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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Discover Magazine Article - 3/11/09

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No, this is not the logo of some Colossus-like supercomputer that taken control of our government. Its from an on-line article in Discover magazine, under the heading "Science, Not Fiction."

The article, by Stephen Cass, is about "Creating Superheroes" and part of it says this:

"Because all life on Earth uses the same genetic code, in theory anything that you can find in nature is up for grabs. For example, the blood cells of crocodiles contain a type of hemoglobin that is so efficient at oxygenating a crocodile's body that the crocodile can lurk underwater for an hour without coming up for air.

Researchers have been able to tweak the DNA responsible for producing human hemoglobin to incorporate some of the genetic instructions found in crocodiles, thereby creating more efficient human hemoglobin. This superhuman hemoglobin is currently only produced by bacteria in vats and is intended for medical applications, but in principle it could be engineered into human being, giving them Aquaman-like powers."

Aquaman-like powers?? Neat-o!

Those of you with even just a passing interest in science, I suggest you read the whole thing, there's some interesting--if a little scary--stuff.

This was spotted and sent to me by our newest F.O.A.M. member, Pablo Turnes. Nice catch Pablo, and welcome to F.O.A.M.!

2 comments:

Russell said...

I don't think I'd pass if offered Aquaman-like powers, ya know what I mean? ;-)

BentonGrey said...

Aquaman like powers!? Sign me up! As long as it comes with super strength and bullet proof skin, I wouldn't mind some croc blood in my veins. ;) Seriously, even JUST being able to stay underwater for an hour at a time would be pretty amazing.