» Contribute     » Cast     » Archive     » Authors     » Search     » Random    » Resources     » Statistics     » Forum     » RSS Feed     Updates Mon, Wed, Fri when available

No. 192: Pea Pod Genetics

First | Previous | 2009-12-16 | Next | Latest

Pea Pod Genetics

First | Previous | 2009-12-16 | Next | Latest

Permanent URL: https://mezzacotta.net/owls/?comic=192

Strip by: Matt Albrecht

{Professor Ambrose is standing before a blackboard, teaching a class.}
Caption: Botany class...
Prof. Ambrose: We've recently uncovered a genetic mutation which causes the peas to grow on the outside of the pod. It has been dubbed, for lack of a better term, the negative pea pod. {Points at a picture of a pea plant, with the peas growing outside of the pod}
Prof. Ambrose: We've also added the genetic trait which has shown to manifest itself as making the roots of the plant turn only at right angles. {Points at the same picture, now with the roots drawn}. However, this particular combination of square roots and negative pods creates an unexpected outcome.
{Image of an iPod}

The author writes:

Gregor Mendel is called the father of genetics due to his research into the traits of pea plants. However, I doubt he expected his research to be applied to a bad pun on the iPod based on its associated term of imaginary numbers.