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previously coded strings of base pairs that are announce that we had secured iron-clad proof of an common to all humans. Those strings can go on for alien form of life on this planet at least once, 900 years hundreds or a few thousand base pairs and are like ago. As we began breaking into a victory dance, the keys that fit precisely into locks. The soup of dissolved geneticists turned down the music and explained to us DNA can be imagined as an accumulation of those _ that the fat lady was off in the distance warming up, locks. The primer keys are swirled into the soup to find but she wasn't on stage yet. We still had more to do. their specific corollary locks and, when they do that, those lock-and-key alignments can then be extracted The Fat Lady Arrives and analysed by putting them into "gel sheets". Our geneticists told us the only thing they could Everyone has seen those small bars that are created to _ officially state about the Starchild's DNA tests was tha represent someone's DNA. (A photo/diagram of the they couldn't recover nuclear DNA in six tries. The fac Starchild's is included.) that the other recoveries were easy and quite clear in When the Starchild's nuclear DNA was filled with the gel sheets was highly indicative, but not proof o primer keys, those keys went looking for locks that anything. The only way we would get proof, they were combinations of both its mother explained, was when a new recovery and father. technique only then on the horizon By that point, those of us inside the finally became available. Tha Starchild Project were soundly rattled technique would do away with by the mother's turning out to be primers entirely and go abou human. Half of what we were betting, recovery in a very different way. | that the Starchild might be a pure If Dad was a would entail recovering each and Grey alien, was now off the table. normal human, every base pair in an entire genome So with bated breath, we awaited one of those six so there could be absolutely no the first test result...and it was doubt about how that genome was nothing, nada, no recovery, not even a attempts would constructed. i hich l . Thi t i , wh i Imesh one of two things. (1) the | ave found him. | yecsime'svailsble, would allow the Starchild's nuclear DNA was too Thus, only one Starchild's entire package of DNA to degraded to permit a recovery; or . be recovered, and then it could (2) the recovery couldn't occur stark conclusion be compared to a normal human because the father was not could be drawn: ‘0 see how close or how far away entirely human. it was from those norms. They We felt we could rule out the Dad was not a assured me that the new irst possibility based on the ease with which the human's mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA had been recovered. Her ocks and keys were bright and clear in her gel sheets, indicating echnique would require three to ive years of further research and development. Sure enough, exactly three years later the world learned that a company called 454 Life hat she hadn't degraded much— Sciences in the USA had created which, as noted earlier, was the breakthrough that would ogical for bones entombed in a mine tunnel for 900 allow full genome recovery using only base pairs, all years: no wind, no rain, no sun-bleaching. And the _ three billion of them in the case of humans. Wait One same was true for the Starchild. Its mitochondrial was over. DNA had come up very easily on the first attempt to Wait Two was that we couldn't afford the new recover it. So the odds had suddenly swung in our — technology. In any case, it was being applied to the direction. If the Dad was human, we should have hada Neanderthal genome because that was an answer routine recovery. science was anxious to have; consequently, the The second test also came up empty, as did the _ millions of dollars needed to get that answer were third, fourth, fifth and sixth. That was enough for the made available through science's myriad grants. But geneticists. Dad's DNA was not letting the primers no such money was available to secure an answer for connect, and six tests meant there was no possibility something like the Starchild, which nobody in science of laboratory error. If Dad was anormal human, one of _ wanted to know in case it overturned their world view. human! those six attempts would have found him. Thus, only We were told that time and rapid advances in the one stark conclusion could be drawn: Dad was nota new technology would bring it into our reach within a human! couple of years, which turned out to be true. Unfortunately, this did not mean we could loudly So here we are, 10 years gone, having spent the first announce that we had secured iron-clad proof of an alien form of life on this planet at least once, 900 years ago. As we began breaking into a victory dance, the geneticists turned down the music and explained to us that the fat lady was off in the distance warming up, but she wasn't on stage yet. We still had more to do. normal human, one of those six attempts would have found him. Thus, only one stark conclusion human! was over. Wait Two was that we couldn't afford the new technology. In any case, it was being applied to the Neanderthal genome because that was an answer science was anxious to have; consequently, the millions of dollars needed to get that answer were made available through science's myriad grants. But no such money was available to secure an answer for something like the Starchild, which nobody in science wanted to know in case it overturned their world view. We were told that time and rapid advances in the new technology would bring it into our reach within a couple of years, which turned out to be true. So here we are, 10 years gone, having spent the first NEXUS ° 61 If Dad was a could be drawn: Dad was not a APRIL - MAY 2009 www.nexusmagazine.com