Here be dragons
With luck, you may soon be able to buy a mythological pet

PAOLO FRIL, chairman and chief scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. That dream is a dragon in every home.

GeneDupe's business is biotech pets. Not for Dr Fril, though, the mundane cloning of dead moggies and pooches. He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that even when they did exist, it was only in the imagination.

Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe's team of biologists and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new field, which they call “virtual cell biology”.

Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail. That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body for protein assembly, and so on.

Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe's scientists can customise the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal's genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilised egg, and start dividing and developing—first into an embryo, and ultimately into an adult.

Because this “growth” is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe's enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe's scientists can add a little evolution to their products.

Generation 1.0

Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, gryphon, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and, most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the gryphon). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled.

Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe's scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real.

This involves synthesising, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr Fril and his commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what have you.

Readers with long memories may recall GeneDupe's previous attempt to break into the pet market, the Real Goldfish (see article). This animal was genetically engineered to deposit gold in its skin cells, for that truly million-dollar look. Unfortunately Dr Fril, a biologist, neglected to think about the physics involved. The fish, weighed down by one of the heaviest metals in existence, sank like a stone, as did the project. He is more confident about his new idea, though. Indeed, if he can get the dragons' respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.

What a horrible idea! I can't imagine how many 'mutated' animals they're going to have to kill until they get it to look right. And then what, once they do make an animal, how is it going to act. IF its a lizard with wings to imitate a dragon... lets just say iquana's aren't the nicest of creatures.. Can you imagine one flying at your head?

in theory cool idea.. but really... that is just a biological nightmare waiting to happen... I would not want to see or know what they will do with the rejects they will get while trying to get what they want.... I won't get on a soap box here... but all i can see is a huge dump site of dead animals... not pretty

That's a little too close to man playing "God" for my comfort actually. Yeah it is a cool idea in theory to be able to have a pet dragon or unicorn. In theory being the operative term there. I believe there may be a reason we don't have 15 ft long lizards with wings running around... mainly they would start to eat people.

I want myself a monkey with the head of a monkey and the body of a......monkey...

Well, if they do get it right...with fire and all...then I want to get two of them and go into the deepest parts of England and hunt down ex UO players MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Seriously, I don't think it is a good idea. The Island of Dr. Moreau!! Did I spell Moreau right?

Pfft, i'll just provoke them onto each other then kill you with my mutant white wyrm!

The entertainment value of that alone would be worth it. Be like you're own personal Godzilla movie.

*Makes a list of entree's.. ex-girlfriend, publisher, annoying anchor on the morning news... *

Well, I'd imagine they wouldn't use gila monsters or even iguanas to make the dragons for fear of the size, maybe a gecko so it wouldn't get too large. But then again, a 15 ft dragon would be nice, wouldn't have to deal with traffic to get to work.

They should make a Flying Komodo Dragon.......DEATH FROM ABOVE!

lol! I took the kid to the zoo not long ago to see an exhibit of komodo dragons. They smell. Badly. They eat carrion, I was told, and that's why they stink so much.

Besides, could you imagine driving your car under one? Trying to clean off bird poo is bad enough!