By Kirell Lakhman, the SNP-obsessed editor of GenomeWeb’s new weekly newsletter, SNPTech Reporter
One Friday in Snipville late into the night,
A bright light awakened Snip-One with a fright.
He pulled back his duvet and rolled out of bed,
And he stood there and listened as he scratched his blue head.
Some few minutes later, in his own cot nearby,
Snip-One’s brother Julius had opened his eye.
“What are you up to? Get back into bed!”
But Snip-One was curious — “Shhh, quiet!” he said.
So on he put trousers, a shirt, and some shoes,
And stood awhile wondering just what he should do.
By this time his brother had also got dressed,
So they set out together on a light-hunting quest.
Quietly, carefully, they shimmied and slid,
They climbed and they clambered to the floor, where they hid.
And that’s when the brothers first saw for themselves
The gaggle of objects on tall nearby shelves.
Huge boxes called ‘SNPStream’ sat still in one corner
While white coats lay rumpled in a pile of disorder.
A crate called ‘Invader’ stood alone ’cross the room
While goggles and latex gloves shared space with a broom.
“Just look at this stuff!” said Jules. “What’s it do?”
“It’s all meant to find me,” said Snip-One, “and you too!”
Now frightened, the brothers took off like a shot,
They scooted and skedaddled but could not find their spot.
“We’re doomed now, for sure!” a frightened Jules yelped.
“Relax,” said his brother. “We’ll find us some help.”
By now they’d forgotten that the point of their trip
Had been finding the source of that light that went blip.
And that’s when they noticed the row of bright beams
The lights that flashed orange, red, yellow, and green.
The brothers approached an enormous robot:
“Excuse us, please help us, our way we forgot.”
The massive machine responded and trilled:
“I’ll find you your home. It would be quite a thrill.
I live to find SNPs much like you two down there.
And so-called high-throughput I do with great flair.”
“Jump on for a ride,” the machine told the brothers.
“I’ll get you back home; it’ll be no great bother.”
In seconds they were bathed, and cycled, and dispensed upon.
Squealed Snip-One to Julius: “What a wild and crazy adventure we’re on.”
Within moments of whizzing the SNPs around on a sled
The MassArray 200k ID’d their addresses and put the pair back to bed.