Wednesday, November 09, 2005

DNA is now FASHIONABLE

Make your DNA into a giant portrait to hang in your living room! only $400. Ethidium bromide background, smearing or other contamination may or may not be removed from the photo. Adobe photoshop may be used to change the contrast and/or colors for several hundred dollars more. Available through dna11.com.

Or, contact me to get a picture of some other random DNA that looks about the same for FREE. You'll have to enlarge it and/or alter it in photoshop yourself though.

5 comments:

arial said...

I can't believe the lanes on that picture aren't labeled.

Also, do you think the people with it hanging on their wall know that the outside lanes (possibly the coolest looking lanes) are size markers? At least I think that's what they are, it's been quite awhile since I've run a DNA gel.

Anonymous said...

I think this is rather interesting actually. I've paid more for art in the past that wasen't even this custom. I think you might have both missed the point here. This is art, not a science expirement. I don't see why they would need to mark the lanes?In my humble opinion that would ruin the look of the art piece.Why would someone want someone else's DNA hanging in their living room even if it is for **free**? I would not mind getting one these done for my son.

arial said...

This is in reply to anonymous.

The comment about the lanes not being labeled was a science joke...I know it would make the "art" look bad.

So it's not an experiment...then why do they even need to run 2 lanes of size ladders anyway? Why not just fill the gel up with beautiful custom DNA?

Also, you (and everyone else) would never know the difference between your son's DNA on the wall and some random DNA bands (which could be what they actually give you).

J-Funk said...

I have to agree a little bit with both of you. All of us scientists have run hundreds of gels like this and it probably never occurred to any of us that it might be considered art. Obviously somebody thought it would though. Since I look at them every day I never would want one on my own wall but I can see why someone else might, particularly if it's your own DNA (or you think it's your own DNA).

Also, I think they have size markers on either end to make it look more balanced. Or maybe it's just because that guarantees two lanes on the gel will look good with no smearing.

I thought the comment about the lanes not being labeled was totally hilarious.

Speaking of gels, I have to go run one right now, and I'm going to make sure I label the lanes.

arial said...

I agree with your comments j-funk. It is a reasonably good marketing idea to sell pictures of dna gels as art. I'm just not interested in it for myself and I don't think most people who have ever run a gel themselves would be either.

The size markers might just be that way on their sample gels, most of the pictures they show look like they have identical samples/are the same gel in different colors.

I'm not even sure how you get good looking/ different DNA gels for everyone from just a little bit of restriction mapping and probably some PCR so I guess they had to figure that one out.

I'm glad someone got my labeled lanes joke.

Time to take a break

 What do you do to relax? These past two years I feel like I have forgotten how to relax. It reminds me a little of grad school and how afte...