The Left Handed DNA Hall of Fame

- Tom Schneider The Left handed DNA Hall of Fame has moved. Please note the NEW LOCATION: http://www.fred.net/tds/leftdna/

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2005

version = 1.48 of leftyear2005.txt 2009 Sep 29

Our Story So Far: The story line, if you have not had time to follow the previous 608 or so entries (!) is my slow realization that earth is being invaded by left handed DNA people ...


1. The cover of the January 1, 2005 issue of LC-GC Europe has a left handed DNA. First reported on 2005 Jan 5, as of 2005 Jan 28 (Thanks to Anthony Lewis, calewis@plymouth.ac.uk for pointing this one out!)
   
2. Newsweek (January 17, 2005, Diet and Genes page 40) shows how eating left handed DNA is bad for you. Another cover link at newscom.com. First reported on 2005 Jan 12, as of 2005 Jan 28 (Thanks to Adam Keen, lucidspectre@gmail.com, for pointing this one out and for the scan! Tamzon has returned and gave me some useful links too. Thanks also to Simon J. Rhodes, srhodes@iupui.edu for the cover link at newscom.com. )
   
   
3. The 2003 two pound United Kingdom DNA coin "Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Double Helix Discovery" has a right handed DNA on its `reverse' side, but its edge is left handed. When they made this special coin, nobody noticed?!
   • Original report
   • google: coin 2 watson crick
   • www.taxfreegold.co.uk
   • www.24carat.co.uk/2003twopoundsdnaframe.html
   First reported on 2005 Jan 5, as of 2005 Jan 29 (Thanks to Gerard R. Lazo, lazo@pw.usda.gov, for pointing this one out originally and C Anthony Lewis, calewis@plymouth.ac.uk for confirming and pointing it out again!)
   
4. www.photoresearchers.com has lots of left handed DNA molecule images to purchase! Just search for 'DNA'. First reported on 2005 Jan 31, as of 2005 Jan 31
   
5. WGBH reports how intrepid researchers imported left handed DNA from outer space and spread it all over the planet. First reported on 2005 Jan 13, as of 2005 Jan 31 (Thanks to Robert Kuhn for pointing this one out!)
   
6. Accessible Genetics Research Ethics Education teaches how spreading left handed DNA over the planet, while replacing right handed DNA life forms, is ethical (for left handed DNA forms of course). First reported on 2005 Jan 26, as of 2005 Jan 31 (Thanks to Jan A. Witkowski, witkowsk@cshl.edu, for pointing this one out!)
   
7. The National Parkinson Foundation announced that Parkinson can be treated with left handed DNA. I'm not sure that's right ... The image comes from Gettyimages.com search for "DNA". Left handed images are: 200152554-001 ab20108 200152555-001 ab16156 bol00497 10188532 866460-002 dv1103044 (twist changes as it passes behind the people!) AA048848 (the first one reported) bc7251-001 (conflicting twists) ab13802 10181758 bb8030-001 ab28493 ab04071 ab04070 10180859 ab03785 10178416 10169287 fas045 fas044 fas043 fas042 fas041 CC000786 (previously noted, never corrected!) CC000767 (previously noted, never corrected!) brxbxp37974 (conflicting twists) brxbxp38024 (conflicting twists) First reported on 2005 Feb 4, as of 2005 Feb 7 (Thanks to Stephen Lee, leesl@compuserve.com, for pointing this one out!)
   
8. The book Living with Our Genes: Why They Matter More Than You Think: The Groundbreaking Book About the Science of Personality, Behavior, and Genetic Destiny by Dean H. Hamer and Peter Copeland describes the history of the left handed DNA take over. In a nutshell, our Genetic Destiny is to be left handed DNA people. First reported on 2005 Feb 7, as of 2005 Feb 7 (Thanks to Rob Place, for pointing this one out!)
   
9. The Molecular Biophoysics Group at Delft University of Technology has a large set of totally cool nanotechnology projects, including analysis of left handed DNA in nanochannels. First reported on 2005 Feb 8, as of 2005 Feb 8 (Thanks to an unnamed person for pointing this one out!)
   
10. Stress-induced structural transitions in DNA and proteins by Strick TR, Allemand JF, Bensimon D, Croquette V. (Annu Rev Biophys Biomol Struct. 2000;29:523-43, 2000) shows how one can pull apart left handed bacteriophage lambda DNA (Figure 8). First reported on 2005 Feb 10, as of 2005 Feb 10 (Thanks to Andrey Cherstvy, a.cherstvy@fz-juelich.de, for pointing this one out!)
    
11. Boehringer-Ingelheim will make you left handed pDNA (see also their biopharmaceuticals page). Who would have guessed that pDNA, which has a protein backbone instead of sugars and phosphates, twists to the left? Maybe this explains its strong hybridization: it arm wrestles with regular DNA? But if two people arm wrestle, one with the left arm and the other with the right, they both win instantly! Yup, that explains the strong hybridization. But no, alas, in this case pDNA does not stand for Protein DNA, it stands for "pharmaceutical grade plasmid DNA". They will make you 4000 liters of pure left handed DNA! First reported on 2005 Feb 17, as of 2005 Feb 20 (Thanks to Timothy Pratt, tsp1665@yahoo.com, for pointing this one out!)
    
12. The Tech Museum of Innovation has invented a new form of metalic coated left handed DNA for their Understanding Genetics online exhibition First reported on 2005 Mar 12, as of 2005 Mar 12. 2005 Apr 25: The image will be corrected! 2006 Jan 9: The image was corrected! (Thanks to Jim Lissemore, jlissemore@jcu.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    
13. The DNA picture collection has left handed DNAs at numbers 6, 8 and 20, counting from left to right and from top to bottom. No source is given for the images. Email to i.laros@ato.dlo.nl fails: "Recipient address rejected: No Such User". First reported on 2005 Apr 14, as of 2005 Apr 14 (Thanks to cherstvy MPI, cherstvy@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de for pointing this one out!)
    
14. At a few pictures of the DNA molecule numbers 15, 26, 27 (Z DNA?), 48, 50, 68, 69 (dead link to Synthetic Genetics), 79, are left handed. No source is given for most images. Email to i.laros@ato.dlo.nl fails: "Recipient address rejected: No Such User". First reported on 2005 Apr 14, as of 2005 Apr 14 (Thanks to cherstvy MPI, cherstvy@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de for pointing this one out!)
    
15. I can't handle all of these found by Cherstvy!
    • http://csmres.jmu.edu/Bioweb/Bio480/group2/title1.html
    • http://www.csiro.au/helix/dna/index.shtml
    • http://atom.ecn.purdue.edu/~gl/Single%20Molecule.html
    • http://www.newcastle.edu.au/tunra/resdiv.htm
    • http://www.biosci.utexas.edu/mgm/
    • http://www.nasaexplores.com/show_58_student_st.php?id=030422150637
    • http://www.livenet.ch/Service/images-cards/dna-.jpg
    • dir.nichd.nih.gov/Lpsb/docs/artwork/DNA_Berk.gif
    • http://www.science.unsw.edu.au/school/student/jason.html
    • http://bioteach.ubc.ca/Bioinformatics/DeCODE/
    • http://www.northwestern.edu/science-outreach/genome/genome.html
    • http://www.anzaas.org.au/howtojoin.html
    • http://survive2012.com/dragon_myths_5.php
    • http://www.hgs-model.com/gallery/#B-DNA01
    • http://www.nucoop.jp/book/hgs_03.html
    First reported on 2005 Apr 18, as of 2005 Apr 18 (Thanks to cherstvy MPI, cherstvy@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de for pointing these out!)
    
16. The Molecular and Cellular Cognition Society First reported on 2005 Apr 25, as of 2005 Apr 25 (Thanks to Jan A. Witkowski, witkowsk@cshl.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    
17. The Crossroads section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (2005 April 17) shows artwork by Gary Markstein containing Darwin, an ape, the earth and a left handed DNA with the title "Evolution of a theory?" I'm not sure what the message here is except perhaps that perhaps they are now admitting that all of the species on the planet are being replaced with ones that have left handed DNA. The article is: The separation of fact and faith. Call it intelligent design, but it's nothing more than religious creationism. by Alan I. Leshner. First reported on 2005 Apr 24, as of 2005 May 16 (Thanks to Carol Smith, humanist@ameritech.net, for pointing this one out!)
    
18. Rafa Maldonado has made a lovely collection of Genetic Stamps and discovered that one of them shows left handed DNA. The official stamp society has the same stamp: Federazione fra le Società Filateliche Italiane First reported on 2005 May 19, as of 2005 May 20 (Thanks to Rafael D. Maldonado, rmaldonado@ua.es for pointing this one out!)
    

    © The Nobel Foundation

    © The Nobel Foundation

    
19. Headline news:
    • Nobel Prize for discovery of Left Handed DNA!
    • New Asilomar meeting on Recombinant Left handed Handed DNA!
    First reported on 2005 May 25, as of 2005 May 25 (Thanks to Andrey Cherstvy, cherstvy@mpipks-dresden.mpg.de, for pointing this one out!)
    
20. Filatelila y Genetica has another left handed stamp from Canada. First reported on 2005 May 25, as of 2005 May 25 (Thanks to Rafael D. Maldonado, rmaldonado@ua.es for pointing this one out!)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
21. Reality not hype: the new genetics in primary care is a report from a meeting organzied by London IDEAS Genetics Knowledge Park (30 January 2004 conference report, download the big PDF) that shows that the left handed DNA invasion is nearly complete. It is not hype. It is real. It is about 'the new genetics'. (There are only a few of you left with right handed DNA. Don't worry, I won't tell them who you are. Yet.) [Note: London IDEAS recognized the error after several hundred copies of the booklet were printed. ] First reported on 2005 Jun 8, as of 2005 Jun 8 (Thanks to an anonymous tipster for pointing this one out!)
    
22. If you want to figure out possible DNA for a given protein, you need to make sure that the DNA is left handed. A tool for doing this is BBOCUS, BackTranslation Based on Codon Usage Strategy, at the University of Catania & New York University. (The image is an oldie but goodie found previously at number 383 of the whole set and in 2001, number 48.) First reported on 2005 Jun 24, as of 2005 Jun 24 (Thanks to Ilya Lyakhov, lyakhovi@ncifcrf.gov, for pointing this one out!)
    
23. National Science Teachers Association has decided that when you go to College, it is time to learn the left-handed facts of life. To emphasize this goal, a second image is at The College Science Classroom. (Note: This is a stock photo that many people use.) First reported on 2005 Jun 25, as of 2005 Jun 26. 2005 Jun 27: Tim Weber, Director, NSTA Website, points out: "BTW, your visitors may become confused or disoriented if they click on the NSTA links in your listing - by some miracle the DNA on those NSTA web pages has become right-handed." (Thanks to an anonymous reader, for pointing this one out! They said "Thanks for making the compilation. It's quite surprising.")
    
24. istockphoto.com will sell you elegant pictures of left handed DNA. There is no market for right handed images anymore, so don't even ask. First reported on 2005 Jun 25, as of 2005 Jun 26 (Thanks to Jorge Porchile, porchile@speedy.com.ar, for pointing this one out! He said "I am a biologist and I was looking for genetics material and i found your page, it`s great.") 2005 Jun 28: I did the obligatory search for DNA at istockphoto.com and found:
    • 614263
    • 129259
    • 628100
    • 129256
    • 137594
    • 606529
    • 437386
    • 432431
    • 309276
    • 432321
    • 614251
    • 421308 Cool neon DNA!
    • 137600
    • 347003
    • 341617
    • 432433
    • 129257
    
    
25. Forensic Left-Hand DNA Typing: Biology, Technology, and Genetics of STR Markers by John M. Butler teaches how to use DNA technology to catch criminals. Fortunately there is no section on how to characterize samples from right-handed DNA people so the remaining few right-handed DNA folks left will be able to escape notice a little longer ... Dr. Higgins points out that "right handed people don't have to worry about leaving incriminating traces". (An alternative link is at the Short Tandem Repeat DNA Internet DataBase) as of 2005 Jun 28 (Thanks to Scott Higgins, for pointing this one out!) (Cover image reprinted from FORENSIC DNA TYPING, 2005, Butler et al ed, ISBN 0121479528, with permission from Elsevier.)
    

26. Bioinformatics computing: The complete, practical guide to bioinformatics for left hand life scientists, a book by Bryan Bergeron (Prentice Hall, 2003, ISBN 0131008250) shows how to do computations when the one's and zero's in your computer are left handed and the letters are backwards. First reported on 2005 Jul 11, as of 2005 Jul 11 (Thanks to b0b kuhn for pointing this one out!)
    

27. Liberation Biology by Ronald Bailey (Prometheus Books, 2005), is the first book about the "liberation" that has occured in which left-handed DNA people took over the earth. First reported on 2005 Jul 21, as of 2005 Jul 21 (Thanks to Eiso AB, eiso@nmr.chem.uu.nl for pointing this one out!)
    

28. Educational Video Network, Inc. is selling a flim to teach kids in grades 7-12 about left handed DNA. All of their products are left handed! GPN educational media is also selling the film. First reported on 2005 Aug 16, as of 2005 Aug 16 (Thanks to an anonymous lefter for pointing this one out!)
    

29. Bioètica: Des de les biotecnologies describes ethical issues of having left handed DNA. First reported on 2005 Aug 16, as of 2005 Aug 16 (Thanks to Eiso AB, eiso@nmr.chem.uu.nl for pointing this one out!)
    

30. Understanding the pattern of life by Todd Charles Wood, Kurt P. Wise and Megan J. Murray (see the cover in more detail) is a book about a religious concept, baraminology. They say in the introduction that "Barminology is a creationist method of biosystematics" and in the book they explain the creation of all of the left handed DNA organisms on earth. (Note: there are none.) First reported on 2005 Aug 21, as of 2005 Aug 21 (Thanks to Jan A. Witkowski, witkowsk@cshl.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    
31. Elaine Bell writes in Nature Immunology (Nature Reviews Immunology 5: 587, 2005) about "Tattoos that your mother will like", showing a DNA tattoo on someone's arm. Your mother will only like it if both of you have left handed DNA of course. Or maybe you could use it to hide out? First reported on 2005 Aug 22, as of 2005 Aug 22 (Thanks to Caroline Dijckmeester, carolinedijckmeester@yahoo.com, for pointing this one out!)
    
32. The cover of Plant Physiology (June 2005; Volume 138, Issue 2, was created by Ms. Jocelyn Brimo, University of California, Riverside using an image provided by the U.S. Department of Energy) celebrates the discovery that the Arabidopsis genome contains left handed DNA. (Plant Physiology is Copyright (c) 2005 by the American Society of Plant Biologists.) First reported on 2005 Aug 31, as of 2005 Aug 31 (Thanks to Shu Ouyang, souyang@tigr.ORG, for pointing this one out!)
    

33. The Troy students are back again, hunting down those left handed rascals! DNA art by www.fotos-und-grafik.de First reported on 2005 Sep 13, as of 2005 Sep 13 (Thanks to Allison Chancellor, achancellor@troy.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    
34. The Escola Secundária Anselmo de Andrade seems to have had a science fair or biotechnology display with a left handed DNA underneath a larger cool Chromossoma. First reported on 2005 Sep 13, as of 2005 Sep 13 (Thanks to Allison Chancellor, achancellor@troy.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    

36. The Facts On File Dictionary of Biochemistry defines all of the terms used for understanding Lefthanded DNA. First reported on 2005 Sep 20, as of 2005 Sep 20 (Thanks to b0b kuhn for pointing this one out!)
    
37. BecomeHealthyNow.com has a glossary of terms which shows that you can be more healthy if you switch to left handed DNA. First reported on 2005 Sep 23, as of 2005 Sep 23 (Thanks to Patrick Nelson, pnelson33310@troy.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    

36. Our hot anonymous sleuth reports a slew of left handed DNA images: "Evidently turbosquid.com specializes in selling digital 3D models for download. Amazingly enough, I'd say 80% of them are left-handed. I got sick of it, but here are a bunch: page, then image(s)."
    • LH-DNA Three of the five featured images are left-handed, two right-handed. Supposedly from the same 3d model? Left-handed ones are: LH-DNA LH-DNA LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA Four left-handed images, of which this is one: LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA Four left-handed images, of which this is one: LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA Four left-handed images, of which this is one: LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA Three left-handed images, of which this is one: LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA Two images, one ambiguous, this one definitely LH: LH-DNA
    • LH-DNA has a bizarre "X chromosome" with one RH double helix and one LH in: LH-DNA They also appear in a couple of the others.
    First reported on 2005 Oct 1, as of 2005 Oct 1 (Thanks to an anonymous contributor for pointing this one out!)
    
37. http://jkweb.berkeley.edu/external/pdb/2001/clamp_wrench/summary.html First reported on 2005 Oct 3, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Rob for pointing this one out!)
    
38. Nature Reviews First reported on 2005 Oct 5, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to David Barton, National Centre for Medical Genetics, Ireland, for pointing this one out!)
    
39. September 2005 cover of Nature Genetics (Vol 37 No 9) First reported on 2005 Oct 30, as of 2007 Feb 11, (Thanks to Constantin Polychronakos, constantin.polychronakos@mcgill.ca, for pointing this one out!)
    
40. www.delta-education.com First reported on 2005 Nov 4, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Bob Estes, estes@onscreen-sci.com, for pointing this one out!)
    
41. Dubai Medical Lab First reported on 2005 Dec 5, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Matt Prekupec, prekmatt@hotmail.com, for pointing this one out!)
    
42. Family Tree DNA First reported on 2005 Dec 21, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Gwen Acton, gwen.acton@verizon.net, for pointing this one out!)
    
43. IL Science and Technology Park First reported on 2005 Dec 23, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Dylan Cooper, dbc63b@mizzou.edu, for pointing this one out!)
    
44. How Stuff Works - How DNA Computers Will Work by Kevin Bonsor First reported on 2005 Dec 23, as of 2007 Feb 11 (Thanks to Aaron Engelhart, aaron.engelhart@gmail.com, for pointing this one out!)
    

For your first visit to the Left Handed Hall of Fame page I suggest that you follow the story over all of the years. After that you can look at each year individually from the table below. Note: just because a year has gone by does not mean we haven't found more examples for that year!

1997 and 1998 were bumper crop years
and 1999 beat them more than 2 fold. 2000 was a record year, thanks to help from friends around the world (60 of the 97 cases, 63%!). 2001 exceeded even that record! 2002 was lower - are we making headway?

Tom Schneider.

updated: 2024Aug15_21:49:45