Word: symbolisms
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Never far from the geneticist's mind is the three-letter symbol DNA, which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. It is a giant molecule of slightly variable composition that is found in chromosomes, and it is believed to be the substance that determines heredity and governs all cells (and therefore all life) from the stronghold of the nucleus. DNA has been known to exist for years, but until postwar years little was known about it. Now it is being attacked from many angles by nearly every breed of scientist...
...either pair of bases pointing in either direction. If the spirals should be pulled apart (the chemical bonds between bases are weak), each spiral would be left with the four bases arranged in any sequence. If arranged meaningfully along the spiral, the bases could carry information in a four-symbol code, much like digits on the magnetic tape of an electronic computer...
Stealthy Viruses. This concept of the DNA molecule has started a vast amount of excited work. Mathematicians are trying to break its four-symbol code. Chemists are trying to dig deeper into its structure. All sorts of biologists are looking for effects of DNA on the behavior of living organisms, and they are finding a wealth of strange things. Loose DNA can penetrate certain bacteria, changing them permanently into a new strain. Many viruses are packets of DNA wrapped in a coat of protein. When a virus infects a living cell, it leaves its coat outside. The DNA enters...
...Entrate (Abandon all thought, ye who enter)-refer to the cup of forgetfulness ancient Greeks thought was drunk before crossing the river Lethe. The dragon-fighting lions (probably an oblique reference to political feuds) derived from a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. The elephant with castle was a symbol used to depict Eleazar's slaying of the beast of King Antiochus (/ Maccabees 6:17-46), a feat of self-sacrifice interpreted as prefiguring Christ's martyrdom. But many of Vicino Orsini's fantasies remain obscure. He set out to create a garden unlike any ever seen...
Highly competent acting characterizes the small roles: Dee Victor as Willy's mistress, Frederick Warriner as his employer, and John Peters as Miller's most blatant symbol, Uncle Ben, who walked into the jungle at 17 and walked out at 21, and by God, he was RICH...