The Geocaching Gene Mystery Cache
Hidden : 4/6/2012
Difficulty:
4.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Scientists find cause of Mad Cache Disease
 An exclusive report from our unscientific correspondent

Recently, scientists at the University of Steepholm revealed they have discovered that some people have an extra micro-chromosome that contains a ‘geocaching gene’. Their findings have been hailed by the medical community as a breakthrough in understanding a perplexing disorder known as geocaching, whereby individuals develop an urge to hide and search for Tupperware boxes.

The scientists found that most people who confessed to being geocachers also possess the micro-chromosome and geo gene in their genetic make up. This also explains why the condition appears to run in families.

Their work suggests that mutations in the geo gene may be responsible for the development of specific abnormal behaviour patterns in affected individuals, such as an obsession with the number of caches they find (geocaching arithromania), the delusion that a nano-cache is a good idea in a forest or other place where there is acres of space (geocaching agrophobia), or the need to place a trail of film pots at 0.1 mile intervals over multiple miles (geocaching micromania). It is hoped that further research into the function of the geo gene will lead to the development of new treatments to help ameliorate such strange behaviour. However, a geocaching specialist, Dr Irish, warned that a cure for geocaching seemed very unlikely in the near future.

Speaking about their breakthrough findings, Dr Clelland Heider-Barnekow described how they used a technique called the polymerase chain reaction to identify the geo gene DNA sequence in the newly discovered micro-chromosome. He said, “When the research first started going forward, basically we were totally gaa-gaa about it and we knew we were on the right track. However we thought things had taken a backwards step when two of our key scientists said taa-taa and left the project. Bizarrely, they went off to Canada to form a band called 'The Oligos'. The real breakthrough came when we compared blood samples from normal people and geocachers and realised that geocachers have the geo gene, which is GC-rich and encodes a novel set of amino-acid-like codons that we described in 2007. Our analysis shows that the gene is widespread in the population, and there are some suggestions that its introduction can be traced back to Roman times."

The scientists postulate that this unusual property of the DNA is responsible for the development of geocaching behaviour traits. They also hinted that the gene sequence could hold further information that has yet to be discovered. The geo gene chromosome sequence is given below for those of you with an interest in this area.





A correct entry in the Geochecker will give you the recommended parking coordinates and a hint for the cache.
Thanks to the Forestry Commission for granting permission for the placement of the cache.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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