Thursday 6 September 2012

DNA

Cricketers will share the excitement in the scientific world with the news that the most detailed analysis to date of the human genome has just been published. The Encode project has analysed all three billion pairs of genetic code that make up our DNA.
DNA

Among the important discoveries are that a far larger chunk of our genetic code is biologically active than previously thought - previous views suggested that a large proportion of the human genome might be junk DNA performing no specific function.   But recent studies reveal that 80% of the genome is performing a specific function including switching certain functions on or off.  These may be related to the development of risk factors for certain conditions.

This carries important implications for cricketers.  While scientists have yet fully to confirm it, Fantasy Bob expects that an announcement soon will lead to the identification of the gene sequence which leads to the common condition 'swinging across the line.' A parallel race is on among scientists to identify the gene sequence which produces 'missing the straight one'. Gene therapies may soon become available for these distressing conditions which were previously considered untreatable in the majority of cases.

Scientists have also confirmed that humans share significant amounts of genetic material with other species. In a highly secret piece of research in the world famous Carlton BioLab, Fantasy Bob's genes have been subject to intense investigation which have revealed that FB shares 99% of his genetic material with a mouse, 85% with wheat, but 0% with Sir Donald Bradman.

3 comments:

  1. According to another interesting piece of research that has come to light recently, the female brain is significantly better at detecting different shades of colour than the male. This may explain the female preference for choosing the colour scheme in the bathroom. On the other hand, the male brain is better suited to following a fast-moving object. Does this conclusion have any relevance to Fantasy Bob?

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    Replies
    1. As anyone who has seen FB in the field will know following a fast moving object, particularly to the long off boundary, is no longer within FB's skill set. But he does not know whether this means he is also more inclined to pastel shaded bathroom ware.

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  2. It may mean that FB is better equipped to deal with the fast-moving object projected in his direction as a result of his choosing the wrong shade of Dulux for the bathroom.

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