Monday, August 01, 2005

Faster DNA sequencing . . .

This article points out that with increasingly faster DNA sequencing, we might be about to see knowledge and applications in biology progress at the same kinds of speeds that we've seen in electronics in the recent past. (It really isn't all that long ago that we saw the first commercial application of a transister -- when a transister had solder leads.)

Shoot. Already I don't understand most of the technological stuff I routinely use. We might be soon be seeing the solution to the problem of the common cold. And next, after viruses, maybe they will work on moods and attitudes. Or did they already do that and didn't tell me?

And how soon before you run to Best Buy or Costco to buy a DNA sequencer?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

E-bay or Amazon would probably be more responsive to immediate needs of population.

Perhaps, the question is not "how soon?" but "who would?" With a personal acid being determined, one will need a genes' map to figure out what means what; same as reading EKG.

On one hand, some folks with parents suffering from inheritable illnesses, or occured, within a range, mutations [who doesn’t have these ones?] may not be interested in determining their sequences at all; the benefits [knowledge] may be outweighed by consequences [societal response, etc].

On the other hand, knowing that planned generation is likely to inherit undesirable combination (cystic fibrosis) would be invaluable. Both parents required.The new era of perfect(ed) quality humans may come... Is coming. Are we ready?