Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: busy

Triple Helix

While this is described as "cyborg DNA" it is not.  It is triple-helix meatlife DNA.  Cyborg DNA is made of metal or information, depending what type of cyborg it is and how that species reproduces.  Still, this is really cool stuff.
Tags: news, science
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  • 20 comments
terrycloth

terrycloth

March 2 2011, 19:36:23 UTC 10 years ago

And it dissolves in water, so you'd have to come up with an alternate metabolism using some other solvent -- methane, maybe? I bet that would turn your skin a weird color. But it would be worth it for the extra abilities the improved DNA would give you!

As long as no one poured any water on you, because you'd *melt*!
ysabetwordsmith

Well...

ysabetwordsmith

March 2 2011, 20:55:18 UTC 10 years ago

You can either change the style of the 3rd DNA strand to be waterproof, or modify the surrounding metabolism to use something other than H20 as its fluid base. Yes, methane is a possibility for the latter. Ethane and acetyline have also been suggested.
siege

Re: Well...

siege

March 3 2011, 03:59:36 UTC 10 years ago

You'd have to be careful about heat from bodily reactions for all three of these; they'd catch fire if the oxidation was strong enough! And free radicals are basically just O+ ions waiting to oxidize something...
ysabetwordsmith

Re: Well...

ysabetwordsmith

March 3 2011, 05:00:38 UTC 10 years ago

That's probably why this kind of arrangement is usually suggested for iceworlds such as Titan, where such materials are a natural part of the environment. It would be difficult or impossible to make such a thing work here on Earth.