Saturday 10 May 2008

Only a few sentences in life are worth hearing -

‘Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome - The human genome holds an extraordinary trove of information about human development, physiology, medicine and evolution. Here we report the results of an international collaboration to produce and make freely available a draft sequence of the human genome. We also present an initial analysis of the data, describing some of the insights that can be gleaned from the sequence…The sequence data have been made available without restriction and updated daily throughout the project. The task ahead is to produce a finished sequence, by closing all gaps and resolving all ambiguities. Already about one billion bases are in final form and the task of bringing the vast majority of the sequence to this standard is now straightforward and should proceed rapidly…The sequence of the human genome is of interest in several respects. It is the largest genome to be extensively sequenced so far, being 25 times as large as any previously sequenced genome and eight times as large as the sum of all such genomes. It is the first vertebrate genome to be extensively sequenced. And, uniquely, it is the genome of our own species. Much work remains to be done to produce a complete finished sequence, but the vast trove of information that has become available through this collaborative effort allows a global perspective on the human genome…We find it humbling to gaze upon the human sequence now coming into focus. In principle, the string of genetic bits holds long-sought secrets of human development, physiology and medicine. In practice, our ability to transform such information into understanding remains woefully inadequate. This paper simply records some initial observations and attempts to frame issues for future study.’ International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium, Nature, 2001

Only a few sentences in life are worth hearing -

Only a few sentences in life are worth hearing -
for the rest you could well be deaf as a flower.

Words of love, comfort, compassion;
wonder, wisdom, counsel, healing -

all the rest dissolving into dull oral mud,
smalltalk history sludge - chitter-chatter;

like living near the sea,
this soundtrack, looping -

holidays/work/shopping/weather/
hairstyles/TV/film/school/cars -

playing from our own mouths,
fleshy ventriloquist dummies,

when your eyes are speaking different
stories – darkness, passion, love, need;

my heart hears but says nothing - fear,
manners, gagging; binding shy hands.

So media trumpets come brassly blazing,
like the annual uprising of first daffodils -

brash, blasting suddenly over the hill,
all fierce Sunday bonnets, so dazzling;

we hear briefly the annunciation -
revelation of the Human Genome;

shivering, enormous implications,
intimation of galactic enormity -

and the ethereal luminosity,
as moonshine in your hand;

the poetry of it
under the noise.

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