According to the Time mag, this year top invention is something called "The Retail DNA Test."
www.time.com...
It is truly an amazing gadget that the sci-fi movies made back in 1960s failed to mention.
Unfortunately, and judging from my experience with it, the gadget could reveal something that a person might worry about. I bought it just to see how
it works, but it kind of didn't work at all -- according to my interpretation of the test result.
I went back to the store to get my money back, but they said that there was nothing wrong with it; they said the device was functional and recommended
that I see a DNA expert or someone who could correctly interpret the result.
That wasn't that easy, but finally I made an appointment with a specialist at nearby university who kind of liked to see the gadget for himself.
So we repeated the testing procedure. He examined the result, shook his head, told me to wait outside his office and left with that gadget.
After some ten minutes, he was back and told me that I wasn't supposed to be there. "You let me in, no?" I shot back, but he said: "No, you don't
understand. Your DNA is not supposed to be here."
He disclosed to me that my DNA didn't match the DNA of Homo sapiens. Then he became inquisitive about the hospital I was born. I told him that my
foster parents found me in the woods when I was a baby. Then I asked about my DNA, and the doc said it belonged to a species called
Homo
heidelbergensis, the suspected ancestry of Neanderthals.
I asked him if it was good or bad, and he said: "Neither. It's impossible."
That was like deja-vu; I remember my foster mom always telling me that I was impossible when I broke something.
Here is a list of fifty inventions that were born in 2008.
www.time.com...
Which one do you think should be the No. 1?
[edit on 11/21/2008 by stander]
