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Teenager astounds scientists by building a DNA testing machine in his bedroom - and he did it to
Daily Mail ^ | 4/5/13 | Emma Innes

Posted on 04/05/2013 3:51:52 PM PDT by LibWhacker

Teenager astounds scientists by building a DNA testing machine in his bedroom - and he did it to discover why his brother is ginger

A teenager has astounded scientists by building a DNA testing machine in his bedroom in an attempt to discover why his brother is ginger.

Fred Turner, 17, built the machine from items he found around his house, including an old video player, after becoming fascinated by why he has straight brown hair, while his younger brother Gus, 14, has a shock of ginger curls.

Fred from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, impressed scientists so much that he has been named the UK’s Young Engineer of the Year.

He said: ‘After years of jokes from my friends saying me and Gus have different dads, I built the machine to test once and for all why my brother is ginger and I’m not.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Hobbies; Science
KEYWORDS: builds; dna; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; jurassicpark; machine; teenager
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1 posted on 04/05/2013 3:51:52 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: LibWhacker

I doubt he’ll be named the UK Grammarian of the Year.


2 posted on 04/05/2013 3:56:55 PM PDT by steerpike100
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To: LibWhacker
ginger kids photo: ginger Ginger_Kids.jpg
3 posted on 04/05/2013 4:04:25 PM PDT by Snickering Hound
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To: steerpike100

Speaking as an English major, I believe the world has more need of engineers.


4 posted on 04/05/2013 4:04:42 PM PDT by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: LibWhacker

Did he use the VCR as a centrifuge, sounds like?


5 posted on 04/05/2013 4:14:50 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: LibWhacker

Yes! More power to Fred.

Most universities teach science in such a way that students are taught what they CANNOT do. Getting youngsters at Fred’s age involved in science is the best way to channel scientific innovation.


6 posted on 04/05/2013 4:19:18 PM PDT by SatinDoll (NATURAL BORN CITZEN: BORN IN THE USA OF CITIZEN PARENTS.)
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To: LibWhacker

He wanted to see if his brother had the mutated gene that causes ginger hair, in hopes of finding a cure.


7 posted on 04/05/2013 4:20:44 PM PDT by yefragetuwrabrumuy (Best WoT news at rantburg.com)
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To: LibWhacker

What a bright, focussed young man. Great achievement.


8 posted on 04/05/2013 4:23:12 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely expressed as advice)
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To: LibWhacker

...meant to add, some good parenting, I’ll bet.


9 posted on 04/05/2013 4:24:02 PM PDT by Veto! (Opinions freely expressed as advice)
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To: LibWhacker

Kid? You could’ve just asked the Mailman! ;)


10 posted on 04/05/2013 4:25:48 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set...)
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To: txhurl

That was my first thought....the head cylinder on those old things spun at 1800 RPM. Though they may have only spun at 1500 RPM in the UK since (if I remember correctly) PAL had a 50hz vertical rate.


11 posted on 04/05/2013 4:28:38 PM PDT by Nik Naym (It's not my fault... I have compulsive smartass disorder.)
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To: Nik Naym

And they could spin a glass tube a lot easier than a tensile vcr tape, too. Kudos to the kid, hope he makes a youtube out of it.


12 posted on 04/05/2013 4:31:47 PM PDT by txhurl
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To: Diana in Wisconsin
Didn't all the Farkel kids have red hair? Even Sparkle Farkel? Yea, I looked it up:
13 posted on 04/05/2013 5:03:44 PM PDT by DManA
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To: LibWhacker

Now he knows why his brother is ginger

I’d like to borrow the machine to find why my cousin is nancy


14 posted on 04/05/2013 5:13:37 PM PDT by stormhill
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To: martin_fierro; blam; StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; decimon; 1010RD; 21twelve; 24Karet; ...

 GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach
Thanks LibWhacker. Jurassic Adultery Ping.

Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.


15 posted on 04/05/2013 5:46:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Romney would have been worse, if you're a dumb ass.)
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To: LibWhacker

I know several Fred Turners. We call them “millenium babies”. Supersmart rugrats under 18 who build incredible things out of household junk, right there in the garage or in the back yard. I’m amazed at the gadgets they come up with. And I say to myself, “I sure hope there isn’t a military application for that!”


16 posted on 04/05/2013 5:47:26 PM PDT by jespasinthru (Proud member of the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy.)
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To: jespasinthru; LibWhacker

Fred, from Brighouse, West Yorkshire, spent a year and £400 building the polymerase chain reaction machine, one component of which was an old video player he found at home. He got the idea after reading about a similar one built by a man in America. Fred describes the device, which would cost £3,000 to buy new, as a 'DNA photocopier'. It amplifies the DNA strands so they can be analysed in a lab.


Fred will now go to Oxford University to study biochemistry

17 posted on 04/05/2013 6:21:36 PM PDT by NYer (Beware the man of a single book - St. Thomas Aquinas)
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To: DManA

Yes, all the Farkle kids looked like Ferd Berfel. There was Sparkle Farkle, and Simon and Gar Farkle, and a couple others I don’t recall.


18 posted on 04/05/2013 6:38:47 PM PDT by redhead (NO GROUND TO THE DEVIL! Use Weaponized Prayer)
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To: redhead

Father Farkle never fathomed the fraud.


19 posted on 04/05/2013 6:47:01 PM PDT by DManA
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To: NYer

Looks like there are two pictures of the “bedroom”
Doesn’t “Young Engineer” have to be graduate engineer with diploma or member of engineering society, before can be called engineer?


20 posted on 04/05/2013 6:51:35 PM PDT by Leo Carpathian (FReeeeepisssssed)
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