NationStates Jolt Archive

And it's just as bizarre as the platypus itself:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13854-platypus-genome-is-as-weird-as-its-looks.html
Biologists already knew that the platypus has a weird complement of sex chromosomes, but the team found that the gene sequences responsible for determining sex are more like a bird's than a mammal's.

And while the gene that the human sex-determining gene evolved from is present in the platypus genome, it seems to have nothing to do with sex determination. So, that function must have evolved after the platypus split from our common ancestor, about 166 million years ago.

However, by that time, milk production was well-evolved. The platypus has the same repertoire of milk protein genes as a cow or a human. Clearly, milk evolved long before we evolved to give birth to live offspring, says team member Jenny Graves at the Australian National University in Canberra.

Interesting stuff.

So, now that the platypus' genome has been sequenced, what other bizarre animals should be analyzed?

And it's just as bizarre as the platypus itself:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13854-platypus-genome-is-as-weird-as-its-looks.html


Interesting stuff.

So, now that the platypus' genome has been sequenced, what other bizarre animals should be analyzed?

The echidna.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Echidna_ST_03.jpg/180px-Echidna_ST_03.jpg

Yeah, because that's time and resources that absolutely couldn't be used to search for the cure for cancer or AIDS. :rolleyes:

The echidna.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Echidna_ST_03.jpg/180px-Echidna_ST_03.jpg

Indeed:

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/dn12838-exhibitionist-spiny-anteater-reveals-bizarre-penis.html

Talk about bizzare.

Yeah, because that's time and resources that absolutely couldn't be used to search for the cure for cancer or AIDS. :rolleyes:Better to use the money they wasted on that Creationist Center instead.

And it's just as bizarre as the platypus itself:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn13854-platypus-genome-is-as-weird-as-its-looks.html


Interesting stuff.

So, now that the platypus' genome has been sequenced, what other bizarre animals should be analyzed?

Manbearpig

http://stix1972.typepad.com/stix_blog/images/2007/11/19/manbearpig.jpg

http://media.southparkstudios.com/media/images/1111/1111_manbearpig_and_kyle_no_red.jpg

What secrets does he hold?

Science: spending a lot of money on the study of stuff so we can find out that we don't know **** about ****.

Yeah, because that's time and resources that absolutely couldn't be used to search for the cure for cancer or AIDS. :rolleyes:

Right. Because pure research, investigation into the unknown driven by sheer intellectual curiousity, never turns up anything of practical value, right?

I, for one, find this to be pretty neat.

Manbearpig

http://media.southparkstudios.com/media/images/1111/1111_manbearpig_and_kyle_no_red.jpg

What secrets does he hold?
Kyle.

Right. Because pure research, investigation into the unknown driven by sheer intellectual curiousity, never turns up anything of practical value, right?

No?

Yeah, because that's time and resources that absolutely couldn't be used to search for the cure for cancer or AIDS. :rolleyes:

Yes, because clearly the money granted for this project was taken from a pool that also includes with cancer research.

Thank you. Thank you very much, for showing you have no clue how research financing works.

Yes, because clearly the money granted for this project was taken from a pool that also includes with cancer research.

Not to mention it helps us get better at genome sequencing and analysis, which means human sequencing will be all the more advanced once it becomes economical to offer it...and as we all know, human genome sequencing is likely to be the next big step in medicine.

Honestly, the cost of sequencing is dropping so quickly that this is becoming less and less of a financial burden than it was in years past.

Not to mention it helps us get better at genome sequencing and analysis, which means human sequencing will be all the more advanced once it becomes economical to offer it...and as we all know, human genome sequencing is likely to be the next big step in medicine.

Honestly, the cost of sequencing is dropping so quickly that this is becoming less and less of a financial burden than it was in years past.

Not to mention taking significantly less time due to advances in processing and data transfer power.

It's a little silly to make throwaway comments like "Bwuh, we needs to put more moneys in finding a cure for cancuh," when you've got no idea how much this project cost and where the money came from.

Yeah, because that's time and resources that absolutely couldn't be used to search for the cure for cancer or AIDS. :rolleyes:

I was reading the news the other day, about a Japanese team who were allowing their curiousity to lead them to mess around (pun not originally intended, but I like it so I'll leave it) with menstrual blood... and have achieved 'stemcell-type' results with something like a hundred times the efficiency of stemcells...

Something about convincing menstrual blood to turn into heart tissue, I believe.

Sitting down and saying "I'm going to cure cancer" might not actually be the best avenue to cures for cancer.

Not to mention taking significantly less time due to advances in processing and data transfer power.

It's a little silly to make throwaway comments like "Bwuh, we needs to put more moneys in finding a cure for cancuh," when you've got no idea how much this project cost and where the money came from.

LOL, just look at what happed in I Am Legend when they cured cancer, do we want that to be us?!! Nothing evil ever came, in cinema or rl, from genome sequencing.