Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

tetchilyEngage t1_jczw7xj wrote

This number (37.5 Mb) gets reported all of the time and it's very wrong. A single sperm has 3.5 billion base pairs of DNA in it. Since there are 4 possible bases, that means each position in DNA could store four bits of information. That gives 14 billion bits of information. Assuming 8 bits per byte, that 1.75 billion bytes of information or 1.63 Gb (at 1,073,741,824 bytes per gigabyte). That corresponds to roughly 43 times as much information as 37.5 Mb.

11

ScientistNathan t1_jczzmg4 wrote

What if you factor in DNA methylation

7

Inviolable_Flame t1_jd05c3m wrote

Funny and smart. That is a rare combination; kudos.

I don't always drink, but when I do, I methylate my DNA. I am the most genetically dysfunctional man in the world. Stay lonely my friends.

7

Ok_Swan_3053 t1_jd0idp7 wrote

The Dada could be low if it comes from a corrupted hard drive.

1