orald wrote:Umm...why? We've got bacteria producing insulin, and they've just got genes for it artificially inserted. Same with the exlotl tanks- it can be just a gene(after all, it's the "language of God") to make it, which would explain what "cards" Scytale still holds in ChD even after he gave the BG clone capable tanks.
The only way it can be "just a gene" is if said materials are inserted into a cellular body, and that cellular body replicates (mitosis--meiosis in the case of gametes), thus producing more "copies" of the genetic material. The whole point of axolotl tank (IMO) is to use nature (i.e the human womb) in a way its already designed to be used. Since the womb provides the mechanism from the fertilized ovum (diploid cell resulting from the union of an ovum and the haploid spermatozoon) to replicate via meiosis, then it would make sense that this mechanism is also used to replicate other cells. You simply cannot insert raw genetic material into a womb and get a resulting organism. It doesn't work like that.
Insulin is produced via the bacteria (a cellular organism). This is done by using enzymes to "clip" this section of genes, they are then spliced into the genome of the bacteria, which then adopts it as its own. When it goes to produce protein, its now coded for insulin and the bacteria goes about its merry way making the insulin. Bacteria produce very rapidly, and thus you can get lots of the stuff in a relatively short amount of time.
This would only be analogous if the women themselves (the Tanks) were having there genetic code altered to produce spice in their cells, then extracting it somehow, and in such a way that the cell is not disrupted from its normal processes that involve keeping the woman alive. Women themselves do not reproduce themselves like bacteria--thus the quantity of spice would be miniscule unless you used a whole lot of woman to do this. And once again, this assume the process doesn't result in death.
It's one thing to grow a baby out of some cells you got(reversing them to stem cells and letting them go through the whole thing again?), it's another to engineer a gene to manufacture spice(especially since those are two different, not wholly compatible systems- Arrakisian and Terran).
Not sure what you are getting at here. Even if you were to "engineer a gene" to manufacture spice, you would presumably have to implant it in a cellular body to form an organism that would produce it. Once again, genes don't just exist outside of the genomic sequence. That is what they are--a locatable region in the genomic sequence within a cell or organism.
This whole "biologically active portion" sounds to me, esecially with the later elaboration about other parts of the molecule, like pharmacutical talk about active substances and parts of mulecules. Active regions.
Biologically active doesn't necessarily means alive. From the talk about the mulecule parts it shows quite clearly it's about active regions(i.e parts of a molecule that react and give the actual effects).
Yes, that is true. "Biologically active" generally means it has an effect on the metabolic activity of cells.
My point is this: Every single thing that is produced in the axolotl tanks (placing spice on the back burner for now) is a celllular organism: gholas, face dancers, chairdogs, Bijaz, presumably futars, etc. The only other thing produced is melange. Frank says in an interview that spice is "like spermatic material", which would indicate that it is in some way cellular. Thus, it would make sense that it could be produced in an axolotl tank.