Fun with molecular structures: it looks like a holiday wreath...

What kind of self-respecting virion would use an 11-fold symmetry?

An RNA virus, of course.

"Time and Nucleotide Wait for No Man"
by
Jonathan Vos Post
Copyright (c) 2008 by Emerald City Publishing
to the tune of "Deck the Halls"

Deck the halls with RNA,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
'Tis the season for Uracil every day,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Don we now our nuceleotides,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Toll the carol on Yule tides,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

See the 11-fold axis before us,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
While I tell of Purine treasure,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Fast away Pyramdine passes,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Put the stuff in pyrex glasses,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Sing we nucleobases, all together,
Fa la la, la la la, la la la.
Hydrogen bonds provide the tether,
Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Thanks JVP,

Now I'll be hearing "Deck the Halls" all day long.

THE TWILIGHT OF GENETIC ENGINEERING
by
JONATHAN VOS POST

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Jungle-floor bacteria devour helicopters after war;
ripped human corpses thaw, screaming, in battle zone

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Smog-sucking moss evolves to grow on auto bumpers;
gas-tank tapeworm writhes: blind premium dreams

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Heavy weaponry of corporate wars, intractable
ultimatum when lawyers subpoena their own DNA

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Cockroaches skitter: dust of broken televisions;
lay phosphorescent eggs between commercials

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Reunification pressures force abandonment of immortality;
death substitutes for taxes: final cost of doing business

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Skinned headless lizard throbs, shoved into your chest:
replicant replaces your broken-once-too-often heart

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Time & nucleotide
wait for no man

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2300-2320
15 Sep 92

I think that's a bit bleak. I've always found genetic engineering to be lots of fun.

Okay, Sandra Porter. Here's a more positive poem of mine which is at least a prerequisite to studying Gnetic Enginnering.

============

Charles Darwin
by
Jonathan Vos Post

Origin of Species. What is the origin?
What shapes the flower to the honey-bees,
what paintbrush stripes the tigerskin?
Origin of Species. What is the origin?
Why such dissimilarities
from masculine to feminine?

What is the nature of Natural Selection?
The 10-year-old boy with a beetle collection
stares at their wings in silent reflection.
His father's a doctor, but his affection
is life; upset by blood and by infection
he leaves the theatre in mid-dissection.

A Naturalist's Voyage. Saw the world in five years
with the moody but brilliant Captain Fitz-Roy.
Horseback through Patagonia, with mountaineers
and ten mules crossing the Andes twice. Joy
among Volcanic Islands, in the atmospheres
of learning, working, growing to man from boy.

The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs,
viewed by moonlight from the H.M.S. Beagle,
the cattleman's domesticated beefs,
the cross-bred wheat in heavy golden sheafs
and the fierce expression of the pinioned eagle
all added evidence to the same beliefs.

The Descent of Man. And what is our descent?
Did we evolve by accident or plan?
What was the source of our development?
He studied the native South American;
the Tierra del Fuegan, equally intent,
studied young Charles Darwin with astonishment.

2050-2400
6 May 1981