Big Laugh II

When Amber told me she had watched the video linked from the original "Big Laugh" post (see the 2nd post down from this one), I responded: "See, scientists aren't so boring after all." In fact, science is full of little jokes like the video for EP-Motion. A few examples:

In fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) there is a signaling molecule called hedgehog because when it doesn't work the flies develop bristles all over their bodies, not unlike an actual hedgehog. It was later discovered that Mammals have three copies of this gene. The first two to be discovered were called desert hedgehog and indian hedgehog after two species of hedge-hogs. When the third one was discovered it was named sonic hedgehog, after the Sega's video game character, Sonic the Hedgehog. If not funny, this is at least mildly entertaining.

Another example which, if not funny, at least shows that we science types are willing to laugh at ourselves. Edwin Southern developed a technique for visualizing DNA; the technique now bears his name and is called a southern blot. When techniques for visualizing RNA and proteins were later developed, they were called northern and western blots respectively. Their developers did not have the names Northern and Western, and, in spite of what some naive sophomores may tell you, none of these techniques have anything to do with maps or compass directions; the last two were given their names simply to play off of the last name of Edwin Southern.

Ok... Ok... I understand... This may be all very boring to you. Just wait. Here is a video which is bound to cause a chuckle. This one is about the wonder of "PCR". A brief explanation is in order. Short for Polymerase Chain Reaction, this is a technique used to amplify (make millions and millions of copies of) specific regions of DNA in a relatively short period of time in a test tube (in-vitro as some brainy types like to call it). It is accomplished through a simple process of cyclically heating and cooling a small sample of DNA along with a few DNA building blocks and an enzyme originally harvested from Archaebacteria which live in the hot pools of Yellowstone national park. The technique has revolutionized biology and is used in nearly every biology lab. The amplified DNA can be used for multiple purposes. A few examples should suffice: It is used in sequencing DNA (determining the order of the bases [A, C, T, and G] in the amplified fragment, as in the human genome project); It is used in medicine to identify (and eventually sequence) disease genes (as was surely done for my nephew Ian); It is also used in forensic science for identifying genetic markers and matching individuals to unknown samples. This last use has led both to the conviction of many a felon when their DNA was found to match their DNA recovered from the crime scene, and to the exoneration of many a death-row inmate who was convicted before this technology was developed; this same forensic technique is also used in paternity tests.

Anywho...with that introduction, here is the video:

http://bio-rad.cnpg.com/lsca/videos/ScientistsForBetterPCR/
* Click here for the lyrics