Scientists are traditionally stereotyped as geeks. Geeks who don’t have a lot of sex. Running around in unflattering lab coats carrying test tubes and watching beakers cook. But they’re learned from their professional cousins, the computer geeks. Just as computer geeks brought the world the internet, with its attendant marvels such as IM, online porn, and chat rooms, the biological scientists are waking up to the business fact that sex=money. Yeah, mapping the human genome was cool, but how does that help people get laid?

- Discovery Health reports [via NinoNanoSpeed] that Harvard researchers have successfully grown penis tissue in the lab. The procedure has been used successfully on rabbits, and because the new tissue is grown from the cells of the intended beneficiary, there’s no chance of rejection. While discussing some public good benefits of the procedure, the article concedes “most lucrative market of all would be for men who want a bigger penis.”

- From the S.F. Gate, scientists have tweaked the genome of a fruit fly to change his sexual orientation. Yes, they made a straight fruit fly gay. In an interesting twist, the mutant gene is activated by heat, so he’s only gay in warm weather. There are so many places to take that one I’ll leave it for the comments. Take your best shots.

One Response to “Sex and science”

1. Choire says:

   September 17, 2002 at 2:52 pm

   i don’t even know where to start with that.

   Umm.

   Heeee…