G8 DNA POEM by Philippe Aigrain
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ACT ACTA CATA
GGGGGGGG
GAGA
TATATATA
ATTAC TAC
TAG TAG TAG
G8 vs INTERNET Our imaginations help us protect our rights and a free Internet
Background
Poetry written on the letters of the genetic code was first explored in the 1990s in order to find less controversial paths of genetic manipulation than GMOs1. Strict DNA poetry uses only the letters A (adenine), T (thymine), G (guanine) and C (cytosine). Super strict DNA poetry imposes transcriptability (with real triplet codons and starters). Mixed DNA/RNA poetry uses the additional letter U (uracil). From a strict DNA poem one can deduct another strict RNA poem, in which T is replaced by U. For instance, the conjugated of the above poem is:
ACU ACUA CAUA
GGGGGGGG
GAGA
UAUAUAUA
AUUAC UAC
UAG UAG UAG
whose meaning is yet to be decrypted.
- It was invented in reaction to an invitation by friends for a party at the occasion of their reaching a century total age. They required guests to bring any type of production provided it was not based on the genetic code. Argumentativeness drove me to bring a production that was entirely based on the genetic code, the first DNA poem. The only known DNA letters poems are by Philippe Aigrain and Alexandra L. Uitdenbogerd, but it is hoped that this small art movement will expand. One should not mistake poetry written on the genetic code letters with poetry encoded in real DNA, a greater achievement, but from which it is harder to derive reading pleasure. [↩]
