Here There Be Dragons

ThisNukes4u writes "The Economist reports that scientists in California are coming closer to creating real-life mythical animals. Basically, they re-create the natural selection process through a computer simulation and then clone the resulting set of DNA in a donor animal." From the article: "Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, gryphon, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and, most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the gryphon). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled."

I Like Pickles!!!

[DAldredge]

I Like Pickles!!!

Please mod me up to +5!!!!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:I Like Pickles!!!

[jouvart]

Wow, April Fools sure is going to make metamoderators' jobs fun.

Re:I Like Pickles!!!

[PapayaSF]

Then you'll love the mysterious pickled dragon [smh.com.au].

Re:I Like Pickles!!!

[linzeal]

No longer a mystery, tastes like chicken (*burp*).

Re:I Like Pickles!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

So, is this article actually fake or not? I know it's April Fools Day now, but the date on the Economist article is "Mar 30th 2006"...

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:First P....

[m50d]

OMG that's so totally clever!!!

OMG!!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

zomg i love dragons especially that brown one i hope they show him with hats to LOLOLOLOLOL!!!

Ok I gottta go now bye!!!

Finally a way to finish the collection

[buxtehude]

Hey this is great, I can now finish off my lifesize Polly Pocket collection with a real life Unicorn....thats...like...YEAH!!

Re:Finally a way to finish the collection

[Flopy]

Those could be added to the new OMG PONIES!! slashdot theme!
OMG REAL LIVE MULTI-COLORED UNICORNS!!
mythical animals are SO CUTE!

Re:Finally a way to finish the collection

[buxtehude]

oh I know anything OMG has got to be cute....we could even have a belated OMG DRUNKEN LEPRECHAUNS!!! Patty's Day theme and it would still be cute

Sure!

[Anonymous Coward]

Sure. And I am King Of Persia!

Mermaids

[Jedi Alec]

I'll have 2 please. Grilled, preferably.

Obligatory Quote

[Raul654]

"Why couldn't she have been the other kind of mermaid, with the fish half on top and the lady half on the bottom?" -- Fry, Futurama

Re:Obligatory Quote

[WaKall]

Do you mean like this mermaid [amazon.com]?

Re:Obligatory Quote

[saforrest]

"Why couldn't she have been the other kind of mermaid, with the fish half on top and the lady half on the bottom?" -- Fry, Futurama

See Wikipedia's entry on the "mermaid problem" [wikipedia.org].

Re:Mermaids

[Jru Hym]

Sorry, no mermaids or minotaurs. G.W. forbade the creation of human animal hybrids.

Ha!

[Ctrl+Alt+De1337]

They will be nothing compared to mighty Trogdor! Those things wouldn't know majesty if it came up and bit 'em in the face.

Re:Ha!

[Soul-Burn666]

Didn't you mean those things wouldn't know majesty if it came up and burninated their face? It's the mighty trogdor we are talking about it!

Re:Ha!

[It'sYerMam]

Oh, come on, EVERYONE knows how the email goes.

Zardoz

[KajiCo]

Won't they also need Sean Connery's vocal chord genes?

"To the stars Bowen, to the stars."

Anne McCaffery was right after all.

[cekerr]

All predicted in her dozen "Dragonriders of Pern" novels.

Yeah, but Vance was earlier (1962), and more brief

[smittyoneeach]

http://www.sfsite.com/11a/dm163.htm [sfsite.com]

Though I wouldn't necessarily argue better: why not enjoy both?

Re:Anne McCaffery was right after all.

[MtViewGuy]

Actually, no thanks to dragons.

Given their fairly high intelligence (and REALLY high if they're magical), such a creature could burn down an entire town before you know it. (eek!)

An interesting observation....

[rune2]

You know it's gotta be April Fool's when there are no dupes and people actually RTFA... (besides the whole color scheme thing that is)

Re:An interesting observation....

[bloodstar]

I'm not sure which is scarier, that the article is a serious article (in The Economist no less), or the no dupes bit. Maybe they replaced the editors with... OMG!! Ponies!! err...

Re:An interesting observation....

[bloodstar]

(you know it's bad when you have to follow up your own post)

Next time I'm so going to check the related items links. that big bold statement at the bottom of "Fool's Goldfish" maybe a subtle hint. I'm not sure though. Forget "Mad Max", I'm holding out hope for "Reign of Fire." After all, it's not every day you get to remark about guys leaping at dragons with Battle axes.

Re:An interesting observation....

[cciRRus]

You know it's gotta be April Fool's when there are no dupes and people actually RTFA... (besides the whole color scheme thing that is)

Actually, the tags associated to this submission is a dead giveaway.

[+] aprilfools, biotech (tagging beta)

Re:An interesting observation....

[gavri]

Those tags are created by users. It's not the official word. It could be wrong.

genetic algorithms

[Snof]

That's so much more awesome than the genetic algorithms I worked with when I studied AI. Technology has come a long way in the past... few hours.

OMG!!! UNICORNS!

[Rhinobird]

That's like ponies, but, uh, one better...
We need more pink in here STAT!

"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Anonymous Coward]

From http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm? story_id=348179 [economist.com] :

The firm's first product is a goldfish that is genuinely gold, not the shade of orange that currently passes for that colour in ichthyological circles. To create this animal required two things. The first was the introduction of a gene for a genetically modified version of haemoglobin which Paolo Fril, GeneDupe's boss, has dubbed haemaurin. The second was the introduction of a gene for a synthetic enzyme that he calls aurinase.

Unlike

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Durinthal]

Actually, I believe the aurinase and haemaurin names come from the word aurum, which is the Latin term for gold.

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Copy, Paste, Repeat]

Yeah, but the Economist's editors are notoriously fond of punnage and other wordplay. Samuel Beckett began his career reporting for them, you know, and Nabokov spent the '60s working in their Moscow bureau. With that in mind, I wouldn't be surprised if "haemaurin aurinase" is their polite way of saying "hey moron, you're an ass."

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[ozmanjusri]

Yes, I'm the type of person who needs every joke patiently explained.

"Paolo Fril" is an anagram of "Happy Easter"

"San Melito" is French for "Without filtered coffee", a comment reflecting on the state of mind of the OP.

HTH, Oz.

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[barefootgenius]

Hey dude, like, there's no f in easter or happy.

Ob. python ref

[Bloke down the pub]

It's a palindrome.

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Luis Cypher]

haemaurin aurinase. = Hey moron you're an ass

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[shawb]

You're looking too deep... auro is the (latin? greek? not sure which) root for gold.

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Kelson]

Well, Paulo Fril is an anagram. Still trying to figure out San Melito.

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[some guy I know]

Well, Paulo Fril is an anagram. Still trying to figure out San Melito.

"San Melito" is an anagram for "Slime NATO", "melt Ansio", "neato miles", "eat no smile", "lame site", "nasty tonsils", or "ant overlords" (which I, for one, welcome).

BTW, did you know that "anagram" is an anagram of "acronym"?

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[Anonymous Coward]

And "Paolo Fril"?

April Fool

Re:"Haemaurin" and "aurinase"

[skadacl]

"Paolo Fril"? Look at the letters: they're an anagram! Rearrange them and you get April Fool =)

Damn liberals

[Aqua OS X]

This is just another sign of the liberal pro-unicorn agenda.

I hope the president takes a stand against this just as he has so powerfully taken a stand against human animal hybrids.

Re:Damn liberals

[pimpimpim]

Unicorns are not human animal hybrids. I guess you mean centaurs!

Re:Damn liberals

[TapeCutter]

1. First they came fo the unicorns.
2. Then the horses with furry feet.
3. Then....OMG PONIES....opps, errr, said too much already...

Re:Damn liberals

[Jesus_666]

Phh. Unicorns. Unless the're pink and invisible they're just walking meat. With a horn.

Got to respect The Economist

[archgoon]

High quality articles, even when they're fake. :)

Re:Got to respect The Economist

[Raul654]

Pffft, the New York Times is clearly superior. They ran fake articles [wikipedia.org] for months before anyone caught on.

Re:Got to respect The Economist

[flyingsquid]

Don't forget all those articles the NYTimes' Judith Miller wrote about Iraq's WMD programs. Of course, you also have to give her White House sources credit too.

Re:Got to respect The Economist

[Kelson]

Yeah. I could actually believe someone would do the computer simulationsm, though there were clues even in that part of the article. Aside from the matter of how much genome data we have to start with, it's the kind of think you expect some team of grad students to come up with for fun in their off hours, like the guys who measured the flatness of a pancake [ljworld.com] in a laser microscope and compared it to elevation data [npr.org] for Kansas (to determine, one and for all, whether Kansas really is as flat as a pancake). Re

How is this coming closer to real life?

[killa62]

This just seems like a computer simulated process of natural selection. How will this make cloning come to real life?
There is absolutely no way to get this computer simulated process to be viable and used in real life..

1. Computer takes random genome.
2. Changes it and picks closest-looking one to target.
4. ???
5. PROFIT!

A Short Step from "Designer" People

[reporter]

This technology is just a short step from "designer" people. Eventually, you will be able to create the type of kids or soldiers which the parents or the army wants.

On 2005 August 24, Slashdot reported that Washington is working to develop laser cannons (i.e. "phasers") [slashdot.org].

On 2006 January 5, Slashdot reported that Washington is working to develop warp engines [slashdot.org].

Now, on 2006 April 1, Slashdot is reporting about a technology that will enable us to create "supermen" [slashdot.org], like those described in the Star-Trek epi

Re:A Short Step from "Designer" People

[mpe]

Now, on 2006 April 1, Slashdot is reporting about a technology that will enable us to create "supermen", like those described in the Star-Trek episode titled "Space Seed".

Most likely they'll have completed flying pigs long before they even start work on honest politicans :)

Re:A Short Step from "Designer" People

[OMG!!! Me!!! LOL!!!]

Oh please, the Klingons are much closer to Earth =D. But really, this is a quite amazing coincidence. I agree that Gene Roddenberry might have gotten closer to predicting the future than he originally imagined. Thank God it's him and not Blizzard Entertainment. I sure as hell don't want MY legs bitten off by creepy, slimey, doglike aliens.

Re:A Short Step from "Designer" People

[barefootgenius]

No. But maybe the first evidence of "Narrative" as predicted by Terry Pratchett.

The Science of Diskworld is recommended reading. Our universe from a Diskworld perspective.
1-Everything wants to be a ball.
2-All balls want to crash into each other.
3-There are no turtles anywhere.

Re:A Short Step from "Designer" People

[FourStarGeneral]

I am almost expecting first contact with the Vulcans.

I'm afraid you're about 57 years too early for that. First contact takes place on April 5, 2063 [memory-alpha.org].

virgins and unicorns

[artificialj]

You know, only a virgin can catch a unicorn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicorn [wikipedia.org]). Seems fitting that this gets posted on /.

Re:virgins and unicorns

[Locke03]

That could possibly be the best burn ever......

Number of Chromosomes?

[Khyber]

I'd like to see a nice, hot mermaid with 69 chromosomes. Till then, I've gotta stick with Carmen Electra's less superior 26 pairs.

Harry Potter

[jm1234567890]

Now Harry Potter fans can reenact scenes from the movie!

Downsides of too much tinkering

[edwardpickman]

How long before most domestic animals including man are chimeras? If adding a single animal or plant gene you could add fifty years to your life expectancy or leave you immune to cancer would you do it? At what point do you cease being human? It's just one gene but it's not a human gene. What about a hundred years down the line when most people have dozens of extra genes? Are we still human? Could we wind up multiple species? Maybe different groups have different added genes and some no longer can interbre

Re:Downsides of too much tinkering

[shawb]

We already are Chimeras. Viruses transfer genetic information between species quite often. It's just that it's random, not a directed process.

Downsides... Breaking it all down

[Chrontius]

How long before most domestic animals including man are chimeras?
Less than fifty years, maybe even less than 20. You'll probably live long enough to see it, and hopefully long enough to recieve the treatment.

If adding a single animal or plant gene you could add fifty years to your life expectancy or leave you immune to cancer would you do it?
In a heartbeat.

At what point do you cease being human?
When I decided that non-augmented homo sapiens sapiens were inefficient and needed to be wiped out. Work on y

Re:Chimeras vs. inserted genes

[Hognoxious]

A chimeric person would have cells with a different set of genes, not foreign genes that are in all the cells. I don't see it happening because it's way freakier than simply inserting a foreign gene.

Animal bits are used in transplants, so there are people walking around with cells from different species - although the foreign cells tend to be all in one place unlike classic chimeras like sheep/goat ones.

fire!!

[deopmix]

it's about time someone came up with a more efficent way to create fire. It's now just a simple 6 step process.

1) google an image of a dragon
2) find an animal that looks like a dragon
3) input 1 and 2 into computer, run simulation
4) take output genome and synthesize DNA
5) place DNA into cell and allow cell to reproduce
6) use resulting dragon to create fire

It's quite simple really, even the new /. demographic could do it.

Re:fire!!

[Scarletdown]

6) use resulting dragon to create fire

Bah! Fire is overrated. I'd rather have a Dragon that could do lightning instead.

You smell that?

[The Hanna]

That's the smell of PETA crapping all over this eventually.

Re:You smell that?

[Scarletdown]

That's the smell of PETA crapping all over this eventually.

Why? What does People Eating Tasty Animals have to do with this?

Yum

[FrankDrebin]

Combine this genetically with healthy bacon [slashdot.org], and we are on our way to Jurassic Pork. Trademark rights to the highest bidder.

i'm a real life mythical animal

[mincognito]

and for the ladies, they should clone the dragon i have in my pants

Dragon babies !!

[Aqua04]

That's so cool ! Imagine dragon babys, everyone ! I want one, awwww. How about a dragon with ribbons in its hair, though ? That would be funny !! LOL ! Cute !! xoxo ... Hey, anyone wanna smoke ?

What the!

[august sun]

I know it's become cliche to say so, but my cat's breath really does smell like cat food.

Tagging

[mobby_6kl]

Wow, I hope googlebot doesn't see the tags people assign to the stories. Each and every story from "Wider Appeal" and newer is tagged "gay". Not that I have a problem with that, but, well, getting links to /. while searching for my daily gay porn dose would be quite disturbing.

More April Fools Jokes

[Urgo]

For the third year in a row, Urgo's list of April Fool's Jokes on Websites [urgo.org] contains the most complete list of April Fool's Day pranks websites have created. Featured by news.com.com.com.. [com.com] and Microsoft [microsoft.com], the site strives to list EVERY joke site, and is updated every few minutes with new verified jokes. wikipedia [wikipedia.org] also contains a sizeable list.

Sample
tveps.net [tveps.net] - Isaac 'Chef' Hayes not leaving southpark after all. Comes clean that it was a publicity stunt.
thinkgeek.com [thinkgeek.com] - USB Tanning Center, RFID Blocking T-shirt, Grow Your Own 1up Mushroom Kit, Caffeine Inhaler, and more
theregister.co.uk [theregister.co.uk] - customise The Register to suit your needs - from blocking ads, to selecting the kind of stories you really want to read.
worldofwarcraft.com [worldofwarcraft.com] - Blizzard to put Wisps as a playable race for World of Warcraft.
tvpredictions.com [tvpredictions.com] - Ready for X-ray TV? New TV picture technology even clearer than HDTV; you can actually see through people's clothing on TV.
blizzard.com [blizzard.com] - BLIZZARD ENTERTAINMENT® PRESENTS BURGERCRAFT(TM)
bolloxcomics.co.uk [bolloxcomics.co.uk] - Myspace parody
bolloxcomics.co.uk [bolloxcomics.co.uk] - YTMND parody
wiebetech.com [wiebetech.com] - 5 TB iPod
sideshowtoy.com [sideshowtoy.com] - Half a Darth Maul Figure Exclusive?
slashdot.org [slashdot.org] - OMG!!! PONIES!!! (and pink layout)
whirlpool.net.au [whirlpool.net.au] - Telstra will only release 2mbit ADSL2+ in Australia.
forums.worldofwarcraft.com [worldofwarcraft.com] - World of Warcraft 1.11 patch notes leaked
mymsnsearch.com [mymsnsearch.com] - fake (but hilariously accurate) search results
gearlog.com [gearlog.com] - Laptop Lingerie: Bringing Tech & Pleasure Together
googlesystem.blogspot.com [blogspot.com] - Google Browser is finally launched. Installer 1.68MB
sordeo.com [sordeo.com] - mirror image and the title says, 'Now optimized for those afflicted with Dyslexia'
eternal-lands.com [eternal-lands.com] - Free Software Foundation buys Eternal Lands

puff teh magic dragon

[atarione]

http://www.geocities.com/EnchantedForest/Cottage/3 192/Puffdragon.html [geocities.com] ** Sing along YAY

PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, Little Jackie Paper loved that rascal PUFF, and brought him strings and sealing wax and other fancy stuff.

OH PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee, PUFF, the magic dragon lived by the sea And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

T

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:What About Some D&D Nasties?

[slothman32]

On the Futurama when they went to the beuracracy HQ there was a floating eye there.

To troll, AD&D was much better.

Pink Dragon

[Slashdotgirl]

I Want A Pink Dragon!

This Mother of Pearl ring is made with a pink color mother of pearl set in 18K pink gold. The ring has a modern feel with a look of a dragon or a turtle's back. The ring is decorated with brilliant round diamonds in SI1 clarity with G, H color. For other styles check below for other selections.

http://www.americanpearl.com/ucsr535.html [americanpearl.com]

Speaking of mythical creatures....

[mentatultima]

Well since we are talking about mythical beings, can someone clone me something mythical called a "girlfriend"? Hey this is /., mythical and girlfriend belong in the same sentence.

The think this joke mythes the mark, hopefully I did not cause any mythconceptions. Hopefully I did not make any mythakes or mythspellings.

Dreams

[Scynet85]

There will be dragons, and we will shoot balls of fire from our hands. Why? Because they're dreams, and the human kind has a habit of filling its dreams. Sure, it takes some time, but in, say, 600 years, maybe we really manage to create a creature that resembles the dragon of the myths, and no doubt we'll also have the possibility to attach nano/quantum implants into our hands that create some yet unknown reaction to fire plasma-like subtance from our fingertips. As long as there are wars where these inveti

I can't wait to get my dragon...

[divisionbyzero]

In about 75 years when this might actually be possible... Of course we'll all be immortal by then. So I should have some time to play with him at least until I piss him off and sets me on fire.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

What about a troll?

[craXORjack]

Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, gryphon, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn...

If I commissioned them to build me a troll, I wonder whose genes they would start with?

Digg

[Lord_Dweomer]

I don't know what's more pathetic...the fact that Slashdot keeps running these lame April Fool's stories or the fact that this one was actually grabbed from Digg [digg.com].

APRIL FOOLS!

[Eideteker]

APRIL FOOLS!

Now I can finally get a liger

[damonlab]

Liger: cross between a lion and a tiger.