15 September 2005
answers to some ? from the last posting
Admitedly most of the hardcore scientists in my life know this (I guess I accidentally caught you in a trap here) so they try hard not to explain to me, because it's clear from the start that I won't get it no matter what you say.
Hey! I am REALLY trying here! If it is not helping, I can try explaining it another way. I do not mind. My job as a scientist is to help the general public in one way or another. If they do not understand what I am doing and saying, than how can I expect them to make sure that I get the funding that I need to do more research? Science is REALLY NOT that hard to understand, but so many people have been turned off by bad teachers/ones with no patience for explaining that the general population of the world thinks that science is TOO hard to even be bothered with!!! I could go on about this topic for hours….
I'm not sorry I asked, because if I didn't ask... I'd never understand anything about science, even in my warped (and clearly incorrect) way
When I start explaining things…sometimes people get this glassy eyed look and you can see the wheels in the head turning trying to find a way out…I just want to make sure that you were not doing that.
Ok, so then one last question...
There seems to be a bit more than just one here!!!
**wipes brow, cracks knuckles to prepare**
Why do you want to PCR your DNA?
We PCR the DNA to obtain many copies of it, is the short answer. For the long answer, see next question/answer set.
Why do we need a huge # of copies of a gene if it's not cloning it?
Okay, first off, do not think of PCR as a clone. Think of a PCR as a photocopy of the original DNA; trust me it will help you out in the long run. One reason that I say this is because things can go wrong with Photocopying. i.e. The alignment of the original was slightly off, so you might cut off the start of a word or you cut the top off on the copy, etc…I am sure that you have photocopied enough times in your daily struggles as a grad student. Some times the PCR makes a mistake, but we now pay a whole lot of money for reagents that have “proof reading” functions for our PCR’s so that this does not happen. It is like paying to have Kinko’s to do your photocopying, as to some random undergrad.
But anyway, on to your question – say at a crime seen there is not even one drop of blood left by a killer. To help law enforcement figure out whose blood it is, they need to obtain information from it. As blood is notoriously hard to interrogate (it is pretty silent), we use PCRing and sequencing to obtain information that it would not normally give out. We can use small amounts of the blood, extract the DNA from it and then use PCRing and sequencing techniques so that we see more of the DNA and thus use that information to compare it to a person that is suspected of the crime when they give us (or we obtain) a sample for comparison.
(and frankly, even if it were cloning it, why do we need it?)
We only clone when questions about the DNA arise, such as is that personal DNA really saying what we think it is?
How does this help?
Cloning is a technique that is used for conformation of a DNA sequence.
And what if it doesn't help?
It does. *evil laugh* And if it does not want to play, we have other methods of making the DNA talk to us…*very evil laugh*
Of course my peeps were veggie ones! (zero calories, too!)
Just making sure that you would not be holding any resentment or anything towards me
Hey! I am REALLY trying here! If it is not helping, I can try explaining it another way. I do not mind. My job as a scientist is to help the general public in one way or another. If they do not understand what I am doing and saying, than how can I expect them to make sure that I get the funding that I need to do more research? Science is REALLY NOT that hard to understand, but so many people have been turned off by bad teachers/ones with no patience for explaining that the general population of the world thinks that science is TOO hard to even be bothered with!!! I could go on about this topic for hours….
I'm not sorry I asked, because if I didn't ask... I'd never understand anything about science, even in my warped (and clearly incorrect) way
When I start explaining things…sometimes people get this glassy eyed look and you can see the wheels in the head turning trying to find a way out…I just want to make sure that you were not doing that.
Ok, so then one last question...
There seems to be a bit more than just one here!!!
**wipes brow, cracks knuckles to prepare**
Why do you want to PCR your DNA?
We PCR the DNA to obtain many copies of it, is the short answer. For the long answer, see next question/answer set.
Why do we need a huge # of copies of a gene if it's not cloning it?
Okay, first off, do not think of PCR as a clone. Think of a PCR as a photocopy of the original DNA; trust me it will help you out in the long run. One reason that I say this is because things can go wrong with Photocopying. i.e. The alignment of the original was slightly off, so you might cut off the start of a word or you cut the top off on the copy, etc…I am sure that you have photocopied enough times in your daily struggles as a grad student. Some times the PCR makes a mistake, but we now pay a whole lot of money for reagents that have “proof reading” functions for our PCR’s so that this does not happen. It is like paying to have Kinko’s to do your photocopying, as to some random undergrad.
But anyway, on to your question – say at a crime seen there is not even one drop of blood left by a killer. To help law enforcement figure out whose blood it is, they need to obtain information from it. As blood is notoriously hard to interrogate (it is pretty silent), we use PCRing and sequencing to obtain information that it would not normally give out. We can use small amounts of the blood, extract the DNA from it and then use PCRing and sequencing techniques so that we see more of the DNA and thus use that information to compare it to a person that is suspected of the crime when they give us (or we obtain) a sample for comparison.
(and frankly, even if it were cloning it, why do we need it?)
We only clone when questions about the DNA arise, such as is that personal DNA really saying what we think it is?
How does this help?
Cloning is a technique that is used for conformation of a DNA sequence.
And what if it doesn't help?
It does. *evil laugh* And if it does not want to play, we have other methods of making the DNA talk to us…*very evil laugh*
Of course my peeps were veggie ones! (zero calories, too!)
Just making sure that you would not be holding any resentment or anything towards me
