I got my PhD working with DNA and have seen a *lot* of graphical renderings of DNA. This has to be one of the worst I’ve come across (keeping in mind that I was a TA for three years for a class where many assignments involved generating images of DNA — by students who didn’t really know what they were doing — so I’ve seen a lot of *bad* images of DNA).
There are several programs out there for visualizing DNA structures. The are free and are not that difficult to use. You can even — gasp — change the orientation of the molecule so you can tell what you’re looking at, which clearly hasn’t been done here. And no one is going to understand what the background text means unless they have worked with one of these programs (and looked at some of the raw data files that are used with these programs).
It’s actually a book accompanying the documentary about the final, never aired episode of Sanford and Son.
They were trying to build a spinoff, and this was going to be the kickoff. The plot was fairly simple – A wild man wearing a red frock coat shows up ranting about a blue telephone booth (American’s didn’t know what a police box was) and the end of the universe. He needs some junk to repair something called the “Eye of Harmony.” As payment, he gives Fred something called a Progenation Machine,” making him promise to never turn it on, but instead “sell it as an objet d’art.” (Explaining what an objet d’art is gets the biggest laugh of the show – unfortunately.)
Later, Lamont discovers the Progenation machine, and unaware of the dire warnings given to Fred, hooks it up to a car battery. He then accidentally drops a portrait of his mother into the machine. Fred nearly has a heart attack so Lamont reaches into the machine to retrieve it.
Suddenly the machine begins spitting out copies of Lamont. 14 different Lamonts are created before Bubba finally disconnects the battery.
The name of the new spinoff was to be Junk DNA: Sanford’s Son and Sons
red
10 years ago
The author must be an alumnus of the Rube Goldberg School of Genetic Engineering.
This cover would be even better if the “matrix” was printed on watermelon paper.
![911xRKS8cSL._SL1500_[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/911xRKS8cSL._SL1500_1.jpg)
I got my PhD working with DNA and have seen a *lot* of graphical renderings of DNA. This has to be one of the worst I’ve come across (keeping in mind that I was a TA for three years for a class where many assignments involved generating images of DNA — by students who didn’t really know what they were doing — so I’ve seen a lot of *bad* images of DNA).
There are several programs out there for visualizing DNA structures. The are free and are not that difficult to use. You can even — gasp — change the orientation of the molecule so you can tell what you’re looking at, which clearly hasn’t been done here. And no one is going to understand what the background text means unless they have worked with one of these programs (and looked at some of the raw data files that are used with these programs).
I do believe this is a rendering of the erratic and painful-to-see death spiral of a book.
That or it’s cartoon DNA!
Gah. This is legitimately painful to look at.
A “minor” quibble: WTF is this book about, anyway?
An expose of bad DNA sequencing? A mystery or thriller? A tearful memoir of someone with a genetic disease?
Sheesh…
It’s actually a book accompanying the documentary about the final, never aired episode of Sanford and Son.
They were trying to build a spinoff, and this was going to be the kickoff. The plot was fairly simple – A wild man wearing a red frock coat shows up ranting about a blue telephone booth (American’s didn’t know what a police box was) and the end of the universe. He needs some junk to repair something called the “Eye of Harmony.” As payment, he gives Fred something called a Progenation Machine,” making him promise to never turn it on, but instead “sell it as an objet d’art.” (Explaining what an objet d’art is gets the biggest laugh of the show – unfortunately.)
Later, Lamont discovers the Progenation machine, and unaware of the dire warnings given to Fred, hooks it up to a car battery. He then accidentally drops a portrait of his mother into the machine. Fred nearly has a heart attack so Lamont reaches into the machine to retrieve it.
Suddenly the machine begins spitting out copies of Lamont. 14 different Lamonts are created before Bubba finally disconnects the battery.
The name of the new spinoff was to be Junk DNA: Sanford’s Son and Sons
The author must be an alumnus of the Rube Goldberg School of Genetic Engineering.
This cover would be even better if the “matrix” was printed on watermelon paper.