Tim Blair

Thanks to Burt, the eternal battle of chicken versus man is suddenly tilted in our favour.

That's good to know, because the chicken is the dumbest bird God ever made. Next to turkeys.

Good. Now we can find out if the egg came first.

have they sequenced the plastic turkey yet?

Your story still works if you replace "chicken" by "socialist" throughout. Though chickens are more useful, obviously.

I'm tangentially involved in the field of bioinformatics, and can tell you that this sort of announcement occurs on a weekly basis. There are a lot of species out there. There are vast databases dedicated to storing the genomes of every species yet sequenced.

It's just that anything having to do with chickens is funny, right? I look forward to Tim's reaction when some team sequences the turkey genome. (It'll happen within a few years, no doubt.)

I have to again agree with Gary Larson: "There's something intrinsically funny about cows." So I'm holding out for the Cow Genome Project.

Nightfly, you don't have to hold out much longer:

http://www.genome.gov/12512874

(This is the first draft, but it should be enough for you to get started...)

Did find the DNA sequence that makes them run around after their heads are cut off?

Does knowing the chickens DNA make them any less tasty?

If I remember correctly, or maybe it's just the tryptophan talking, the Orchid has more base pairs than humans, so let's not get all uppity.

Mike S - that is fantastic! They even have a publicity photo of the cow! Let's hear it for "L1 Dominette 01449," a pioneer in bioscience.

Two questions: what is a "3.3-fold coverage"? Shouldn't that have to be a whole number? And will the planned 6-fold coverage find the segment of DNA we share with cows that makes us all yell "moo!" to them as we drive past?

member of the International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium.

I'm sorry, there's just something about the image of this guy handing his businees cards around to young girls in a bar that just cracks me up......

Then why did it cross the road?

I will be awaiting the first-ever moonbat genome sequencing with bated breath. The results should be fascinating...

Anyone here brave enough to guess how many DNA base pairs exist in the brain of Macroglossius lunarius fortitudus parilis - or "common moonbat"?

I reckon about two dozen, tops.

Cheers,

JPB

Crash, it crossed the road to get a pair of genes...

Why did the prairie dog cross the road?

It wanted to play Chicken with the cars.

Why did the duck cross the road?

Because it was stapled to the back of the chicken.

But mankind wants to know if they've gene-sheared in the special herbs and spices yet???

What's the pecking order at the "International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium"?

Rooster teeth. We must uncover the secret of rooster teeth. Everyone WILL have rooster teeth!

Nightfly,

"Two questions: what is a "3.3-fold coverage"? Shouldn't that have to be a whole number?"

The fold coverage is the number of times they have sequenced a section of DNA. For any given stretch of DNA, yes, this is a whole number. But if you average it over the whole genome, you get, well, an average. ; )

"And will the planned 6-fold coverage find the segment of DNA we share with cows that makes us all yell "moo!" to them as we drive past?"

Well, we probably don't share it, since the cows don't yell 'moo' at us, do they? (Or 'shut up, jackass!')

I'm hoping they find the explanation for the martini-drinking Far Side cows, though...

So, if frog legs taste like chicken, does that mean they have the same genes?

What? The frogs are chicken? Is that some kinda political statement?

Thanks again, Mike. Is this your field, or are you a highly-informed observer?

Is the International Chicken Genome Sequencing Consortium hatching a plot to take over the world?

"It's just that anything having to do with chickens is funny, right?"

... maybe 'cause they're bipedal and don't fly (very well) just like us?