Song Parodies -> The Genome Song
| Original Song Title: | "The Galaxy Song" |
| Original Performer: | Monty Python (The Meaning of Life) |
| Parody Song Title: | "The Genome Song" |
| Parody Written by: | Phil Alexander |
Not exactly the song I was expecting it to turn into, but all the details are accurate...
Whenever school gets you down, Master Brown
And science seems hard, or tough
Biology's difficult, obtuse or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enough...
Just remember that you're living in a body that's inspiring
And respiring with ten million million cells
Each one is point-oh-five millimetres side to side
And full of lots of types and kinds of organelles
The nucleus is small - 100 nanometres tall
We make millions of new ones every day
And our chromosomes, it seems, contain 100,000 genes
In a double-stranded helix DNA
Our genome itself contains three billion base pairs
Each one GC or AT side by side
But just one-sixty millions, of those 3.2 billions
Are actually encoding nucleotides
To make one whole protein, it takes but a single gene
Say, fifteen hundred nucleotide pairs
And the whole genetic sequence has millions of billions
Of permutations for our varied life on earth
Our cells and DNA keep on dividing and dividing
Mitosis makes a carbon-copy cell
But so we can reproduce, some cells they will produce
Meiotic'ly a haploid one as well
Two haploids can combine, say, one of yours and one of mine
To create uniquely sequenced DNA
And with this replication comes occasional mutation, so
Evolution comes about this way
And science seems hard, or tough
Biology's difficult, obtuse or daft
And you feel that you've had quite enough...
Just remember that you're living in a body that's inspiring
And respiring with ten million million cells
Each one is point-oh-five millimetres side to side
And full of lots of types and kinds of organelles
The nucleus is small - 100 nanometres tall
We make millions of new ones every day
And our chromosomes, it seems, contain 100,000 genes
In a double-stranded helix DNA
Our genome itself contains three billion base pairs
Each one GC or AT side by side
But just one-sixty millions, of those 3.2 billions
Are actually encoding nucleotides
To make one whole protein, it takes but a single gene
Say, fifteen hundred nucleotide pairs
And the whole genetic sequence has millions of billions
Of permutations for our varied life on earth
Our cells and DNA keep on dividing and dividing
Mitosis makes a carbon-copy cell
But so we can reproduce, some cells they will produce
Meiotic'ly a haploid one as well
Two haploids can combine, say, one of yours and one of mine
To create uniquely sequenced DNA
And with this replication comes occasional mutation, so
Evolution comes about this way
Incidentally, the GC/AT pairs as mentioned in the second verse are Guanine-Cytosine/Adenine-Thymine nucleotide pairs, one of each pair on each of the DNA strands in the double helix. I came across loads of really interesting stuff while researching this one, for example the DNA actually used in active genes contains approximately 30MB of information.
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Voting Breakdown
The following represent how many people voted for each category.
| Pacing | How Funny | Overall Rating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | 7 | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | 16 | 16 | 18 |
User Comments Follow...
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Phill, that was great!!! :-)
I'm so jealous! Why didn't I write this? Grr! Great job!!! :D
Very good, and very accurate!
Thank you for the kind words... Jeff, it should be: I spent a couple of hours researching this (and finished up with enough details for another song...not sure what that'll end up being, exactly)
I forwarded it to a few of the scientists I work with who would get something out of it (and maybe you'll get an extra couple votes or comments)
Great job plus extra credit for reminding me of another great Python tune I'd forgotten. Very well done.
Does this win the award for 'parody with the most tecnical/scientific' words'? Notwithstanding Tom Lehrer's Elements Song of course
(In reply to:) -"And our chromosomes, it seems, contain 100,000 genes In a double-stranded helix DNA"-BRILLIANT. If only I'd had you for a teacher,& not a plaid obsessed drunk..lol Although I DKTOS,this is wonderful to read-I'm guessing you're a mad scientist..which would explain your lyrical genius. = )
Phil,I tell ya.I think I could be going batty.This is like the fifth song I've voted on,that I thought I already had! Now,to be sure,I just voted again,& it took it. Yikes.Maybe I need more sleep! Anyway,I woulda given you a 10 on this one if I could have. Phenominal. I must say-"Venereal Crabsody" is my favorite ever. I can't read that,without tears flyin' off my face! lol
This is the kind of stuff I wish my biology teacher had used in college: 5's all round, great imitation of the original pacing and style. Sorry to cast the vote that turned over the counter though!
(ABC05) 5's
(ABC-G-05) Ack ! Need to rent this movie tomorrow for a buck to rate this, as I have no idea on the pacing. Pretty funny though. I'll get back to it.
For those who DKTOS, I've recorded this one - it's at http://www.soundclick.com/bands/9/philalexander_music.htm
(ABC05) Brownie points for the research. This will be in my Top 5.
(ABC) "SCIENCE !!"
(ABC) Ah, you and your Python parodies (I still remember 'Always Lick on the White Side of the Stamp"). Very good.
Can't access the MP3s at Soundclick right now. Trust ya on the pacing. 5s. This has been checked out for a while at the movie store now, so I still haven't seen it ( lately ).
(G) I'm giving you fives in exchange for a promise not to tell Bill Gates that the DNA in an active human gene can hold 30 Meg. ;) (Nice work, btw.)
(G) From a former Chemistry major, well done. 5's
(ABC05) Wow! Excellent, Phil!!! 555
(G) putting it against a Monty Python backdrop made this educational experience funny, Phil, and kudos for getting "double-stranded helix DNA" to pace!
(ABC) Professor Phil strikes again! 555
(ABC)If I didn't know better, I'd think you were a brilliant science teacher. But the first half is true... too bad I DRTOS - i saw the movie a long time ago so I don't remember all the songs. All I actually remember is parts of "every sperm is sacred"
(ABC) DKTOS. Ah crap, I learned something!
ABC--I sort of felt like crying at how stupid this made me feel...; ) EXCELLENT job, Phil...
(ABC-G) The two main sciences I've been exposed to are physics and biology. I don't mind physics, but I hate biology. Regardless, this is good work.
ABC: Story of my life! No...really... very good job!
Thanks for the comments & votes...
Arwen - it shouldn't make you feel stupid, at least not unless you don't understand any of it. And please don't say that you don't understand, I *know* you're smarter than that.
MG - But isn't learning a good thing?
Ethan - My grandfather was a brilliant physics teacher; my father a not-so-brilliant chemistry teacher (turned technical author), and like him I'm sure I'd be great at teaching enthusiastic pupils who really wanted to learn.
Arwen - it shouldn't make you feel stupid, at least not unless you don't understand any of it. And please don't say that you don't understand, I *know* you're smarter than that.
MG - But isn't learning a good thing?
Ethan - My grandfather was a brilliant physics teacher; my father a not-so-brilliant chemistry teacher (turned technical author), and like him I'm sure I'd be great at teaching enthusiastic pupils who really wanted to learn.
Just Excellent, You deserve a PhD in Biology!!!!
Thank you, Judith - incidentally, there's a recording of this one here: www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=126459 - I performed it at an open mike evening on Saturday, and it went down fairly well :-)
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