What the genetic ocde can not tell…
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Stripped Science
The webcomic on life, science, life science... New strips on every Tuesday and Friday.
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Genetic code (comic strip)
- Date:
- Tuesday, 06 May 2008 - 13:17 GMT
Massimo,
I took my camera with me, but I took only a few pictures, I was too busy on breathing and climbing :-)Last updated: Tuesday, 06 May 2008 - 13:17 GMT
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Comments
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The protein scientists are gloating now, I’m sure.
Wait a moment, this is a load of UCU CAU AUU ACU.
I’m fairly sure that ‘ugac’ is a swear-word among several tribes in remoter parts of Amazonia, in at least one of which it means the genitalia of a three-toed sloth.
I thought it was a disease of sheep.
No, that’s ‘ucag’. An easy mistake to make, I admit. But seriously (!) I wonder how many legitimate English words one can make out of a, c, g and u? Rules – one can use those letters only, but as many times as one pleases. I’ll start—aa, gu … and I can’t think of any more.
guac, as short for guacamole?
cu is an accepted abbreviation of “cubic” – as in “you cubic person!” That’s about the rudest-sounding I can think of.
There’s ‘ucca’, which is the abbreviation for the (now defunct) Universities’ Central Council on Admissions, but which a friend of mine defined as ‘the sound made by a camel trying to remove peanut butter from the roof of its mouth’.
There is gag and gaga, and in Boston you can drive in your caa.
I believe that in the Outer Hebrides, guga is a local name for the gannet
Am I allowed to type “caca” in public? Those of us with 4-year-olds remember…
Yes, Jon, but Caca is a proper name, either of a Roman Goddess or a soccer player. (And yes, my children think it’s hilarious, too).
Henry, it is only a proper name if capitalized. By common usage, the lower-case version can be used as a noun or a verb.
If we can allow a thyminic T to intrude, we can spell ‘gag cat’, much to Bob’s distress.
The beast is staring at me. Matt, I think you lack TACT.
The most recent album from the band Spoon : Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Oh well, if you’re going to let Ts in, that’s a whole new ballpark. cat gut, for one thing (useful for repairing one’s violin when it has been smashed by Mr Darwin).
I’ll tag the next person for some more thoughts, but ta ta for now.
Mixing RNA and DNA bases with an inosine and linking to an arginine to facilitate membrane penetration, we have this strummable oligo:
guitaR
(for classical fans, a cat gut guitaR)
But we’ve wandered far afield from cussing in genetic code.
The UNIX dictionary file yields acca, aga, agua, auca, cag, ga, and gugu. Personally, I have my doubts.