozzy's DNA played backwards to come out as "we apologize for the inconvenience"

Re:Huh?

[HopefulIntern]

The reason they are doing the study is because Ozzy, like others such as Keith Richards, has demonstrated a remarkable resilience to dangerous substances. By any normal person's standards he should be dead by now but he isn't. That's why they wanna look at his DNA, to see what makes him so resistant to "death by excess".

Re:Huh?

[Improv]

Ok, I guess that's maybe fair, but it's an enormously difficult task to tie that to genes with just one sample, and the before/after stuff would be entirely worthless.

Re:Huh?

[jd]

That's Eric Clapton's DNA.

Re:Huh?

[infinitelink]

: ) underrated.

Re:Huh?

[infinitelink]

I probably should have mentioned SNPs instead, one of the many subjects studied at university. Speaking of which, Wikipedia's article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-nucleotide_polymorphism, is not bad, this being of the most relevant quotes to our particular conversation,

Variations in the DNA sequences of humans can affect how humans develop diseases and respond to pathogens, chemicals, drugs, vaccines, and other agents.

Re:Huh?

[H0p313ss]

That's Eric Clapton's DNA...

... played forwards.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[treeves]

"drug abuse resistance gene"

Ha. That's a different meaning of "drug abuse resistance" than the D.A.R.E. project had in mind!

Ability to survive lots of drug abuse vs. ability to resist using drugs of abuse. I'm not sure which genes (if they exist) would be better to have.

Bark

[JustOK]

The clone would just bark at the moon.

I Don't Know...

[jd2112]

But I'd take a Shot in the Dark that it doesn't take Perry Mason to tell that these scientist were riding the Crazy Train. There'll be No More Tears once we learn for certain that The Long Road to Nowhere really does lead to him...

Re:I Don't Know...

[h4rr4r]

I Don't Wanna Stop you but Fools Like You are Time After Time coming up with these lame puns.

Re:I Don't Know...

[xenn]

I Am So Tired of all these bad jokes.

Re:I Don't Know...

[Anonymous Coward]

what?

Re:I Don't Know...

[Anonymous Coward]

But Ozzy is Iron Man...can break out the War Pigs....and has the Hand of Doom....

of course he's also Paranoid..

Re:I Don't Know...

[Hooya]

> The Long Road to Nowhere really does lead to him...

Now, that's just being Paranoid.

Re:I Don't Know...

[Anonymous Coward]

You know the rules and so do I.
We know the game and we're gonna play it.
Don't tell me you're too blind to see.

barely survived!!

[Anonymous Coward]

barely survived!!

the problem with chuck norris's genes

[circletimessquare]

is that they would take the electrophoresis gel, slurp it down like jello, then spit it out as diamond bullets at the researchers. then it would take the southern blot, kick it so hard it would turn into a northern, western and eastern blot and actually blot out the word "southern" from all maps ever printed

finally, his genes, when put in the polymerase chain reaction, would replicate uncontrollably, each new sequence of chuck norris genes gaining umpteenth levels of mystical levels of martial arts power, until the polymerase chain reaction would actually set off a runaway nuclear chain reaction. the upside of this nuclear chain reaction is that it would create elements never before seen by man, and when overhearing some of the physicists from down the hall the biochemists hurriedly call into their lab that these new elements are supposed to be unstable, chuck norris's genes would be so insulted they would spontaneously stabilize every single radioactive element in the known universe, then spontaneously rewrite the fundamental laws of nature so that radioactivity itself ceased to exist

Re:the problem with chuck norris's genes

[L4t3r4lu5]

Great. So we get to thank Chuck Norris for being permanently behest to the oil conglomerates.

THANKS A BUNCH.

Not their first choice

[Darth_brooks]

They wanted to decode Lemmy from Motorhead first, but all of the samples they took came back as being a mixture of Whiskey, Amphetamines, and some sort of superhuman white blood cells that not only could fend off any currently known STD but also had a nasty habit of smashing test tubes and threatening lab assistants.

Lemmy > Ozzy.

Re:Not their first choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Was my first thought too, hell he named his band after a colloquialism for speed addict.

Those same white blood cells were later found in a bar, so far over 30 police have been injured in the riots that followed the attempted removal of said cells from said bar. Sources claim "the music must have made them violent".

Re:Not their first choice

[germansausage]

Lemmy>God

Re:Not their first choice

[DryGrian]

Trick question! Lemmy is God! GTFO!

Re:Not their first choice

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd love to see the same study performed on Shane MacGowan.

When it comes to alcohol and stubstance abuse, he's miles ahead of both Lemmy and Ozzy.

Re:Not their first choice

[L4t3r4lu5]

They wanted to decode Lemmy from Motorhead first, but all of the samples they took came back as being a mixture of Whiskey, Amphetamines, and some sort of superhuman white blood cells that not only could fend off any currently known STD but also had a nasty habit of smashing test tubes and threatening lab assistants.

That's the way he likes it, baby. He don't want to live forever!

Re:Not their first choice

[HopefulIntern]

That's the way he likes it, baby. He don't want to live forever!

I heard this song again recently, and when that line came up, I thought to myself "The irony.....the irony!"

Re:Not their first choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Ok Next question,

Who'd you take in David Lee Roth/Van Halen Split?

Re:Not their first choice

[hmckee]

Bravo, sir. Bravo.

Re:Not their first choice

[Anonymous Coward]

They wanted to decode Lemmy from Motorhead first, but all of the samples they took came back as being a mixture of Whiskey, Amphetamines, and some sort of superhuman white blood cells that not only could fend off any currently known STD but also had a nasty habit of smashing test tubes and threatening lab assistants.

Lemmy > Ozzy.

Iggy would have been a great choice too!

Re:Not their first choice

[avandesande]

The funny thing is if you have ever heard Lemmy's interviews he is not only down to earth but very lucid and together. I tend to think it is an image stunt that he puts on for entertainment value.

Re:Not their first choice

[Anonymous Coward]

Whois is Lemmy? Is he one of the Lemmings? I didn't know they had names.

Ozzy osbourne, marilyn manson. the 'scare'

[unity100]

the shit out of people generation in music ... it was an era. its not like it used to be now.

the onion had a good piece about this :

http://www.theonion.com/articles/marilyn-manson-now-going-doortodoor-trying-to-shoc,459/

Re:Ozzy osbourne, marilyn manson. the 'scare'

[Anonymous Coward]

Manson is pop, he's hardly a logical legacy for Ozzy. Manson is one step further down the wierd train than Lady GaGa, and it's not a big step.

Re:Ozzy osbourne, marilyn manson. the 'scare'

[Anonymous Coward]

Marilyn Manson? And OZZY? In the same sentence? Are YOU fucking high? MM is a joke, a parody of the likes of Ozzy.

WTF...

Re:Ozzy osbourne, marilyn manson. the 'scare'

[Anonymous Coward]

At least MM actually has meaningful (even if the meaning is twisted) lyrics. I tried asking someone the lyrics to some of Ms Gaga's (sorry. only two types of women can be called lady, those with class and those who have a title) songs and they looked embarrassed when they started singing non-sense.

I used to be annoyed with MM that his music was just a wanna-be NIN, but as a good bash quote will point out, would you rather a new band sound like something you enjoy or sound like nickelback?

http://www.bash.org/?11652

Re:Ozzy osbourne, marilyn manson. the 'scare'

[Dread_ed]

Always got the feeling Manson was trying way too hard to be something he was not. Gaga on the other hand, seem to legitamately express her inner strangeness. Subjective it may be, but easily arguable from anyone who has seen them both.

Sweet Leaf

[Anonymous Coward]

So THAT's what 'Sweet Leaf' was all about! And all this time, I thought it was about ferns...

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[joeflies]

Will their next genetic decoding involve LiLo? TMZ wants to know.

Why would anyone want to genetically decode LiLo? Isn't everyone using Grub by now?

Comparative genomics

[nbauman]

Now they can compare his DNA to Kary Mullis and see where (if at all) they differ.

Re:Comparative genomics

[Daniel Dvorkin]

Now they can compare his DNA to Kary Mullis and see where (if at all) they differ.

One's a raving lunatic who once did great things under the influence of massive amounts of mind-altering substances, then burned himself out completely and has since turned into a sad shell of his former self ...
 
... and the other's an old rock star.

(They're cops.)

((Coming this fall to FOX.))

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[Sarten-X]

Having a natural resistance to drugs' effects is a good thing, especially if other effects come through fully. Consider the possibility of having strong narcotic-based post-surgery painkillers with fewer or even no adverse effects. This could be a small step in that direction. There's lots of chemicals out there that have great uses, except for the minor detail that they're toxic.

Being outlawed doesn't make a chemical bad. It just makes the chemical illegal.

Re:Knome

[EEPROMS]

Knome!!, so will the kde people be releasing an SDK, man I would love to code some software based on that

User "why isnt my printer working" Kubuntu "Shut the f**k up"

Then again nothing has will have changed

Lilo & Grub? Lilo & Stitch!

[HiggsBison]

Why would anyone want to genetically decode LiLo? Isn't everyone using Grub by now?

I was hoping maybe they'd decode Stitch. Now that'd be some interesting genetics.

which DE are these guys running?

[onesandzeros]

DNA research lab Knome

Have they tried splicing together KDE and Gnome, by chance?

Ancient DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

First the woolly mammoth. Now this!

I wonder....

[coolgeek]

Do you think they'll find any blood in his drugstream?

First time...

[DoofusOfDeath]

This will be the first time a DNA assay kit gets a contact high.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[Anonymous Coward]

You're right, we should never do science based on curiosity anymore.

Ozzy used drugs?

[Anonymous Coward]

My view of life has been ruined forever.

better idea? a controlled experiment

[jsepeta]

without doing a "before" test, why bother with an "after" test since there's no way to tell how much and of what he's ingested.

Santayana warned us...

[Anonymous Coward]

Those who fail to learn from Ozzy Osbourne's genome are doomed to repeat it.

I've seen this movie

[Calsar]

They will use use the DNA to make a pure breed demon that will eventually turn on the scientists that created it and ravage the countryside.

Knome?

[CrazeeCracker]

Personally, I prefer GDE.

I want my DNA decoded too..

[UBfusion]

because I think metal, eat metal, breathe metal and metal is runnin' around my brain. I want to know the exact mutations Ozzy has caused in my DNA (for free of course, cause during the decades I've paid the required fees embedded in the 45ers, LPs, CDs, VHS, Betamax and DVDs of His Divine Music.)

I also want my kids examined, because I fear that I've not been a good father and some of these mutations have escaped me (my son worships Shakira and my daughter is hooked on some weird German punk group called Johann Sebastian Bach). Amen.

Spoilers

[BlackHawk-666]

A) He lied about the amount of drugs he took to seem cool to the other kids.
B) His entire sequence is simply 666ggg666ggg repeated over and over.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[epp_b]

I'm sure they'll find the drug abuse resistance gene in no time. (Which seems like a really priority scientific endeavor.)

Yeah, what a silly endeavor. It's not like there are millions of people who need to take powerful pharmaceuticals multiple times a day to maintain a normal level of health or even to just stay alive.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[fractoid]

Having a natural resistance to drugs' effects is a good thing, especially if other effects come through fully. Consider the possibility of having strong narcotic-based post-surgery painkillers with fewer or even no adverse effects.

What's the difference between "drugs' effects" and "other effects"? I don't like the idea of strong narcotic-based post-surgery painkillers having no effects because I had a natural resistance. :S

A Slashdot reader will be next

[ciaran.mchale]

If Ozzy was chosen because of his high levels of drug abuse, then it is only a matter of time before a /. reader is chosen because of his high level of self abuse.

Re:A Slashdot reader will be next

[Anonymous Coward]

On that same subject, I thought this was hilarious:

http://www.theonion.com/articles/study-most-selfabuse-goes-unreported,1086/

Let's find the mumble gene!

[PDX]

While we are at it let's make him the really evil Prince of Darkness.

Unique

[dandart]

But but but, if they do that, He will no longer be unique! I'd be ashamed if there were people editing their DNA to be like Ozzy. unless they were his band of midget Ozzy minions. Mwah hah haaaaaah!

Knome?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought KDE had released a version of Gnome...

I feel like my favs have been dissed

[smchris]

For those who have pondered the comparative biographies, was Ozzie's life really more dissolute than Iggy Pop's or Marianne Faithfull's? I'm sure this is basically a publicity stunt but they should have seriously contacted Iggy Pop. More than one person around him has speculated that he seems to heal freakishly quickly.

So when we know his genetic makeup...

[shikaisi]

... will we be able to screen for it and avoid it?

Forget absorbing all those drugs...

[rkchang]

...someone decode how he's been able to endure years of Sharon!

Idealists! Sheesh!

[celtic_hackr]

You have a very idealized version of drug use's "Good Ole' Days". There really weren't any. To begin with, the first Federal prohibition against drugs didn't come until 1914, ... The high water mark for addiction in this country was between the Civil War and right before WWI. Between 2 and 5 percent of the population was addicted to drugs. And I mean really addicted. Do you know who helped cause this? Dirty street pushers? Columbian gangs? No.

Doctors.

That's right, our biggest addiction rates came from the men in "clean white coats".... but it was all legal. After morphine became widely available, doctors so overused opiates for even minor patient problems that addiction became common. You could literally go the hospital with a middling ailment and come home addicted to morphine.

...

You have a very idealized notion of American history, and an odd definition of doctors, and a very warped perception of the 60s and 70s.

First off, most of the "medicines" you mention in the 1800s were discovered by doctors and scientists, but produced by both reputable companies and charlatan con artists. Not to mention many addictive drugs were simply added to food stuffs to give them an extra boost. Addiction in children and housewives and men was not so much abuse by the doctors but greed by legitimate companies and all manner of small time cheats. Sure doctors were far too liberal in using these new miracle drugs, and.some doctors were unethical with them also. But I blame simple greed most. Drugs were everywhere, and in almost every commercial product.

Secondly, in the sixties and seventies the popular drugs were by and far professionally produced drugs. Many of which were legal until the seventies. LSD was legal when it first hit the street scene and remained so for several years. So, before you go off spouting history, learn it first. I lived through the sixties and seventies, I was there. A firsthand witness. I can personally vouch that the majority of drugs in the sixties and seventies were produced by corporations, and not in people's basements. Sure there was some of that, but those were a small minority.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[Sarten-X]

That should have been "drugs' adverse effects'... Sorry.

not according to ozzy

[Anonymous Coward]

he denies this in a jimmy kimmel show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoFHOMF6hpM

But if we're going to decode someone...

[gestalt_n_pepper]

shouldn't we start with a working copy?

Good thing we're so smart.

[GreenSquirrel]

Humans are so advanced. Other animals, no matter how drunk or high their species gets, will be ever be ever to map their genome to find out why they didn't die from it.

plan to decode 10,000 people

[peter303]

To build a human variation database. They have about 30 now. Costs are rapidly falling close to about $10K per human genome.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[crtreece]

lilo is dead, grub is where it's at.

DNA

[Anonymous Coward]

it's kinda accurate, but has a lot of holes. DNA can always get damaged in the cell, whether by some environmental stimulus (like radiation) or just an accident in DNA replication. but usually when this happens, there are DNA repair mechanisms that will monitor and fix it right up. cancer comes about when those repair mechanisms fail to fix ones that are critical for controlling the cell's life cycle. such mechanisms include telomeres, proteins that tell the cell to kill itself, proteins that tell the cell to go to sleep, proteins that fix DNA base pairs, etc. the failures usually become more and more apparent with aging (i.e. the more times a cell divides).

i don't think the scientists will find that the drugs have inherently changed his DNA. most likely the drugs could induce different levels of DNA expression that are different from other drug addicts, so it'd be much more useful for them to look at that instead of sequencing his genome. but he may have some miracle protein that no one knows about..

i guess it sounds cooler to say you're going to sequence someone's genome rather than look at DNA expression levels. i agree that it's just a publicity stunt. they didn't mention sequencing other drug addict's genomes so that they could have more significant results.

Re:Wow. Like that's costing them $10K retail.

[merockstar]

"I'm sure they'll find the drug abuse resistance gene in no time."

Why would they want to find that?

To genetically alter babies to not have drug addictions? So those who have it could know?

I would be deeply amused if this had the opposite intended effect, and caused people who know they have the drug abuse resistance gene to feel empowered in their ability to try drugs and make it out unscathed.

If this gene were discovered and put to use it would lessen the argument for drugs being illegal, as patients who aren't as susceptible to addiction would be better able to handle them for recreation. We couldn't have that could we?

RE:

[helix2301]

This is actually really cool Ozzy just keeps making more and more history in so many different areas. He is defiantly an icon and will be a legend.

chemically unbalanced ?

[freaker_TuC]

The end result would just end up reported chemically unbalanced and highly explosive...

drugs halflife ?

[Anonymous Coward]

In this case we might a new scaling.

Drugs Half-life?

Bar-chords from hell?

[Footsienabackyard]

So folks can go crazy & do shit from hell & no drugs happen in their experience....
Tony Iommi gets a serious hand injury & learns bar-chords in E-Major & the whole world wonders why Ozzy just did what he did?
Gee, is this the beginning of the end for the absurd treatment of musical genius?

we know the code already

[ewertz]

Damn, that's going to be a badass-long string of zeroes.

Obtaining perscriptions

[Aresvistadotcom]

Hi chaps, Obtaining a prescription would not have been very hard if doctors didn't so easily give morphine so easily to their patients. Your post is quite self-contradictory. If the large addiction rates came from men in clean white coats, then the Food and Drug Act would not have made any difference. Might it not be like OHSA, i.e. the law came into force as other factors were influencing drug use/workplace safety and did not directly cause any change? Could it not indicate that, by 1906, people, including the government, had realized the risks associated with the use of morphine and were becoming less willing to use it? This would make a lot of sense since the Act was only passed *after* journalists wrote scathing articles about the patent medicine industry