© 1998 by Oxford University Press
For as long as most people can remember, scientists were the only ones who ever used the word deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA. No more. In the late 1990s, references to the double helix are popping up everywhere, from cryptic daily newspaper headlines like "Rappers Fate Hinges on DNA" to the popular television program "The X-Files," in which so-called human junk DNA offers the latest lead in explaining the age-old mystery of extraterrestrial beings.
One area where DNA is breaking new artistic ground is as metaphor. Here are some recent favorite metaphors and analogies from the United States:
"These days, the fashionable metaphors are borrowed from biology and Darwinism: Creative breakthroughs are now mutations, a brand's identity is its DNA and culture spreads, not by marketplace consent, but like a virus that rips through the population until the antibodies (i.e., boredom) kick in."
Los Angeles Times -- November 30, 1997
"Discussion leader Naomi Rosenblatt, who wrote 'Wrestling With Angels' and has run an Old Testament study group on Capitol Hill for years, called Genesis 'the DNA of the Bible.' "
Washington Post -- April 18, 1997
"Today's dollar is tomorrow's open space, where the random acts of nature will bring us a necessary perspective on our existence. It's a wake up call from our very DNA."
Idaho Statesman -- February 1, 1998
"Here's [Art] Tatum recorded live in the early '40s, and he's synthesizing every jazz piano style that came before him like some swing-savvy cyborg. He's stacking them up like genes on a double-helix of DNA."
Pulse! Magazine -- November 1998
"Strangely, at the presentation Bravo tries to keep expectations low. She reminds the press that Menichetti's collection is the DNA of the new Burberry -- not the final product. Luckily, the genetics are sound: The collection is the talk of the spring 1999 fashion shows. . . ."
Fortune -- November 9, 1998
"Landmark cars indeed, but not the kind of landmark cars we mean. . . . Cars that set the pace for those that came afterward. Cars whose revolutionary strands of DNA we find ten, twenty, even fifty years after they originally appeared, in the very cars we lease today."
Esquire Magazine -- October 1998
The DNAgers -- Welcome to the lives and times of Jack and Mary Chamness, the 13-year-old twins who travel back along their DNA line to become their ancestors and have historical mystery adventures.
"The daily [horse] racing programs, parimutuel handle and purses -- which are linked as inexorably as strands of DNA -- are closing faster than [famous race horse] Cigar. . ."
New York Times -- April 27, 1997
"I think of New York as being something almost like my DNA," he says, "I have my parents and then there's New York."
Washington Post -- April 29, 1998
"Far from being a 'superficial target,' as some might claim, pornography is 'the DNA of male dominance' or (to change the metaphor) the 'Pentagon of male violence.' "
Los Angeles Times -- March 16, 1997
"Old soldiers may fade away but old coaches keep coaching even if there is no game on schedule. Film study, game-plan development and a love for the sport are imprinted on their DNA. You see them standing at the interstate ramps holding signs that say, 'Will Coach For Food.' "
The Tennessean -- October 17, 1998
"We have reached a point in the college football season where every team has more or less developed its own DNA marker. Good, bad. Overachiever, underachiever. . . ."
Wisconsin State Journal -- October 31, 1998
"They're big guys. They're the guys who ought to come with blueprints. They aren't players, they're 'projects,' like the DNA double-helix at the science fair."
Cleveland Plain Dealer -- January 18, 1998
"The Gold Rush jump-started California. . . . It established the cultural DNA for the state."
Dallas Morning News -- January 25, 1998
-- Judy Grosberg and Bob Kuska
Metaphorically Speaking: DNA Spoken Here
(Editorial supporting proposed tax to preserve nearby foothills.)
(Review of a new CD)
(A new series of juvenile books)
(Rock musician Lou Reed)
(Article on tall, gangly basketball players)
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