genetics

over coffee and cake, we discuss the human genome project

why, asks one my friends, do people still carry around the notion that a genome is a program for building an organism? the metaphor doesn't hold - all humans, for instance, have the same set of genes but come out entirely different based on environment, promoters, activation of transcription factors etc. if anything the genome is a suggestion. a nudge in the right direction.

because, we conclude, the arts people need some romanticized notion of what's going on so that books like jurassic park and can be written and films like godsend can be made and bad art exhibitions with copper wire double helices and vials of human blood can be put on display.

and now, i await the indignation.