mutants are so cool
this probably doesn't relate all that directly to the project, since it has nothing to do with brains or minds, but it does have to do with development and modularity, and i think it's cool.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbzwdr/teaching/b250-99/homeotic.htm
basically when fly genes are messed with, they get legs on their heads. fully formed legs. I'm not totally clear on what homeotic genes are, but i think it has something to do with regulating development. like they tell the body part: grow in this location at this time and at this speed. and other genes (not homeotic ones) are responsible for deciding what the body part will be like, basically. so there are (at least) 2 different kinds of genes, some for the nitty gritty details, and some for the overall organization.
if someone who knew anything about biology were to read this, they's probably think i'm a total idiot, but i think this is the basic genetics for dummies sort of idea.
one way in which this might sort of relate to the project... it reminds me of something I read about kids with Williams Syndrome. they're these pixie-like kids who have strange shaped heads and who talk a lot, have really big vocabularies, and are hyper-social. they just talk a lot of bullshit and don't actually seem to understand what they or anyone else are saying. And what I read about them is that what seems to be wrong with their brains, is that they're missing a part. like it's just not there, and the rest of their brain ended up forming in a different way to fill in the gap, which is why their heads are a funny shape and they look like pixies. so that seems like it might be the same sort of mutation, where something went wrong with a homeotic gene.
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucbzwdr/teaching/b250-99/homeotic.htm
basically when fly genes are messed with, they get legs on their heads. fully formed legs. I'm not totally clear on what homeotic genes are, but i think it has something to do with regulating development. like they tell the body part: grow in this location at this time and at this speed. and other genes (not homeotic ones) are responsible for deciding what the body part will be like, basically. so there are (at least) 2 different kinds of genes, some for the nitty gritty details, and some for the overall organization.
if someone who knew anything about biology were to read this, they's probably think i'm a total idiot, but i think this is the basic genetics for dummies sort of idea.
one way in which this might sort of relate to the project... it reminds me of something I read about kids with Williams Syndrome. they're these pixie-like kids who have strange shaped heads and who talk a lot, have really big vocabularies, and are hyper-social. they just talk a lot of bullshit and don't actually seem to understand what they or anyone else are saying. And what I read about them is that what seems to be wrong with their brains, is that they're missing a part. like it's just not there, and the rest of their brain ended up forming in a different way to fill in the gap, which is why their heads are a funny shape and they look like pixies. so that seems like it might be the same sort of mutation, where something went wrong with a homeotic gene.
posted by cs at 2:14 PM
1 Comments:
an embarassing aside:
maybe my life's work could end up being studying mutants. that would make for interesting dinner party conversation. basically, one way of choosing an academic career path (or ending up with one by accident) might be to choose an animal or a disease or something, and then have all of your work be about that, even if the questions you're concerned with are of a more general nature. So mutants could be my thing. or maybe not.
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