Ask me about...

[Steerpike]

Thought I'd join in with the "ask me about" threads. I suppose there are two main areas where I might have information of use.

The first probably isn't as important to your story as to the business of writing. I'm a patent, trademark, and copyright attorney by day, so you can ask me questions about those areas of law. I've also taught Constitutional Law (U.S.), and so I have some grounding there.

Prior to law school, I was a research scientist (I have a B.S in Microbiology, Chemistry minor, and I bailed out of a Ph.D. program in Biochemistry after finishing the first two years - completed the course work, did not do thesis). So I have some knowledge in those areas, and some of my patent work is in biotech/pharma so that keeps me in the loop.

 

[Ravana]

Actually, I'm quite sure I could come up with abundant questions for you… though I suspect the thread would get a bit abstruse fairly rapidly (or the back-and-forth too lengthy). If I come up with any narrow ( ) questions on Constitutional law, I'll post them.

You might want to start an "Ask-Me" thread in the Publishing forum on copyright law–seeing as that's a topic near and dear to a great many of our hearts, whereas I suspect few would think to look for it here. (Or maybe that's a reason for you not to want to start one there.…) Let me know if you do, and I'll stick the thread… assuming no one else beats me to it. Research questions on copyrights and related law could still be asked here, at any rate–the difference, I guess, being whether the querent wants the answer for something he's writing, or something he's written. Well, that, plus around $400 an hour.

-

Hmm… the only biochem question I can think of that I've had lately is "How does the DNA know what to do…?"

 

[Steerpike]

Ravana:

I started a thread in Publishing about Copyrights and Trademarks. Those are the two areas most likely to come up in publishing (not counting just general contract law).

How does DNA know what to do? You don't like to start with the easy ones, eh?

The simplest answer is that the genetic code contained in the DNA (the ATGC base pairs) direct the body to produce proteins having amino acids in an order that corresponds to the code in the DNA. The proteins are functional, and the function depends in large part on the amino-acid sequence and three dimensional-structure of the protein. The DNA doesn't exactly "know" what to do. It serves as a template upon which proteins in the body (enzymes) can construct new proteins. You also get the involvement of small molecules like transcription repressors and activators that can turn on or off certain stretches of DNA. The body had many complex feedback systems to help regulate this.

Is that what you had in mind?

 

[Sheilawisz]

Hello Steerpike, I have a question for your expertise in these matters:

My Joan of England series takes place in a parallel Earth, which is very similar to this planet with a few curious differences: They have a news channel called ZNN, a sports network called EZPN, the British Prime minister is a man with very long red hair that happens to be called Tony Blair, they have a dangerous tournament of extreme sports called the Z Games and there is a famous ice figure skater called Sasha Cohen who is younger and looks totally different to the Alexandra "Sasha" Cohen from our planet.

What kind of legal complications could this cause for my series??

Music bands and songs from our world exist there too, and they are mentioned sometimes in the story =)

 

[Ravana]

They have a news channel called ZNN…

What kind of legal complications could this cause for my series??

The only good review you'll ever receive for it will be on Faux News.

 

[Ravana]

How does DNA know what to do? You don't like to start with the easy ones, eh?

Of course not. The easy ones I already know the answers to.

The DNA doesn't exactly "know" what to do.

…and, for that matter, I already knew this one, too. Though the question was no less serious for all that–I'm sure it's the number one question research geneticists ask themselves. Even if most of them keep it on a back burner while they pursue more practical ones.

I always find it mind-boggling that a single chain of code could produce so many diverse results–and, 99.9-something-or-other million times out of 100M, keep those results in the right places–and even more mind-boggling that they can do this with four comparatively simple molecules. No, strike that: four astoundingly simple molecules. (Okay, technically not "molecules" when they're part of the DNA since the entire mess is a pair of intertwined molecules.) Of course, I also have problems conceptualizing how the computer I'm typing on does its thing, too. I know it works (usually: it's a PC… ), and I know the theory behind how it works, but it still bloody well seems like magic to me that any number of 'on' and 'off' configurations could get it to actually do what it does.

At the same time, it seems amazingly inefficient for every single cell (red blood cells aside–okay, here is a question you might be able to help with: why don't mammalian red cells have nuclei?) to bear a complete copy of that code. I would have thought it more efficient for specialized cells to receive the paragraph they needed, not the whole encyclopedia set. I'm all in favor of redundancy in complex systems… up to a point. I still have a spare toaster around somewhere–well, did: the second-to-last crapped out recently. But in part that's because I toast things. I don't keep two spare tanks for my acetylene torch around, for two reasons, both of which I consider fairly solid: (1) they're hazardous; (2) I don't own an acetylene torch. (Similarly, I don't have extra cans of Purina Tiger Chow in the basement, even though in that case not having them could prove the more hazardous eventuality. I don't lose much sleep over it.)

 

[Sheilawisz]

Faux News sounds great, Ravana!! Maybe I should include that in my parallel Joan world =) I think that there should be no problem with ZNN, but probably I will change Tony Blair for Larry Blair and Sasha Cohen for Sasha Lohan.

 

[SeverinR]

Reminds me of the comercial with the young child asking:
Why is the epidermus a semi permiable membrane? (paraphrased, couldn't find a direct quote, I think he uses a couple more big words but I can't remember how it was worded.)
I always wondered how long it took the child to learn to say those words correctly.

 

[ascanius]

I have questions that could fill three pages of this post, but sadly none of them are retentive to writing. But I'm going to ask this one. What do you know about regulatory process of the inclusion of exons and introns in transcription. I have never understood how these specific sequences are recognized. Sorry I had to ask.

 

[Devor]

I've got a question about genetics and evolution, Steerpike, since you seem knowledgeable about these things in the Egyptian thread.

I've been reading about certain animals on wikipedia, and I see remarks about mitochondrial DNA proving, for example, two big cats separated 4 million years ago. Or that all dogs evolved from the wolf some thousands of years ago.

My question, why is it always mitochondrial DNA in these remarks about speciation? I get that chromosomal DNA is more complex, but wouldn't they match up?

 

[Steerpike]

I have questions that could fill three pages of this post, but sadly none of them are retentive to writing. But I'm going to ask this one. What do you know about regulatory process of the inclusion of exons and introns in transcription. I have never understood how these specific sequences are recognized. Sorry I had to ask.

There are enzymes that recognize certain sequences and splice them out. I don't think this is completely understood yet, because there looks to be a lot more variability in those sequences than one might expect. That said, this is an area that is heavily researched and there might well have been significant developments since I was involved in this.

 

[Steerpike]

I've got a question about genetics and evolution, Steerpike, since you seem knowledgeable about these things in the Egyptian thread.

I've been reading about certain animals on wikipedia, and I see remarks about mitochondrial DNA proving, for example, two big cats separated 4 million years ago. Or that all dogs evolved from the wolf some thousands of years ago.

My question, why is it always mitochondrial DNA in these remarks about speciation? I get that chromosomal DNA is more complex, but wouldn't they match up?

Mitochondria are inherited almost entirely from the mother. You don't have the recombination going on that you get when sperm and egg combine and DNA from both parents mix to form the offspring. Because of this, the mitochondrial DNA you have is almost exactly the same as that of your mother. Mutations accumulate over time, but you don't have to deal with issues of diversity involving sexual reproduction. Scientists have a pretty good handle on how fast mutations in mitochondria accumulate (or feel that they do), and by knowing that, and looking at the degree of similarity between mtDNA in two organisms, you can get a pretty good idea of how long ago they had a common ancestor.

 

[Ivan]

I would like to know, what are the biochemical and legal challenges to be overcome in filling a hovercraft with eels?

 

[Steerpike]

The legal challenges involve nothing more than subpoenaing said eels and compelling them to appear before the hovercraft. Biological and spatial challenges are mitigated by the judicious application of chlorosulfonic acid, though there is some arguments as to whether they cease to become eels at some point and the bill to clean/repair the hovercraft can be prohibitive. I recommend going for a reasonable number of eels instead.

 

[Sia]

Why are most people right-handed? I'm mainly asking to see if I can figure out the rationale for handedness seeming to have gotten flipped in my world.

 

[Butterfly]

It's to do with evolution and how the brain is divided up. It has two hemispheres, one of which is dominant over the other. Logic on the left (also language) and creativity on the right. For some reason, I don't know why, the left part of the brain controls the right side of the body, and the right brain controls the left side.

With evolution, it is more beneficial to have a dominant logic side, (the left), over the creative. It's the issue of problem solving, resourcefulness, and survival needs.

I believe it's a theory that in left handed people, the hemispheres are wired up in reverse.

They also say that creative individuals, such as musicians and writers, have a larger right hemisphere than the left.

Handedness - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lateralization of brain function - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Steerpike]

Here, too, is a brief article from a professor at PSU who studies the issue:

What causes some people to be left-handed, and why are fewer people left-handed than right-handed?: Scientific American