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A
GENETIC ODE
(or A MELAN COLI TALE)
I used to be coli, as wild as could be
They called me Photo Trophic whatever that would be
They kept me pure and simple and completely free from faults
and fed me on the simplest food...glucose and common salts.
Then Lederberg and Tatum came and put me in the sun
And watched me very closely to see what harm they had done
Although they had not killed me, they really hurt my pride
And though I looked quite normal, I was quite upset inside.
Next day they tried to feed me with my normal sort of food
But they found I could not use it in the way I always could
Glucose I could metabolize - in that I was proficient
But in synthesizing valine they soon found I was deficient.
They could not find their valine so they went to biotin
And till they thought just what to do they kept me dietin
Then foresight and discernment made this Lecturer and Prof
Enrich my food with oxa cube and call me oxa-troph.
They called another Doctor and they all discussed my case
And decided that my DNA must have displaced a base
They all seemed quite exited and I heard Doc Tatum say
Another dose of sunshine might upset more DNA.
They gave me eighty seconds of the brightest light I had seen
And I knew a UV photon has displaced another gene
I remember seeing Lederberg eyes gleaming through his specs
Excitedly tell Tatum that I had acquired a sex.
Then Lederberg asked Tatum if he could foretell my fate
And Tatum thought my only hope was to acquire a mate
So they gave me you, dear Effplus, knowing you alone could right
So they gave me bits of DNA that suffered in that light.
There's just two things I ask you if you really care for me
One little gene of valine - one for fertility
Your genotype's just perfect to revitalize my strain
And I know you will co-operate to make me wild again.
Be warned O Human Beings by this melan coli ode
You who think you are so clever cracking the genetic code
There's a moral in this story - I will tell you what it means
IF YOU STRIP TOO MUCH TO SUNBATHE
YOU MAY LOSE A PAIR OF JEANS.
Kaushik SunderRajan
Oxford University
(Ex-B.Sc.)
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