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You should skip White Dome Geyser and head straight to the nearby famous Mushroom Pool: "The thermophilic bacterium Thermus aquaticus, important because it produces an enzyme used in polymerase chain reaction laboratory procedures central to modern molecular biology, was first isolated from Mushroom Pool, a non-eruptive hot spring a few hundred feet from White Dome Geyser."

You may ask "What in the world is Polymerase Chain Reaction?"

PCR is a technique of amplifying a single copy of DNA. Thousands and millions of copies of DNA can be produced through this technique having particular sequences. Many primers, enzymes and other conditions are involved in this process. It is often used in DNA fingerprinting, DNA profiling and other tests which are necessary. Its applications range from research to the commercial sector.

It has revolutionized medicine and forensics:

PCR has become an important tool for medical diagnosis. PCR can detect and identify bacteria and viruses that cause infections such as tuberculosis, chlamydia, viral meningitis, viral hepatitis, HIV, cytomegalovirus and many others. Once primers are designed for the DNA of a specific organism, using PCR to detect the presence or absence of a pathogen in a patient’s blood or tissues is a simple experiment.

PCR is also used in genetic testing, to determine whether patients carry a genetic mutation that could be passed on to their children (e.g. the mutation that causes cystic fibrosis) or to determine disease risk in patients themselves (e.g. a mutation in the gene BRCA1 predisposes a woman to breast or ovarian cancer). PCR is used to amplify the gene, which is then sequenced to look for mutations.

PCR is used in genome sequencing, including the Human Genome Project. Using random primers (not a specific sequence), the entire genome of an organism can be amplified in pieces. Once the pieces are amplified, they must be sequenced and then put back together to determine the genome sequence

Now THAT is why you want to go see the geyser!