Is it "microfeet", kind of like "micrograms"? Or perhaps they mean if you type it out, like ATAGCAG, where A, T, G, and C represent the 4 building block proteins of DNA (Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, and Guanine), that it would strech out for six feet.
I think they mean the DNA is so tightly coiled in its double helix form that if you uncoiled it and laid it end to end, it'd be six feet long. It's still six feet, but we're talking about stuff that's teeny tiny to begin with, so even if you bunch it all up it still wouldn't take up that much room. Think of 6' of fire hose versus 6' of garden hose - they are the same length stretched out, but coiled up the garden hose takes up much less room.
5 comments:
Unless you squish it up real good, I guess. That's the commentary coming to you from the South, at least.
Six feet is not really six feet in scientist terminology. It is like dog years.
It seems to me that I remember that I have heard that some of the things in our bodies are measured in yards not just in feet. GRAMS
Is it "microfeet", kind of like "micrograms"? Or perhaps they mean if you type it out, like ATAGCAG, where A, T, G, and C represent the 4 building block proteins of DNA (Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine, and Guanine), that it would strech out for six feet.
I think they mean the DNA is so tightly coiled in its double helix form that if you uncoiled it and laid it end to end, it'd be six feet long. It's still six feet, but we're talking about stuff that's teeny tiny to begin with, so even if you bunch it all up it still wouldn't take up that much room. Think of 6' of fire hose versus 6' of garden hose - they are the same length stretched out, but coiled up the garden hose takes up much less room.
/\ Don't listen to her. It's gnomish magic.
Post a Comment