gene sequencing
" Gene sequencing is like learning the phone numbers for everyone in the world, but we don't really know which number goes to which person--we don't know what all of the gene sequence actually means to health, disease, and other characteristics of humans. So this is very important beginning information that will allow the next phase: functional genetics, or genomics, to unravel what genes do. "
"To make an analogy, gene sequencing is like having a big pile of automobile parts dumped on the floor, and the scientists have to put it all back together again. But there's one big problem: they don't know it's a car - it's just a pile of parts. So they have to take every single little part and try to figure out all the places it could fit. Here's one little screw. You've got to find all the hundreds of different threaded holes it might possibly fit into. That one step narrows down the possibilities for that particular screw to a few dozen, and takes an enormous amount of computing. "
"With all the excitement generated by gene sequences, it is easy to forget that the primary purpose of most genes is to code for proteins. The proteins are biological macromolecules that are of primary importance to all living organisms. If gene sequencing is like the recording of music,then proteins are like the playback"
METAMIA is a free database of analogy and metaphor. Anyone can contribute or search. The subject matter can be anything. Science is popular, but poetry is encouraged. The goal is to integrate our fluid muses with the stark literalism of a relational database. Metamia is like a girdle for your muses, a cognitive girdle.