Scat song - Julie Constable isolates baboon DNA from dung to identify paternal lines - article in comic strip form - Science Classics - Column

SCAT SONG

SHOOBEEDOOP DEWA!

GRUNT

IN THE STUDY OF PRIMATE SOCIETIES, A NAGGING QUESTION HAS PLAGUED SCIENTISTS: WHICH ONES ARE THE DADS? YOU CAN TELL WHO THE MOMS ARE JUST BY WATCHING... BUT WHO'S DAD? ALWAYS A TRICKY QUESTION AMONG THE HIGHER PRIMATES...

THE HIGHER PRIMATES ARE NOTHING BUT DIRTY LITTLE MONKEYS!

THE HIGHER YOU GO, THE DIRTIER THEY GET...

RECENTLY, OBSERVERS IN THE FIELD HAVE NOTED THE LIMITS OF THEIR TRADITIONAL METHODS AND CONSIDERED SOMETHING NEW: DNA TESTING.

ACTING LIKE A BUNCH OF PEEPING TOMS WITH A LAND ROVER JUST ISN'T ENOUGH...

HOW TO GET THE PRIMATE DNA WITHOUT DISTURBING THE ANIMALS? BY SHOOTING THEM WITH TRANQUILIZER DARTS AND DRAWING THEIR BLOOD AFTER THEY FALL OUT OF A TREE? MAYBE NOT...

THERE MUST BE ANOTHER WAY!

BUT THERE IS ANOTHER EASY-TO-FIND SOURCE OF DNA THAT CAN BE CLEARLY CONNECTED TO SPECIFIC INDIVIDUALS.

WHAT? WHAT?

YOU'RE STANDING IN IT...

THAT WOULD BE FECES.

EXTRACTING DNA FROM MONKEY DUNG IS A FORMIDABLE TASK. AFTER COLLECTION (THE EASY PART), SAMPLES MUST BE CHILLED, STORED, AND PASSED THROUGH CUSTOMS ON THEIR WAY TO THE RESEARCH LABS OF THE ADVANCED INDUSTRIALIZED NATIONS.

UH ... I'M A SCIENTIST ... IT'S A FILTHY SORT OF JOB ... BUT SOMEONE HAS TO DO IT...

YOUR COUNTRY MUST IMPORT THIS MATERIAL?

I PITY YOUR COUNTRY...

RISING TO THIS CHALLENGE WAS PH.D. CANDIDATE JULIE CONSTABLE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, WHO SPENT A FULL YEAR TRYING TO GET THE BABOON DNA OUT OF 40 SCAT SAMPLES.

THE CHEMISTRY WAS DAUNTING: EACH SAMPLE HAD ONLY A TRACE OF BABOON DNA FROM CAST-OFF BODY CELLS, MIXED WITH PLANT MATTER, BACTERIA, AND OTHER WASTE.

TIME FOR LUNCH, JULIE! JULIE?

CAN WE GO TO THE GOLDEN NUGGET AGAIN?

IN ORDER TO "AMPLIFY" THE DNA (CLONE ENOUGH COPIES FOR CHEMICAL ANALYSIS), CONSTABLE NEEDED KNOWN "PRIMER" SEQUENCES TO MARK THE TWO ENDS OF THE STRAND TO BE AMPLIFIED...

AND NOBODY KNEW ANY BABOON PRIMER SEQUENCES...

WE NEED A BABOON GENOME PROJECT!

SO SHE TRIED HUMAN PRIMERS, FERVENTLY HOPING THEY WERE BABOONLIKE ENOUGH TO WORK.

C'MON, BABY! JULIE NEEDS A PH.D.!

PCR MACHINE, VEGAS STYCE

AFTER MANY MONTHS OF WORK, CONSTABLE HAD DNA FROM 39 OF THE 40 SAMPLES (AND CONFIRMED THAT IT REALLY WAS BABOON DNA BY COMPARING IT WITH DNA FROM BABOON HAIR).

JACK. POT!

DING DING DING

THIS STUNNING ACHIEVEMENT NOT ONLY PRODUCED BABOON DNA BUT ALSO SHOWED ITS DETAILED DIFFERENCES FROM HUMAN DNA.

AND MADE ME A PLACE IN THE ACADEMIC DOMINANCE HIERARCHY!

EVENTUALLY, CHECKING THIS DNA AGAINST THAT OF THE TROOP'S MALES SHOULD REVEAL WHO FATHERED WHOM.

CAN'T DO NOTHIN' ANYMORE WITHOUT SOMEBODY PRYIN' INTO YOUR BUSINESS!

AND WHAT MIGHT WE EXPECT TO LEARN?

IN PREVIOUS WORK WITH CHIMPANZEES, DNA FROM CHIMP HAIR RULED OUT THE TROOP'S DOMINANT MALE AS THE FATHER OF THE INDIVIDUALS SAMPLED.

WHAT?

APPARENTLY, THE TOP CHIMP'S POLITICAL DUTIES INTERFERE WITH HIS SEX LIFE. WHILE YOUNGER CHIMPS GO OFF ON WOODLAND TRYSTS, OLD ALPHA HAS TO STAY HOME TO DEFEND HIS STATUS...

EEP EEP EEP!

'BYEEE!

PRIMATES HAVE A RICH REPERTOIRE OF MATING BEHAVIORS, BUT UNTIL NOW THERE WAS NO WAY TO KNOW WHICH MALE STRATEGIES WORK BEST, NOR HOW THEY INTERACT WITH OTHER DRIVES, LIKE THE URGE TO DOMINATE.

SHOOT! I SHOULDA NEVER LEFT ARKANSAS!

AS THE FIELD OF MOLECULAR SCATOLOGY RIPENS, IT CAN ONLY DEEPEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF ANIMAL SOCIETY...

DR. CONSTABLE ... THERE'S THIS WHALE LOOKING FOR ITS BIOLOGICAL PARENTS...

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COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group