Tuesday 22 May 2018

A new form of divination

I R 5 today!! On 21st May 2013 I posted an interesting historical document about how the genetic code was worked out and why UUU is given pride of place in the codon table. On 22nd May, I sank back exhausted (maybe because I was busy marking exams . . . or dagging sheep). On 23rd May 2013 I went all peculiar on myself and wrote about underwear. Since that date, I have posted something on The Blob every day, an unbroken stream of sense and nonsense. It looks like I put nothing up on 19th July 2016 but that was a cock-up on the scheduling front and whatever I wrote & posted that day was attached to an earlier date.
Insofar as normal people blog, they blog about their lives; The Blob has become my life, like the . Richard Herring, comedian and commentator has written something every day since 2002 on his Warming Up blog. He does it to prevent writer's block. For me it's so I know that I did something today. It is also a record; eventually everything I can remember will be captured here. The real benefit is in the nature of "if you want something done, ask a busy man": because The Daily Blob has now become a tail wagging the dog 'necessity', I am kept in a state of mental alertness. A Blob a Day before breakfast works as well as a cold bath at that time works well for Protestants: invigorating, cheap and effective.

To celebrate/mark 365*5+1 (for 29 Feb 2016) = 1826 days, I have discovered / invented a new form of divination to tell us what will happen in the future. You may forget scrutinising the tea-leaves or your Daily Mail horoscope or watching a yak butter lamp guttering in a Tibetan cave. What you need to do is click on to the Protein database and ask that Oracle for guidance. I entered:
"1826 [slen]"
and picked the most meaningful [Wiz! you couldn't make this up] of the 2213 proteins which Entrez delivered as being 1826 amino acids in length:
>XP_015453711.1 protein Wiz isoform X2 [Pteropus alecto]
MDGPLAGGLATPDRPRGPERLPGPAPREDIEGGAEAAEGDGGIFRSTHYLPVTKEGPRDILDGRGGISDG
QPHPGLSEALPRATSATHRISSCCWDGGSLDFRPGSPPPHLLGHFPGLPDGQGSWEHPMVQEAGEGIPSE
RRFKDSVIVRTMKPHAELQGSRRFLHHQGEPKLLEKSPRGHSRLDWLQDTDEQAPIRDSGLPLDLPPPPL
PFTSFRTVLVPVEDTMKTFDVAMVGTREHLTDLEGLAQSSAEWGLPRSASEVATQTWTVNSEASVERLQP
ILPPVQTGPFLCELLEEVAEVVTSPDEDEDEDPAVFPCVECSIYFKQKEHLLEHMGQHRRAPGQELPADL
APLACGECGWAFADPSDLEQHRQLHQTSREKILEEIQKLKQVPSDEGREARLQCAKCIFGTSSSKAFVQH
AKLHAREPPGQAAKEPFGGGSPGPDTTALGYQPYGASSGLSACIFCGFPAPSESLLREHVRLVHARPHWE
EDGEAFEEDPASQPGTSQDAYARFPEATEDYFGNAEPLLAPSWQENPAGYDPSLAFGPGCQQLDTRDFPL
SKPLLRGLGQRPLGRPAFPSPLASTPYSLQPSRGKNIVHLQGLPAQLGDQRHPWSEEEEEDIQLASEMDF
SPQNGIFPPPAVPGLIPEPALELKRTFREALQAAEASPAQQQQLREMVPVVLVARLGSQILATEARAPPR
LQPEELGLGATHPLDFLLLDAPLGSPLGLDALLDGDPAVALKHEERKCPYCPDRFHNGIGLANHVRGHLN
RVGVSYNVRHFISAEEVKAIERRFSFQKKKKKVANFDPGTFSLMICDFCGAGFDTRAGLSSHARAHLRDF
GITNWELTVSPINILQELLATSAAERPPSPLGREPGGPPGGYLTSRRPRLPLTVPFLPTWAEDPGPAYGD
AQSLTTCEVCGACFETRKGLSSHARSHLRQLGVAESESSGAPIDLLYELVKQKGLPDTPLGLPPGLTKKS
SSPKEVVAGVPRQGLLTLAKPLDVPAVNKAIKSPPGFSAKGLAHPPSSPLLKKAPLALTGSPTPKNPEDK
SPQLSLSPRPASPKAQWPQSEDEGPLNLTLDSDGGRELDCQLCGAWFETRKGLSSHARAHLRHLGVSDPD
AKGSPIDVLHGLIRRVGVQNRLPPGRGVLAQLGRPPPASAALSLLPPPPPAKKAKLKAAGTASPWGKQDL
SAAGIFWASDVEPSPLNLSSGPEPARDIRCEFCGEFFENRKGLSSHARSHLRQMGVTEWYVNGSPIDTLR
EILKRRTQSRPGGPPNPPGPSPKSLAKVVGSGGPGSSLEARSPADLHLSPLAKKLPPPPGSPLGHSPTAS
PPPTARKMFPGLAAPSLTKKLKPEQMRVEIKREMLPGALHGEPHLSEGPWAAPREDMTPLNLSSRAEPVR
DIRCEFCGEFFENRKGLSSHARSHLRQMGVTEWSVNGSPIDTLREILKKKSKPCLIKKEPPAGDLAPALA
EDGPPTSAPGPVQPLLPLAPMAGRPGKPGAGPAQVPRDLSLAPITGAKPSATSYLGSVAAKRPLQEDRLL
PAEVKAKTYIQTELPFKAKTLHEKTSHSSTEACCELCGLYFENRKALASHARAHLRQFGVTEWCVNGSPI
ETLSEWIKHRPQKVGAYRSYIQGGRPFTKKFRSAGHGRDSDKRPPLGLAPGGLAVVGRSAGGEPGPEAGR
AADSGERPLAASPPGTVKAEEHQRQNINKFERRQARPADASAARGGEEINDMQQKLEEVRQPPPRVRPVP
SLVPRPPQTSLVKFVGNIYTLKCRFCEVEFQGPLSIQEEWVRHLQRHILEMNFSKADPPPEDPQAPPSQT
AAAEAP
That's a DNA-binding protein called Wiz Widely Interspaced Zinc Finger Motifs from Pteropus alecto the black flying fox: the GoTo fruit-bat.
With the help of Wa-Kan-Tanka, the Great Turps Substitute, I believe [alleluia] this tells what the future holds. The thing is that proteins are made of 20 different amino acids, each of which has it's own single-letter code.  The Oracle writes messages in this code and those who seek can find the true answer to their questions.
  • I know this message is for me because it starts off flagging three different mammalian species all of which have featured in The Blob: seal Phoca vitulina,  rats Rattus norvegicus, hare Lepus europaeus
  • Then we have: a aasgl glass a Harp feed a day repeated. I take as a  recommendation to remain mildly liquored up with Irish lager.
  • Then: Verdict, harsh, harsh, real harsh. Like the Sybils or the Oracle at Delphi this Word of Wiz can seem obscure but ultimately has meaning to those who seek the truth. It is clearly a salutary warning that more than three glasses at a sitting may have head-achy consequences
  • Finally: He's easily a sage [or saggy?] silver piss-pot must be warning that as I age [silverback] I may become awkwardly incontinent, especially if I drink quantities of lager shortly before bed.
Well that's me warned!. I am mindful of Mark Twain's advice about writing (for a living): "Write without pay until somebody offers pay. If nobody offers within three years, the candidate may look upon this circumstance with the most implicit confidence as the sign that sawing wood is what he was intended for".  I am indeed sawing more wood every day - it will be a long cold Winter

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