Online handles and genetics

Andrew Hussie's 4/15/10 summary of one year's worth of Homestuck suggests a great deal of upcoming gameplay will revolve around genetics, in particular base pairings in DNA structure. The connection between Homestuck and DNA is the sixteen online handles, each one in use by the four heroes and the twelve trolls (some of which have yet to make an appearance).

Rose's revelation
Future Rose Lalonde has solved the mystery of Jasper's mysterious MEOW, subconsciously locked and hidden away in Present Rose. The connection between MEOW and GCAT, which is scrawled on her walls, will be discovered by Present Rose when Dream Rose awakens.

GCAT is a common presentation of the pairings of bases in the double helix structure of DNA, but in Homestuck is also a summary of the combinations of online handle abbreviations. G-C-A-T can be expanded into sixteen combinations of two-letter forms:

GG, GC, GA, GT, CG, CC, CA, CT, AG, AC, AA, AT, TG, TC, TA, TT

Here is the arrangement of these forms in alphabetical A-C-G-T order, as expressed by each online handle:

AA apocalypseArisen AC arsenicCatnip AG arachnidsGrip AT adiosToreador CA caligulasAquarium CC cuttlefishCuller CG carcinoGeneticist CT centaursTesticle GA grimAuxiliatrix GC gallowsCalibrator GG gardenGnostic GT ghostyTrickster TA twinArmageddons TC terminallyCapricious TG turntechGodhead TT tentacleTherapist

The four heroes comprise 1/4 of the listed pairs. It might be worth nothing that their combinations do not include the letters A or C.

John=GT : ectoBiologist, but formerly ghostyTrickster Rose=TT : tentacleTherapist Dave=TG : turntechGodhead Jade=GG : gardenGnostic

The four primary trolls involved in the heroes' game so far comprise another 1/4 of the listed pairs.

CG carcinoGeneticist, who pesters John AT adiosToreador, who pesters Dave with assistance from Rose GA grimAuxiliatrix, who pesters Rose with assistance from Dave GC gallowsCalibrator, who pesters John and Rose

Considering Rose's recent revelation that GCAT is an important clue in this game, it can be speculated that GC and AT, gallowsCalibrator and adiosToreador, are going to be the two most significant trolls in this adventure. How this significance manifests for Rose and the heroes is yet to be discovered. The troll gallowsCalibrator led John to his death by deceiving him into equipping the rocket pack and challenging the denizen in its palace beyond the seventh gate. This fatal evidence of her disposition toward John, or perhaps all of the heroes, is still a mystery. The guidance she offers in conversations with Rose has not yet proven malicious.

Another allusion to the genetic involvement in this game is Rose's quest, which is revealed by Jaspers and later clarified by Andrew Hussie's one-year summary, to "play the rain to produce the musical analogue of a genetic code to reintroduce life into the ocean."

Basic DNA base pairings
DNA is made up of four nitrogen bases: G = guanine, a purine base A = adenine, a purine base C = cytosine, a pyrimidine base T = thymine, a pyrimidine base

DNA is a double helix and the two strands are held together by hydrogen bonds between A & T (2 bonds) and G & C (3 bonds). Purines form hydrogen bonds to pyrimidines, with A bonding only to T, and C bonding only to G.

Whether Andrew intends to employ the more complex details of genetics in the progression of Homestuck is still unknown. However, it is clear that the relationship between the trolls and the heroes will prove significant in determining whether any of the heroes will survive their Sburb games, or defeat the black queen and king and save Skaia from its prophesied "inevitable destruction."