The Monday Quote #9

Most of my Monday Quotes so far have come from scientists or philosophers of science. Today’s comes from William Melvin “Bill” Hicks (1961-1994), an American comedian and musician who died of pancreatic cancer at the young age of 32. There’s a lot of talk going around the social networking sites today about pro-lifers because yet another has threatened to murder someone. Murderously violent pro-lifers often remind me of Bill because of some of his stand-up sets.

“Pro-lifers murdering doctors. Pro-lifers murdering people. It’s irony on a base level.”

“Boy, I’ve never seen an issue so divisive, its like a civil war ain’t it? Even amongst my friends, who are all very intelligent. They are totally divided on abortion. It’s unbelievable. Some of my friends, for instance, think these pro-life people are annoying idiots. Other friends think these pro-life people are evil fucks. How are we going to come to a consensus? You ought to hear the arguments around my house: they’re annoying, they’re idiots, they’re evil, they’re fucks! Brothers, sisters, come together. Cant we for once just join hands and think of them as evil annoying idiot fucks?”

So I thought today I’d just share another memorable quote from Bill about pro-lifers since that seems to be the hot topic today. And of course as a little tribute to someone who is still greatly missed.

“We’re pro life.”

What does that make me? You know what I’m saying? If you’re so pro-life do me a fucking favour. Don’t block med clinics, OK? Lock arms… and block cemeteries. Let’s see how fucking committed you are to this premise.

“She can’t come in.”

“She was 96, she was hit by a bus.”

“There’s options.”

“Have we got to have her stuffed? What are you talking about? She’s dead!”

“We’re pro-life, get her out of that casket! She’s not going, we’re pro-life people. There will be no death on this planet.”

Pro-life. Here’s my actual theory, beyond the huge, hilarious jokes I have… Here’s my real theory though… If you’re so pro-life and you’re so pro-child, then adopt one that’s already here, that’s very unwanted and very alone, who needs someone to take care of it, to get it out of a horrible situation. And people say, “well then why don’t you do that?” and I say “because I hate fucking kids and couldn’t care less”. Couldn’t give a fuck. Don’t care at all about abortion. It’s your choice, case closed, the end, bottom line.

- Bill Hicks, comedian, satirist, and musician.

60th anniversary of “the secret of life”

Double Helix

60 years ago today, Nature published an article by Francis Crick and James Watson. It was titled, “Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid”. Finally, someone had figured out the structure of DNA. That alone was a worthy achievement, after the years of work put into it. But far more importantly, the structure suggested that DNA could be the genetic material of organisms… it could be how genetic information is passed from one cell to its daughter cells, from one organism to its offspring.

After describing how the base pairs link up in a predictable way (adenine with thymine, guanine with cytosine), the authors wrote what would become the highlight of one of the most famous academic papers of all time, and possibly one of the best examples of arrogant false modesty:

“It has not escaped our notice that the specific pairing we have postulated immediately suggests a possible copying mechanism for the genetic material”.

The rest is history. The genetic code. The Human Genome Project. Blatant sexism in science. You’ll probably be reading a lot about these as we hit the 60th anniversary of the paper. It’s a story worth revisiting, or enjoying for the first time. The work by Watson and Crick is a fantastic story because it involves scientists standing on the shoulders of giants, taking the results of other scientists’ experiments and piecing them together, and answering a huge scientific question with a simple explanation. At the same time, the story of this discovery demonstrates that scientists are people, for better or worse.

The difference between homeobox and Hox genes

This is a big pet peeve. Let’s get straight to business: the terms “homeobox” and “Hox” are not interchangeable. They do mean different things. I’m correct in saying that Amphioxus (Branchiostoma lanceolatum) has 15 Hox genes. I’m also correct in pointing out that it has over 130 homeobox genes.

Gene names can be very confusing and difficult to remember, so there are many abbreviations in biology. For example, the gene insulin-like growth factor 1 is abbreviated to Igf1. Does that make it easier to remember? Who knows. But I believe the use of abbreviations is partly responsible for the incredible confusion over homeobox and Hox genes. And I do mean incredible. It’s very obviously a confusing topic for students, or anyone new to evo-devo, developmental genetics, or gene regulation… but it’s so much worse than that. Professional publications make the mistake, academics make the mistake, and they do it often. I think the reason it keeps happening is that the word “Hox” appears to be a shortened “Homeobox”. All over the internet you will see the terms used interchangeably, and sometimes with the apparently shortened version in brackets. “Homeobox (Hox)”. This otherwise decent glossary for Epigenesys manages to dump the terms homeotic, homeobox, and Hox into one single paragraph and glossary entry, which is of little help to a confused student seeking clarity. So let’s clear this up, and I’ll keep it quick.  Continue reading →

Releasing Blue Iguanas into the wild

Many visitors to this blog arrive looking for information about the terrible conservation tragedy that occurred on Grand Cayman a few years ago, in which several rare blue iguanas were murdered It’s a sad entry, but also reminds us of the amazing work being done to breed the Blue Iguana in captivity and then release them into nature reserves.

Here’s a video of the happy part. This footage is from last year, when eight blue iguanas were released into the Salina Reserve. You can see they are left in little wooden structures. These provide shelter and security for the animal as it makes the transition from captivity to life in the Salina Reserve.

ARRGH MY EYES! The Ugly Animal Preservation Society

Update: My animal won! The night was a sell-out and fantastic fun, thanks to all who came along! It was great to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in a while and to make some new ones. The other acts were hilarious (and hideous), and Simon was a fantastic compere! My animal was Promachoteuthis sulcus, which isn’t very well known so doesn’t even have a common name. At the event, I proposed the “human-gobbed squid” or “gob-faced squid” to a large crowd. It was agreed at this event and at the Festival of the Spoken Nerd event on Friday that the animal should be known as the gob-faced squid. With several hundred people from these events now referring to it as the gob-faced squid, it’s the most common name it has as a relatively unknown creature! I’m happy and strangely proud that my animal won the evening. Here is the new mascot for the Scottish branch of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society:

 P sulcus

This is a message for all the amazing people who have come to the brilliant Edinburgh International Science Festival. If you’re up for some shenanigans, and don’t have a weak stomach, come along to see us at the Ugly Animal Preservation Society! If comedy and nasty ugly are your things, you’ll be in a disgusting heaven!

As well as myself, you’ll see performers including Helen Arney (Uncaged Monkeys, Festival of the Spoken Nerd), Simon Watt (Inside Nature’s Giants), Steve Cross (Science Showoff), the guys from Punk Science, and more! It will be funny, interesting, and horrific in equal measure.

It’s on Wednesday night, 9pm-11pm. You can get all the details here!