Awesome exam question

I recently sat a third year genetics exam as part of my undergraduate degree. It struck me while I was reading the final question what a brilliant subject biology is. Here's the question: "Describe a procedure for the generation of a genetically engineered mouse that is fluorescent when viewed under UV light." Awesome, and that's what I get to write about in exams.

~A Puff of Logic~

(Notes: image retrieved from http://www.medicineatyale.org/v1i3_october2005/graphics/mouse.jpg)

There's no such thing as gnomes?

Recently, the Diocese of Bath and Wells enacted a ban on plastic flowers, teddy bears, and garden gnomes in the cemeteries at Wrington and Congresbury. The church called these decorations tacky and "inappropriate" for a dignified cemetery.

Perhaps this is fair enough after all it is supposed to be a solemn locale not the place for 'cheerful' gnomes, flowers, and teddy bears. The land itself also belongs to the church and the rules are clearly displayed. A spokesman added "Things such as gnomes and plastic flowers are not permitted because they are aesthetically unattractive and they make it harder to maintain the grounds." Fair enough.

However, the spokesman also had this to say, "There is no such thing as a real gnome so why should we have such unnatural creatures in churchyards?" Whoops, now they're in for it. Here are some images from the nearby churches, St. Andrews at Congresbury and All Saints' at Wrington.
This picture of a stone corbel at St. Andrews suggests that maybe the church isn't so against comical little men dressed up in bright colours. Although it is supposed to represent a man with a headache in medieval times.

Even worse is All Saints' church which has angels

and gargoyles!

Hopefully the Diocese will immediately remove these "unnatural" creatures from the churches and increase the "aesthetic" of the buildings for all who visit them.

~Cogito, ergo deus non est~

(Notes: images retrieved from http://www.standrewscongresbury.org/history.php, http://www.wringtonsomerset.org.uk/allsaints/description3.html, http://www.wringtonsomerset.org.uk/allsaints/description2.html)

Backyard nuclear reactors

Mini nuclear power plants that can power up to 20,000 homes are close to becoming a reality. The devices are no larger than a garden shed and cost $25 million US dollars ($45 million NZD). They use a non-weapon grade low-enriched uranium fuel, are buried deep underground, and encased in concrete. All of which makes them very difficult to steal.

These 25 megawatt nuclear batteries have no moving parts (so no risk of a Chernobyl-like event) and are left in the ground for 5-10 years before they are dug up and refueled. Hyperion has already recieved over 6 years worth of orders, so look for these to come to a suburb near you. Except, of course, in New Zealand where a ban on nuclear power of all kinds still inhibits progress and makes us reliant on coal and gas technologies.

~A Puff of Logic~

(Notes: image retrieved from http://dvice.com/archives/2008/11/hyperion_starts.php)

Sarah Palin – Antiscience

There were many reasons to question Sarah Palin as the choice of potential vice-president for John McCain but one of the more disturbing moments came when Palin questioned the value of work done on fruit flies “in Paris, France.”

Fruit flies, scientific name Drosophila melanogaster, are arguably the most useful model organism that a geneticist has access to. The fully sequenced genome is publicly available at http://flybase.org ready to be searched and compared with newly isolated genes in other species. When a match is found it can give a researcher a head start in discovering the likely function of their new gene. Approximately three quarters of human disease genes show homology to coding regions in the fruit fly genome. This has made Drosophila useful as a model for diseases like Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and Parkinson’s. Do we really want to end funding for important research areas such as these?

Incredible scientific advancements have been made using Drosophila, these include:

· The first mutation – white eye

· Proving that genes were located on chromosomes

· The discovery of polytene chromosomes

· Elucidation of the receptor tyrosine kinase pathway – important for growth signals and in cancer

· Drosophila was the second multi-cellular organism to have its genome sequenced.

This is to name only a few. Drosophila also provides an outlet for the biologist’s sense of humour. Mutant flies are often named after the phenotype that they display. For example, the cheap date mutant is especially sensitive to alcohol whilst the tin-man mutant fails to develop a heart.

Research into genetics, development, and disease will continue in this amazing model organism, even in “Paris, France” whether Sarah Palin thinks it benefits the public good or not. Thankfully, Palin will not be entering the White House let’s hope she fades to obscurity with…

~A Puff of Logic~

(Notes: image retreived from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophila_melanogaster)