Oh, hey, Art, you won't be able to test just any organism in your "DNA
reader". The software will be sold separately. The most popular software
will be for testing for the flu and other viruses--everybody will want to
have the reader for a "Breathalyzer" test. And farmers will want readers
for the common diseases of crops and livestock. The ironic part is that the
DNA reader may be cheap, but the software for testing mollusks will be very
expensive. The Mollusca comprise too many species, and very few species are
farmed. The company that reads (and incidentally copyrights or patents) the
DNA of thousands of species of mollusks will want to recover the costs of
their research and development, won't they?
 
Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA
 
"I never let my schooling interfere with my education."--Mark Twain