Public service announcement

[liv]

DNA sequencing is not magic.

Thankyou.

This comment prompted by a combination of:
– an otherwise good novel in which the simple fact of sequencing the human genome, described in mystical terms, is enough to propel the world into an SF future.
– a death penalty debate where it is suggested that now we have DNA evidence, we can execute people in good conscience.
– general frustration with scientific illiteracy.

I shall now return to my regularly scheduled thesis writing (in which sequencing DNA does not magically solve any problems, and in many cases does not in fact give any useful information about biology.)

Comments

[liv]

Forensic DNA evidence isn't usually sequencing, anyway, is it?
Fair pedantry. Fingerprinting seems to me like a specialized kind of sequencing, in that ultimately the sequence is what determines what the fingerprint looks like, but I agree it's not sequencing at the level of finding out the exact order of DNA bases.

[pseudomonas.livejournal.com]

You have a point that the difference isn't that relevant here - it's the mystique of "DNA" stuff that's doing the work.