Plumbing the human genome

Abstract

Even the best and brightest minds have their weaknesses. As a senior British civil servant once observed, the human brain is a remarkable organ, “It begins working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public”. But, unless you are a politician or a sports commentator, at least spoken gaffes are quickly forgotten. The situation is worse for those of us used to communicating mainly with the written word. Our solecisms are committed to paper, for everyone to see. For budding scientists, the danger begins at an early age, and exam howlers have long been a rich source of examples. Take, for instance, the young lad who wrote that his baby sister was so small that she had to be put in an accumulator, or the little girl who sadly thought that to be a good nurse you have to be absolutely sterile. Some errors even have elements of greatness about them. There are four symptoms of the common cold (wrote one candidate): two I forget and the other two are too well-known to mention (not outstanding science, but excellent political potential). Among the easiest mistakes