DNA!
"Have you ever seen your DNA? You can, you know.
"Here's a simple recipe that you can use to extract your genetic material. Start out with some cells; a few drops of blood or a tablespoon of spit will do. Crack them open by adding detergent. We use pure sodium dodecyl sulfate int he laboratory, but most drugstore shampoos work nearly as well. Next remove the proteins by adding table salt until a large cloudy precipate appears; pour the precipitate through a coffee filter. To the clear filtrate add four parts vodka and place in the freezer.
"Within an hour or so, the DNA will appear as a web of silky white threads. These can be twirled onto a glass rod, such as a martini stirrer, dried with a hair dryer, and dissolved in a glass of water.
"That's your DNA. It's not much to look at--just a clear liquid when it's in solution. Yet within it lies the code that makes you a human instead of a chicken or a bacterium or a roundworm. The blueprint for your liver and your pancreas and your eyes and your hair. The instructions for the development of your brain froma few meager cells to the most complex biological structure in existence. And, at least in part, the instructions for your sense of spirituality.
"How can something so seemingly simple be responsible for so much?"
Intro to Chapter 4 in Dean Hamer's "The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes"
"Here's a simple recipe that you can use to extract your genetic material. Start out with some cells; a few drops of blood or a tablespoon of spit will do. Crack them open by adding detergent. We use pure sodium dodecyl sulfate int he laboratory, but most drugstore shampoos work nearly as well. Next remove the proteins by adding table salt until a large cloudy precipate appears; pour the precipitate through a coffee filter. To the clear filtrate add four parts vodka and place in the freezer.
"Within an hour or so, the DNA will appear as a web of silky white threads. These can be twirled onto a glass rod, such as a martini stirrer, dried with a hair dryer, and dissolved in a glass of water.
"That's your DNA. It's not much to look at--just a clear liquid when it's in solution. Yet within it lies the code that makes you a human instead of a chicken or a bacterium or a roundworm. The blueprint for your liver and your pancreas and your eyes and your hair. The instructions for the development of your brain froma few meager cells to the most complex biological structure in existence. And, at least in part, the instructions for your sense of spirituality.
"How can something so seemingly simple be responsible for so much?"
Intro to Chapter 4 in Dean Hamer's "The God Gene: How Faith is Hardwired into Our Genes"