Word: coded
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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This alarmist language may yet be justified. By 1999 folly has compounded folly. In many cases, the original COBOL code has been rejiggered so many times that the date locations have been lost. And even when programmers find their quarry, they aren't sure which fixes will work. The amount of code that needs to be checked has grown to a staggering 1.2 trillion lines. Estimates for the cost of the fix in the U.S. alone range from $50 billion to $600 billion. As for Y2K compliance in Asian economies still struggling with recession? Forget about...
...time the project was complete, promised its advocates, science would at last have access to the "book of life"--the precise biochemical code for each of the 100,000 or so genes that largely determine every physical characteristic in the human body. Once researchers knew that, they'd be able to figure out exactly how each gene functions--and, more important, malfunctions to trigger deadly illnesses from heart disease to cancer...
Then he had an epiphany: he realized that he didn't need to identify those parts of a cell's genome that code for proteins as long as the cell itself can identify them. Venter switched his attention from the DNA blueprint to the RNA templates the cell makes from those blueprints. His task vastly simplified, he began turning out gene sequences at unprecedented rates...
...They liken the situation to a car accident. One of the genes that tells cells to divide (the accelerator) must get stuck in the "on" position. Another gene that tells cells to slow down (the brake) must be disabled. And the molecules that fix any mistakes in the DNA code (the repair crew) have to go on strike. In half of all colon cancers, the accelerator is a gene called ras, which makes a protein that stimulates cell growth. It was the ideal target for an anticancer drug...
...keyboard, you still have to sign the old-fashioned way. But in a pilot program this year, a few million e-filers who have software like TurboTax, as well as those who use a preparer like H&R Block, can zap their 1040--paper free--with a code substituting for their signature. E-filers can also pay their balance due by phone with a credit card--for a fee, of course...