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Post by urbanperegrine on Jan 14, 2016 16:53:12 GMT
So I was looking something up online (as you do), and having answered my question, I started link surfing or wiki walking or whatever you call it. This was I how I learned that Murdoch Time is closing in on a discovery that might help the detective work: Nettie Stevens and Edmund Beecher Wilson established the chromosomal basis of biological sex in 1905. In other words, they published the work that said an XX pair of chromosomes made an organism female and an XY pair made it male. Talk about things that make you go, "Hmmm."  Now I'm wondering if the coroner could find the chromosomes in white blood cells from a crime scene blood sample to establish the gender of the blood source... Thoughts? |
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Post by lovemondays on Jan 14, 2016 17:45:05 GMT
It's possible. William has done some reading on genetics...I believe he described it as some light summer reading. 
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Post by urbanperegrine on Jan 14, 2016 18:41:57 GMT
That's what I'm thinking, though I wonder about the technical details (the power of the coroner's microscope and so on). The writers could have a brief bit of fun with the fact that red blood cells don't have chromosomes (as I understand it, they're stripped down for gas transport), while white blood cells do--a slight delay or a but-wait-there's-more thing. ...and as I ponder this, there could be odd consequences for the intersex character plot embryo I posted (yeah, I know, I'm boring you lot and I should shut up already, but it's still on my mind). Assuming the person is also a tetragametic chimera, investigation could produce cells (taken from different places on the person) with XX and XY chromosomes. It's a pity George is in jail (or so I gather), for I can hear him calling this person their own twin, and for once his flight of fancy would be substantially correct. |
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Post by Hodge on Jan 14, 2016 19:52:11 GMT
It's possible. William has done some reading on genetics...I believe he described it as some light summer reading. Yes, he read Mendel's work on hybridization at the beach.  |
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Post by urbanperegrine on Jan 15, 2016 14:04:05 GMT
Not only that, he's married to a physician. Julia may see it first in a medical journal and share it with him.
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Post by oklahomafan on Jan 21, 2016 23:28:48 GMT
That's what I'm thinking, though I wonder about the technical details (the power of the coroner's microscope and so on). The writers could have a brief bit of fun with the fact that red blood cells don't have chromosomes (as I understand it, they're stripped down for gas transport), while white blood cells do--a slight delay or a but-wait-there's-more thing. ...and as I ponder this, there could be odd consequences for the intersex character plot embryo I posted (yeah, I know, I'm boring you lot and I should shut up already, but it's still on my mind). Assuming the person is also a tetragametic chimera, investigation could produce cells (taken from different places on the person) with XX and XY chromosomes. It's a pity George is in jail (or so I gather), for I can hear him calling this person their own twin, and for once his flight of fancy would be substantially correct. I think the drawback would be the tech. Maybe Murdich could invent the electron microscope? That would be cool. |
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Post by urbanperegrine on Jan 22, 2016 20:04:10 GMT
That's what I'm thinking, though I wonder about the technical details (the power of the coroner's microscope and so on). The writers could have a brief bit of fun with the fact that red blood cells don't have chromosomes (as I understand it, they're stripped down for gas transport), while white blood cells do--a slight delay or a but-wait-there's-more thing. ...and as I ponder this, there could be odd consequences for the intersex character plot embryo I posted (yeah, I know, I'm boring you lot and I should shut up already, but it's still on my mind). Assuming the person is also a tetragametic chimera, investigation could produce cells (taken from different places on the person) with XX and XY chromosomes. It's a pity George is in jail (or so I gather), for I can hear him calling this person their own twin, and for once his flight of fancy would be substantially correct. I think the drawback would be the tech. Maybe Murdich could invent the electron microscope? That would be cool. I'm not sure about that. I'd have thought the RL scientists who published their findings saw the chromosomes through their equipment before they wrote their papers (since as I understand it, the names of the chromosomes are based on their shapes), so maybe it's just a matter of a university field trip for expert consultation and better equipment. Of course, I wouldn't mind Murdoch offering improvements on existing tech yet again. |
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