It was a proud moment for ISRO which is made further memorable by the touching gesture of our PM.
Yet the facts remain-
After 1000 crores, and a decade of effort by 700 top scientists, we are not sure whether Vikram landed on its four leg or not, whether she will be able to walk again or not in future ?
With Pragyan the rover still inside its womb what will happen to the unborn ?
When the variables extend to near infinity, accuracy suffers. Be it Chandrayaan or human body. Be it infinitesimal calculus or genomics.
…
Coming to my branch Neonatology,
Just consider the sheer volume of variables a new born baby packs in.
1 . A hour old baby contains *37.2 trillion* cells.
2 . Each cell has 23 pairs of chromosome at it’s center.
3 . Each pair of chromosome consists of *2 sets of 3 billion letters of DNA*.
This book of genes in each cell uses only 4 alphabets. *A,T,G,C* and nothing else.
Whoa..!!
And only a *single swap* of one letter in a gene that codes for hemoglobin, changes the NORMAL HB into SICKLED HB.
Imagine a situation
_*If out of these 3 billion letters* only *ONE LETTER* in the *SIXTH position* of *chromosome 11* is CHANGED_ from *A* to *U*…
_That changes the HB so much that it no longer can carry oxygen. Instead the round RBCs are deformed like sickles and get damaged early_.
This condition is known as *Sickle Cell Anemia*. The child will suffer life long from anemia, jaundice, bone pain and requires life long blood transfusion. The day this outside blood is stopped he will die.
…
These 3 billion letters code for everything. From our color of hair to final height, our Obesity, Diabetes, Behavior, Personality everything.
They are so accurate that a dog gives birth to only a dog not an elephant. Your thumb doesn’t grow longer than your index finger and your nose stops growing at exactly a predetermined point.
If there is some glitch, you will get a tumor of nose or thumb.
Unfortunately, we are yet to crack 95% of the genes. So we have conveniently labelled them Non sense genes or DARK MATTER.
The amount of data and codes this one day old child receives from *two different humans*, *swaps them randomly* as an embryo to grow into a self sustaining, self modifying adult human is enormous. Simply beyond comprehension.
He can be a facsimile of his father or mother or a third one, we cannot predict.
Compared to him, the orbiter, lander, and rovers are mere nothing.
So next time a doctor is giving you some impression about your child, put him in the shoes of those 700 scientists who after spending a decade of effort and 1000 crores rupees still had their fingers crossed at 1.50 am of a Saturday night and react.
Dr Ramakanta's Ideas 