Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Vikings Come to Jurassic Park


Scientists raiding a pagan burial ground have retrieved useable DNA strands from ten Vikings, all dead about 1000 years.  (Apparently, not all Vikings were incinerated at sea).  It's a big deal, because previous efforts have been contaminated with modern DNA, leading some people to think we could never clone our ancestors.  Joke's on them, though.

Oh, they'll try to tell you it's all about the boring stuff that constitutes "real science" -- migration patterns, the origin of genetic diseases, yadda-yadda.  The authors of the paper even write that "retrieval of authentic DNA opens the way for a valuable use of prehistoric human remains to elucidate the genetic history of past and extant populations."

Sure it will, boys.  Sure it will.  But we all know what you're up to:  A cloned army of berserkers, sweeping down from the frozen north to pillage and destroy.  Or else a revolution in Minnesota football.

1 comment:

mark said...

Where do you get this stuff?