There are a few reasons why mitochondrial DNA is preferable to genomic DNA for this sort of speciation study:
1) Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is easier to work with. While a cell will have two copies of genomic DNA (one each inherited from the mother and father), the same cell will have hundreds to thousands of copies of mtDNA. This makes it easier to extract PCR-amplifyable DNA from a small number of cells.
2) There is more variation (on a per nucleotide basis) in mtDNA than in genomic DNA, making it easier to resolve small differences between species (and possibly enabling differentiation between a new species and a hybrid).
3) I think that mtDNA is inherited only from the mother, which means that there is no recombination between paternal and maternal DNA. This makes it easier to construct a genetic history of a sample (there is less 'noise' in the data).
Hmmm...I kept reading this thread and waiting for a more techno-literate Wisconsinite than myself to chime in. Yes, these cameras are available at Walgreens locations in Wisconsin. I picked up a couple in Madison earlier in the week. A few misconceptions that should be cleared up:
1) The price for the camera was $9.99 not $11.99
2) Purchase price of the camera *does not* include processing costs.
3) There is no deposit, rental agreement, EULA, etc.
4) The power comes from 2 AA batteries.
5) The side of the camera has a slot similar in shape to (though narrower than) a Playstation memory slot. The top of the slot protects a 10-pin extension of a circuit board. My guess is that there is an adapter that the Walgreens photo technician inserts into the slot, triggering an automatic dump of the photo data. However, this is far from my expertise and this interpretation could be totally wrong.
Just to add to this...
Not only is Laurie Garrett an excellent reporter, but she is also a fabulous writer. I read the Coming Plague in 1994 as an impressionable college freshman unsure about my major and my motivations. More than any other single event, reading that book opened my eyes to the importance of disease research and its role in a changing world.
Fast-forward ten years...I now have a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology and investigate HIV vaccine development at a major US university. A dog-eared copy of Coming Plague sits on the bookshelf in my bedroom and I still reread portions for information and inspiration. A few years back, my coworkers and I were talking about our motivation for becoming scientists. Two others also said that reading The Coming Plague sparked their interest in science. And I'm sure that we are not the only ones.
This privacy incident notwithstanding, people should recognize that Garrett is one of the best (if not the best) science writers in the world today.
Perhaps I'm just a little naive to this type of discussion, but if the RIAA has grounds to suspect that the user of the IP address downloaded 600+ songs in a day from a P2P, doesn't that indirectly implicate the RIAA in uploading 600+ songs to that user's IP? If so, does the RIAA have the legal authority to upload copyrighted works (are the copyrights assigned to RIAA in the first place?)
Another hypothetical: Listening to a Shoutcast streaming radio station, you decide to capture the incoming stream and archive to hard drive. At 4 min / song, you would capture 360 songs in one day. How is this materially different from downloading the same material from a P2P source or taping from broadcast radio?
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1) Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is easier to work with. While a cell will have two copies of genomic DNA (one each inherited from the mother and father), the same cell will have hundreds to thousands of copies of mtDNA. This makes it easier to extract PCR-amplifyable DNA from a small number of cells.
2) There is more variation (on a per nucleotide basis) in mtDNA than in genomic DNA, making it easier to resolve small differences between species (and possibly enabling differentiation between a new species and a hybrid).
3) I think that mtDNA is inherited only from the mother, which means that there is no recombination between paternal and maternal DNA. This makes it easier to construct a genetic history of a sample (there is less 'noise' in the data).
1) The price for the camera was $9.99 not $11.99
2) Purchase price of the camera *does not* include processing costs.
3) There is no deposit, rental agreement, EULA, etc.
4) The power comes from 2 AA batteries.
5) The side of the camera has a slot similar in shape to (though narrower than) a Playstation memory slot. The top of the slot protects a 10-pin extension of a circuit board. My guess is that there is an adapter that the Walgreens photo technician inserts into the slot, triggering an automatic dump of the photo data. However, this is far from my expertise and this interpretation could be totally wrong.
Just to add to this... Not only is Laurie Garrett an excellent reporter, but she is also a fabulous writer. I read the Coming Plague in 1994 as an impressionable college freshman unsure about my major and my motivations. More than any other single event, reading that book opened my eyes to the importance of disease research and its role in a changing world. Fast-forward ten years...I now have a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology and Immunology and investigate HIV vaccine development at a major US university. A dog-eared copy of Coming Plague sits on the bookshelf in my bedroom and I still reread portions for information and inspiration. A few years back, my coworkers and I were talking about our motivation for becoming scientists. Two others also said that reading The Coming Plague sparked their interest in science. And I'm sure that we are not the only ones. This privacy incident notwithstanding, people should recognize that Garrett is one of the best (if not the best) science writers in the world today.
Perhaps I'm just a little naive to this type of discussion, but if the RIAA has grounds to suspect that the user of the IP address downloaded 600+ songs in a day from a P2P, doesn't that indirectly implicate the RIAA in uploading 600+ songs to that user's IP? If so, does the RIAA have the legal authority to upload copyrighted works (are the copyrights assigned to RIAA in the first place?) Another hypothetical: Listening to a Shoutcast streaming radio station, you decide to capture the incoming stream and archive to hard drive. At 4 min / song, you would capture 360 songs in one day. How is this materially different from downloading the same material from a P2P source or taping from broadcast radio?