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Why DNA? | |||||||||||||||
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Is
DNA the secret of life? The driving force? That elusive key for which man
has been searching since the beginning of time? Is it the fountain of life
itself? Have we found it right here, lurking on our own doorstep? It's
not out there amongst the twinkies in outer space, after all, it's deep
down inside every vibrant and mysterious fiber of our being. Locked away
are the secrets of history, the present, and quite probably the future.
And eventually, some day, DNA will reveal all of its infinitely microscopic
and profound secrets.
Since everyone's DNA is different, it follows that we are all different. Not alone, but different. Each ancestral generation, each building block throughout history, has added its own two cents worth to this great presence called you, and your DNA. Through the vast networks of your ancestral history you've arrived. Now, we might achieve a deeper understanding of the essence of life, and that's the way life is, and always has been. So far, in its short life, we've only thought of the DNA as a physical, one-dimensional relationship to our body and its physical functions, and our unique DNA identification mostly for criminal detection purposes. There may be much more depth to a particular heritable line than just the one-dimensional superficial blueprint. How far do these unique characteristics go back in time? How many did not arrive here at this time, such as Neanderthal man, a whole slice of humanity, which didn't survive. Why? How many survived more than just adequately - they blossomed, exploded. Is this trend traceable to family surnames? Modestly, many of us disclaim aspirations to grandeur. Yet, fifty years ago, it was claimed, for instance, there were two million living descendants of the Norman King Robert the Bruce, a rather energetic and virile King of Scotland, who, is claimed, had 26 legitimate children and another 28 of the little tikes outside the blanket, as the saying goes. His DNA must have been a procreative blueprint driven by rocket thrusters, a real powerhouse. Is the drive to survive part of the DNA, too? There have been many allegations of racial characteristics prevailing in groups but I'm not going to touch that one with the proverbial ten-footer. DNA is not only a blueprint of the living (for crime and other identification purposes) it is also a trail to the past, perhaps our only legitimate trail. It is this profound heritage that makes us different and can only be traced by the surname. It also seals the network relationship of family ties. How meaningful this new tracing facility will become depends on our future needs for survival, how fast can we get it up and running as a viable and reliable tool. However, if we suggest that this modern, 'instant snap shot' of DNA, as we know it from the O.J. trial, etc., is a quick understanding of all the contributors from the past, we may stagger into a minefield of complete misunderstanding. DNA is as effective and unique an historic tool as it is for those presently living. It opens a new and formidable world of research, which only the modern computer can accommodate and support because of the size of the complex networks and databases involved. Our database has been in continual development since 1971 on one of the first microcomputers ever produced. This immense work has been recognized as Research and Development, allowable by Revenue Canada. |
Why DNA?
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