From: Richard.Bragg@ssa.co.uk
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 01:37:28 +0800
To: xasper8d@lobo.net
Subject: RE: DNA
Message-ID: <8025669D.005D7FCE.00@seunt002e.ssa.co.uk>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Ok so the genotype is the same (same DNA) but the phenotype is different
(what you see).  It's more complex than
this but there are all sorts of ways that genes express themselves and how
this can be changed.

A good dose of phenol or benzene can do wonders to your genetic material.
A trip to Windscale (sorry Selafield) to
inspect the inside of the reactor vessel etc all has an effect.  DNA
testing would probably never look at
the entire sequence anyway.  It would look at enough to give near unique
markers.  Using a "drill down" technique to
gradually exclude until only one remains.

ie normal number of gene pairs  (not many people live with duff code in
here but there are some)
male vs female   (50%)
blood group
etc
Why use actual matching until you need to, it's expensive.  You get down to
a handful and test those on a wider range of codes.   You hope the samples
are good and the genes haven't been damaged or contaminated.

Don't rely on the science.  The science is our tool NOT us of the science.
We already rely too much on
the technology, science, methods etc.  This is not a scientific way of
working.

Anyway have fun!!

Hwyl