Lets Go back To Genes
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Serendipity:When my chance will come?"Serendipity :Science calls chance discoveries "serendipity,"- because of a 1754 story by English writer Horace Walpole, "The Three Princes of Serendip," (Serendip is the old Persian name of Sri Lanka) who kept discovering things they were not seeking. This word serendipity has been voted as one of the ten of English words that were harder to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company U will be prompted to ask , what’s great in that? Even I keep finding things at times and places when I was not looking for them, It’s a matter of chance that even you can land up as being a great discoverer .So never curse your luck, when u get something ,some result which was unexpected. “Serendipity means when fortune knocks at your door at an unexpected time, you have to be ready to receive her” · Phonograph · Discovery Of Electromagnetic Fields · The Discovery Of How Rubella Leads To Congenital Defects · Fermi's (Non)-Discovery Of Nuclear Fission · Discovery Of Current Electricity · Cure Of Diabetes · Discovery Of X-Ray · Safety Glass · The Blunder That Founded 3M · Discovery Of Teflon · How Typhus Gets Transmitted · Proof Of The Big Bang · Vulcanisation Process · Structure Of The Crystals · 3M's Post-It Note Pads · Principle Of Immunisation Be it Aleaxander Flemming’s discovery of penicillin, the invention of Post it Notes, Alfred Nobel’s discovery of Blasting gelatin, the discovery of Polyethylene, the discovery of psychedelic , effects of LSD by Albert Hofmann , the discovery of Cosmic microwave background radiation, all are gifts of serendipity ……………………. And the list is endless. But can one conclude that creative discoveries are accidental by nature? Not really. In all these cases, the mishap could have been dismissed as inconsequential, as was done by many scientists in the cases of X-Rays and the radio "noises" which proved the Big Bang theory. Similarly, Fermi failed to see the significance of his accidental discovery, because he refused to believe what he saw. The accidents became a source of discovery and innovation, because these people were willing to look at them as meaningful occurrences. Newton, after all, was not the first person who saw an apple falling off the tree. As Pasteur remarked: "Chance favours the prepared mind."
Just read these lines on Rahul's blog and I could not control the tears flowing.This is the magic, when u can make the world laugh with u , cry with u, These lines are so touching......... beete pal chhoone lage hain dil ko aise, dost rakhe haath kandhe pe jaise... kaisi ye kirNein si chhan rahi hain, kaisi tasveerein si ban rahi hain... kitne mausam yaadon mein hain aate jaate, baarish aaee khul gaye hain kaale chhaate... din hain alsaaye hue jo aaee garmi, sardiyoun ki dhoop mein hai kaisi narmi.. . pal pal ek samay ki nadiya hai jo behti jaati hai... apne des ki mitti ki khushboo mujhe yaad aati hai... pighle tanhaaiyon ke hain jo andhere, jagmagaane se lage hain kitne chehre.. .ek lori hai... ek laal bindiyaa,laut aaee hai mere bachpan ki nindiyaa.. .vo koi iktaare pe kab se gaa raha hai, koi aanchal jaane kyoun lehraa raha hai.. .har ghadi naee baat ek yaad aa rahi hai, dil mein pagdandi si jaise ban gaee hai, ye pagdandi mere dil se mere des jaati hai... apne des ki mitti ki khushboo mujhe yaad aati hai....
"Is Paar priya tum ho madhu hai, us paar na jane kya hoga us paar abhage manav ka adhikar na Jane kya hoga" -Dr.Harivansh rai Bachchan (Don't ask me who is Madhu, Let it be a mystery or get back to your Hindi dictionary ) With so many mars mission scheduled in future, these lines keep haunting me.Missions scheduled for the future: 2005 August 10 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Surveyor 2005 Orbiter (Nasa, France?). Scheduled to arrive at Mars in March, 2006. To study Mars from orbit between March 2006 and July 2008, perform high-resolution measurements including images with a resolution of 20 to 30 cm, and possibly serve as communications relay for later Mars landers until about 2010. 2005 MRO information, images and links at SEDS, Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2007 Late Mars 2007 Remote Sensing Orbiter (CNES, French Space Agency): Remote Sensing Orbiter. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2007 Late, Ariane V Mars 2007 Netlanders (CNES, French Space Agency): Network of 4 small landers to perform scientific measurements on the surface of Mars over one Martian year. Netlander homepage; Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2007 Late Mars 2007 Communications Orbiter (ASI, Italian Space Agency): Communications orbiter for Netlanders and future missions. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2007 Late Phoenix - the selcted Mars 2007 Small Scout Missions (Nasa): An in-situ volatile and organic molecule survey (LPL/Univ of Arizona). Phoenix informations, images and links from SEDS; Scout Mission Press Release (Nasa HQ PR 01-122, June 13, 2001); Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC); UA Press Release, December 6, 2002; Nasa Press Release 02-238 of Dec 6, 2002, Solar System Exploration: Missions: Mars: Mars Scout (JPL) 2009 Late Mars Science Laboratory, Mars Smart Lander, Mars 2009 Mobile Scientific Laboratory (Nasa): Formerly scheduled for 2007. Will include new technologies: A small long-range, long-duration rover powered by a small nuclear reactor, equipped to perform many scientific studies of Mars, and to demonstrate the technology for accurate landing and hazard avoidance in order to travel to difficult-to-reach sites. 2009 Mars Science Laboratory information, images and links from SEDS; 2009 MSL page (JPL), Smart Lander page (JPL), Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2009 Late Mars 2009 Communications Satellite (Nasa, Italy; under study). Possible Communications Satellite. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2009 Late Mars 2009 Small Net-Landers (Nasa, France; under study). Possible Small Net-Landers. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2009 Late Exo Mars (ESA). Will include an orbiter and a descent module that will land a highly mobile rover, weighing up to 200 kilogrammes, on the surface of Mars. 2011 Mars Scout 2 (Nasa). A mission succeeding and extending the 2007 Mars Scout, Phoenix; details to be defined. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2014 Mars 2014 (Nasa, France, Italy, international?; under study). Possibly first sample return mission. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC) 2016 Mars 2016 (Nasa, international?; under study). Possibly another sample return mission, or orbiters, landers, rovers. Mars 2003 and 2005 page (NSSDC abhi to manav ne bas paer badhaye hai us anchue anjane antariksh ki aur, kahin aur jeevan ki talash mein, srishti ki anboojhi paheliyon ko suljhane ke liye, par don't u think that biggest proof that intelligent life is there somewhere in universe that never attempted to contact us, just kidding.
A Universe Without ♂ (males) : Beware those male chauvinists who consider that the world can’t do without them !!!!!!!!!!! Indeed, this article is going to have a mixed reaction from readers . It will come as a shock to the males suffering for superiority complex but as sigh of relief to their female counterparts.Nature is full of examples where only female members are capable of producing their progeny and which completely lack male members by a phenomema called Parthenogenesis(Virgin Birth, u can compare it with nature's way of cloning). Few examples are millipede Nemasoma, cockroach Pycnoscelus, spear-winged fly, Dipsa bifurcate, aphids(honey bees).But the most interesting comes from a whiptail Lizard.In 15 of the Cnemidophorus species there are no males. How much boring it may sound , but there are some advantages to a parthenogenic lifestyle: -All members of species can lay eggs and reproduction is more efficient -Good mutations are passed on more efficiently in clones than in sexual species -You don't waste a lot of time and energy searching for a mate . Then why do the nature created different sexes??????? Some Things to Think About 1.Are there any advantages to having 2 sexes? Will males in our species someday also disappear like those of the whiptail? Quite sad, but very very probable………..you can post your thoughts for this blog.I will be updating you more in coming blogs till then if you are male, keep praying that the day never comes:-) For Females , Time for celebration. Rejoice. 2.Why is nature still experimenting with so many types of reproductive strategy? Answers any one?
The Road Not Taken : Yes, today again it happened with me.while going to a friend's house, as usual was lost in my own world, and gave a cursory look on roads, unable to decide right or left, took right turn , (assuming it to right)and ended up in walking 3 Km more in this sunny afternoon of Hyderabad). But This reminded me of a poem read long back.It goes like this: TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
Had nice south Indian Lunch at friend's house , (finally after this much walking , I had elephant running in my stomach)Rice, Mango Pappu, Beans curry, papad, curd and a funny looking chutney. Lesson learnt: appearances are always deceptive, that funny looking chutney was the tastiest I had in my life, Yummy.............Please control the saliva dripping out( Ivan Pavilov's experiment on reflex action gave me clue for writing this), go home, have your Lunch and then may be, an afternoon nap, sounds like heaven. Isn't it?
Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Happy snoring
GENES:Its GENES not JEANS DNA HANd http://images.google.co.in/images?q=tbn:cmPrrnjW_V8J:www.chem.agilent.com/cag/feature/07-00/feature_graphics/01_DNAhand.jpg They are in you and me; they created us, body and mind; and theirpreservation is the ultimate rationale for our existence ... they go by thename of genes, and we are their survival- Richard Dawkins (English biologist,1941-) in The Selfish GeneThis quote dates back to 1976, the year I was born, may be its a reason for my interest in genes and Genetics. I will be writing more on this stuff and share my views and recent developments in genetics, Biology and science of living. Till then Some tests for you:Please stick your tongue out. Who can roll their tongue up at the side into a tube? Now who cannot. While I’m in the business of being silly I’ll try another test. Clasp your hands together without thinking. Have you got the left thumb on top and or the right thumb on top? You mightjust try it the other way but I think you’ll agree you find that it is a bit uncomfortable.Now the genetics of hand clasping and tongue rolling isn’t straightforward but it is certainly a statement that we are all very different from each other. All that diversity of course, is coded in the magical molecule that is known as DNA. DNA is basic recipe for all diversity we see around.For more on DNA, wait 4 next blog.
