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The four-site saga — a preliminary account of the somes family
T I B S - December 1985
473 homeo?' (Romeo and Juliet). We are confident that further research in this or of restriction enzymes - 'AatH hitherto neglected field will continue to Brute?' (Julius Caesar). He tries his bear fa'uit, but are at present uncertain hand at protein biochemistry, as in A whether to apply to the SERC or the Midsummer Nighfs Dream - 'Ill +NH3- Arts Council for funds. met by moonlight, proud Titania'; and at microbial genetics in Julius Caesar N. N I ' B H R I A I N 'Knew you not pOmpA?'. But frustraN. L. B R O W N tion tings out too, at grant aiding bodies L. EVANS - 'The quality of MRC is not strained' P. A. L U N D (The Merchant of Venice); at recalcitrant and R. M U L L I N G S restriction enzyme digests- Bgl, Bgl, toil and trouble' (Macbeth); and at the Dept of Biochemistry, University of complexities of the eukaryotic genome - Bristol, Medical School, Bristol BS8 'O Homeo, homeo, wherefore art thou, 1TD, UK.
Molecular Shakespeare Of endless fascination to literary pundits is the possibility that the plays of Shakespeare were either not written entirely by him or else contain cryptic messages to those enlightened enough to decipher them. We have recently discovered textual evidence to support the conjecture that Shakespeare may have ranked molecular biology amongst his other noteworthy skills. Many of his plays take on an intriguing new perspective when studied in this light. He grapples in the great tragedies with the correct choice of gel buffer - 'TBE or not TBE' (Hamlet);
The four-site saga - a preliminary account of the Somes famny The adventures of the Somes family, as name was Monongahela (possibly a refrecorded by John Galsworthy in The erence to the Monongahela River and Forsyte Saga ~, have been enjoyed by the Forts Duquesne and Pitt which readers and TV viewers alike. As Kuehn occupied the site of present day Pittshas made clear in a recent issue of burgh). Be that as it may, she was TIBS 2, a rival dynasty is growing at a never able to write more than the first prodigious rate. A brief guide to the four letters of her name, and was always genealogy of the Somes family is pre- referred to by here large family as sented here; a detailed account is to be Mono. published under the title, 'The Four-Site As just indicated, Chromo and Mono produced many children. The first three, Saga'. The first member of the clan to who play overwhelming roles in the achieve notoriety was named Saga, were all girls, Polly, Riva and Rembrandt Somes. True to his name, Lisa. Childish difficulties in pronunciahe followed a spectacular artistic career tion eventually transformed Riva into as a chromolithographer; inevitably, his 'Ribo', and Lisa to 'Lyso'. The final familiar nickname became 'Chromo'. daughter was christened Holly; in a full Although some scholars have tried to ' flowering of the Some's genes, her great suggest a Celtic background with the granddaughter, also named Holly, reading O'Somes, this derivation has engaged in a dramatic career as a received tittle support. A cousin of Go-Go dancer. Since she performed Chromo, Per Odsi, apparently origi- under the sobriquet of 'Holly Go Go', nated in Scandinavia. With the passage she was quickly referred to as 'Oligo'. Little is known of the male Somes of time Per's two names were slurred together in the English-speaking world, (malesomes?). One boy, Calvin O. and he tends to appear in the family Somes, was always in trouble as a child since he was a chronic tell-tale. In later archives as 'Peroxy' Somes. Considerable mystery surrounds life, this childish trait led him into Chromo's wife. She was apparently of espionage and he was generally known American Indian origin, since her first as 'informo' Somes.
While the derivation of some (pun intended) names is clear (e.g. Marie Somes), further research is needed in many cases. One curious association appears to be with circuses. 'Micro', a dwarf, unfortunately died at an early age after several colorful years with a circus. A second Somes became an animal trainer. His cries of 'Leap Over' resulted in his circus name of 'Leapo' Somes, recorded by many sources as 'Lipo'. Clearly, the Somes are a remarkable body of individuals - and, surely, we have not yet seen the last of them. In the meantime, genealogical research must be expanded since some 90 Somes have yet to be accounted for.
Rdel-ences 1 Galsworthy, J. (1926) The Forsyte Saga, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (The Saga was originally pubfished in its entirety in 1922. However, the first part, The Man of Property, w a s publishedin 1906) 2 Kuehn,G. D. (1985)TrendsB/ochem.Sc/. 10, 227-230
RONALD BENTLEY
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
1985, ElsevierSciencePublishersB.V., Amsterdam 0376- 5~67/85/$ff2.t10
473 homeo?' (Romeo and Juliet). We are confident that further research in this or of restriction enzymes - 'AatH hitherto neglected field will continue to Brute?' (Julius Caesar). He tries his bear fa'uit, but are at present uncertain hand at protein biochemistry, as in A whether to apply to the SERC or the Midsummer Nighfs Dream - 'Ill +NH3- Arts Council for funds. met by moonlight, proud Titania'; and at microbial genetics in Julius Caesar N. N I ' B H R I A I N 'Knew you not pOmpA?'. But frustraN. L. B R O W N tion tings out too, at grant aiding bodies L. EVANS - 'The quality of MRC is not strained' P. A. L U N D (The Merchant of Venice); at recalcitrant and R. M U L L I N G S restriction enzyme digests- Bgl, Bgl, toil and trouble' (Macbeth); and at the Dept of Biochemistry, University of complexities of the eukaryotic genome - Bristol, Medical School, Bristol BS8 'O Homeo, homeo, wherefore art thou, 1TD, UK.
Molecular Shakespeare Of endless fascination to literary pundits is the possibility that the plays of Shakespeare were either not written entirely by him or else contain cryptic messages to those enlightened enough to decipher them. We have recently discovered textual evidence to support the conjecture that Shakespeare may have ranked molecular biology amongst his other noteworthy skills. Many of his plays take on an intriguing new perspective when studied in this light. He grapples in the great tragedies with the correct choice of gel buffer - 'TBE or not TBE' (Hamlet);
The four-site saga - a preliminary account of the Somes famny The adventures of the Somes family, as name was Monongahela (possibly a refrecorded by John Galsworthy in The erence to the Monongahela River and Forsyte Saga ~, have been enjoyed by the Forts Duquesne and Pitt which readers and TV viewers alike. As Kuehn occupied the site of present day Pittshas made clear in a recent issue of burgh). Be that as it may, she was TIBS 2, a rival dynasty is growing at a never able to write more than the first prodigious rate. A brief guide to the four letters of her name, and was always genealogy of the Somes family is pre- referred to by here large family as sented here; a detailed account is to be Mono. published under the title, 'The Four-Site As just indicated, Chromo and Mono produced many children. The first three, Saga'. The first member of the clan to who play overwhelming roles in the achieve notoriety was named Saga, were all girls, Polly, Riva and Rembrandt Somes. True to his name, Lisa. Childish difficulties in pronunciahe followed a spectacular artistic career tion eventually transformed Riva into as a chromolithographer; inevitably, his 'Ribo', and Lisa to 'Lyso'. The final familiar nickname became 'Chromo'. daughter was christened Holly; in a full Although some scholars have tried to ' flowering of the Some's genes, her great suggest a Celtic background with the granddaughter, also named Holly, reading O'Somes, this derivation has engaged in a dramatic career as a received tittle support. A cousin of Go-Go dancer. Since she performed Chromo, Per Odsi, apparently origi- under the sobriquet of 'Holly Go Go', nated in Scandinavia. With the passage she was quickly referred to as 'Oligo'. Little is known of the male Somes of time Per's two names were slurred together in the English-speaking world, (malesomes?). One boy, Calvin O. and he tends to appear in the family Somes, was always in trouble as a child since he was a chronic tell-tale. In later archives as 'Peroxy' Somes. Considerable mystery surrounds life, this childish trait led him into Chromo's wife. She was apparently of espionage and he was generally known American Indian origin, since her first as 'informo' Somes.
While the derivation of some (pun intended) names is clear (e.g. Marie Somes), further research is needed in many cases. One curious association appears to be with circuses. 'Micro', a dwarf, unfortunately died at an early age after several colorful years with a circus. A second Somes became an animal trainer. His cries of 'Leap Over' resulted in his circus name of 'Leapo' Somes, recorded by many sources as 'Lipo'. Clearly, the Somes are a remarkable body of individuals - and, surely, we have not yet seen the last of them. In the meantime, genealogical research must be expanded since some 90 Somes have yet to be accounted for.
Rdel-ences 1 Galsworthy, J. (1926) The Forsyte Saga, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York (The Saga was originally pubfished in its entirety in 1922. However, the first part, The Man of Property, w a s publishedin 1906) 2 Kuehn,G. D. (1985)TrendsB/ochem.Sc/. 10, 227-230
RONALD BENTLEY
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA.
1985, ElsevierSciencePublishersB.V., Amsterdam 0376- 5~67/85/$ff2.t10