| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 19:36:19
Frankenstien Foods?
Designer Babies?
Gene Therapy?
Human Clones?
Dolly the Sheep?
Well? c'mon I'm interested!
(you've got to give me full marks for persistence)
you
me
we used to be on fire |
| 22 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| VoVat |
Posted - 04/13/2005 : 19:11:12
How would I go about making a half-human, half-ape creature?
"Reunion? Shit union!" |
| Llamadance |
Posted - 04/13/2005 : 03:28:58
I think my biggest problem with GM crops is that you then essentially have a large part of the world dependent on genetically identical foodstuffs. A virus or fungus could sweep through, and this could result in widescale famine. I may, of course, be uninformed about the genetic diversity of GM crops.
I think to a certain extent the same could be said re cloning animals.
All in all though, if the food is shown to be safe, I have no problem eating it. But if you look at pharmaceutical companies and COX-2 inhibitors/statins, things that have been 'rigorously' tested are now considered unsafe as medicines.
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Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 15:22:47
all of your food is already genetically modified
it's one step up from cross hybridisation which has been occuring for hundreds if not thousands of years
Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something. |
| misterwoe |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 15:14:14
It's the beginning of the end. Has anybody here ever heard of cross-contamination? Pretty soon all of our food will be genetically modified! YAY!
So much for freedom of choice...
I say it again in the land of the free.
Are we not men?
I'm must just a spud-boy.
She didn't know I was midget.
Pablo Picasso never got called an asshole. |
| hammerhands |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 11:10:52
GM Canola is the weed of the future.
http://www.gene.ch/genet/2002/Nov/msg00029.html |
| ElevatorLady |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 10:36:03
I'm generally in favour, but I agree that we must not allow ourselves to be reckless here. It is a big responsibility and we have to take it slow and easy. Think about things before doing it. Otherwise I'm not against it. With progress comes risk. So it goes. |
| KimStanleyRobinson |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 09:26:37
I think what scares people is that they fear the 'butterfly effect' nature of introducing GMOs into the wild -or the 'gene pool' if you will.
We fear what we do not understand...or cannot predict or control.
Maybe nothing would happen...but if something did happen, who knows how wierd it could get?
So, needless to say, if you were waiting around with five bucks in your hand waiting to buy my upcoming brochure Understanding Poop, you can put that five bucks away, 'cause it ain't happenin.
|
| starmekitten |
Posted - 04/12/2005 : 08:45:08
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4435159.stm
Produce from cloned cattle 'safe'
Milk and meat from cloned cattle appear safe for human consumption, a pilot study has found.
Scientists in the US and Japan found that meat and dairy products from a bull and cow cloned using the "Dolly" technique met industry standards.
The team says its results suggest cloning techniques could be used to boost food production, particularly in developing countries.
The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Two beef and four dairy clones were used in the research, all derived from a single Holstein dairy cow and a single Japanese black bull.
No clone products have entered the food chain yet
The scientists, led by Jerry Yang from the University of Connecticut, compared the produce with that from normal animals of similar age and breed.
'Early stage'
The scientists found no significant differences in their comparisons of the milk and meat.
They did find higher levels of fat and fatty acids in the cloned cow meat, but said that these still fell within beef industry standards.
Higher levels of fat can also be seen as a desirable quality in the Japanese black breed of bull that was used for cloning.
The meat was also analysed against more than 100 meat quality criteria, while the milk was analysed for protein, fat and other variables.
The researchers said the milk results indicated that the genes of the cloned animals were functioning normally.
"The production of each milk protein constituent involves the elaborate regulatory function of many proteins and enzymes, and any abnormal gene expression would likely be reflected by imbalances in the constituents of milk," they wrote.
Big question
The scientists concluded that the study showed the produce to be within the range approved for human consumption. But they stressed the research was at an early stage.
They said the findings provided "guidelines" for further research with larger numbers of clones from different genetic backgrounds.
Cloning offers the possibility of raising yields by copying especially productive animals or ones that are resistant to disease.
"The milking production levels in the US are three to four times higher than levels in China; maybe even five times or more compared to cows in India and some other countries," Professor Yang told BBC News.
"Therefore cloning could offer technology for duplicating superior farm animals. However, all the products from these cloned animals must be safe for human consumption. ...and it is a major issue for scientists to provide a scientific basis for the data and information to address this question."
Inefficient technology
But the cloning technique has raised welfare concerns, as most copied animals do not make it to term before being born, and many of those that do are born deformed or prone to illness.
Opponents of the use of cloning in livestock husbandry are also worried that seemingly healthy clones may still have subtle defects that could make their food products unsafe to eat.
"We don't know what this technology will result in in the future; we know so far that it is unsustainable," Compassion in World Farming director, Joyce D'Silva, told BBC News.
"Huge numbers of animals die. They are born with deformed lungs, hearts and kidneys which don't function. They die slow and lingering deaths. Is this the technology that we need or want? I don't think so."
Animal food products from clones have yet to enter the food chain in any country.
Two studies comparing milk and meat respectively from cloned cattle with that from normal animals were published in the journal Cloning & Stem Cells last year. They came to similar conclusions.
Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something. |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 04/11/2005 : 12:58:55
Did you see the sotry in the paper today about the world's first test tube gorilla (Timu) rejecting it's baby? Apparantly it lost interest after a few hours of giving birth so it has to be hand reared now by keepers. It will be given to Timu's own mother (Rosie) to raise so I guess it's not all bad.
Apparantly it's the second time that Timu has done this. She once rejected an infant at the zoo (in Nebraska). She was born nine years ago after her mother was given IVF treatment.
Ducking for apples - change one letter and it's the story of my life
|
| VoVat |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 21:13:18
quote:
I have very mixed opinins about this-- pro science but anti the lack of diversity it will bring the world
Isn't it possible that it would INCREASE diversity? I mean, we can create species that have never existed before! How about a three-eyed monkey-horse hybrid? A frog with wings? Tell me THAT'S not diversity right there!
As for genetically modified foods, I don't have a problem with them. Don't they make it easier to generate food for more people? Besides, organic stuff can be expensive.
Not to mention that "organic food" sounds kind of stupid. Isn't ALL food organic, in the chemical sense?
"Reunion? Shit union!" |
| kathryn |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 12:17:58
Human cloning could provide a solution to the
problem Dayanara and I have: who gets to keep McDave
on nights that end with "day." Two McDaves, two happy
ladies, a friendship that stays intact.
Can you work on this, Tre?
 I still believe in the excellent joy of the Frank |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 08:27:25
I do and it's a valid argument. I'd like to see a library of DNA for all the types of stuff like that that we find for that reason. But I think we're not ready to do this because what if, for example, by strengthening this plant, we kill off neighbouring plants or unbalance the ecosystem. Are we at a point yet where we can model the potential outcome of a manipulation like this instead of just saying "this should make it more resilient to cold or high CO2 levels or whatever" and not considering how that might affect the rest? I suppose it would depend on the scenario.
But this isn't what I'm objecting to. It's GMO that's out there now for increased efficiency instead of survival.
"Join the Cult of Frank 2.0 / And you'll be enlightened (free for 1.x members)" |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 08:14:31
could genetic engineering not have implications in maintaining diversity though? If a crop or a plants natural habitat becomes non existent because of reasons such as man made interference (deforestation, urbanisation..) or natural changes (climate changes leading to less rain in some areas more in others changing sea levels...) engineering this token plant to adapt to a condition that it normally wouldn't have coped in faster than it can adapt itself may save it from going extinct considering the speed at which the planet is changing at the moment...
A slightly rosy vision there but you catch my drift (I hope)
you
me
we used to be on fire |
| Homers_pet_monkey |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 08:13:31
SAVE THE BANANA!
Love, love, my season |
| Cult_Of_Frank |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 07:38:30
Gene therapy and cloning both merit further looks, but those looks shouldn't have found their way into our food supplies. We are horrible at appreciating diversity and this is why the banana s going extinct and why 85% of the species of apples no longer exist. Cloning has real implications for this and while the possible downside is never a reason to stop research, it is a reason to hold off before unleashing it on the world. We've screwed nature over enough.
"Join the Cult of Frank 2.0 / And you'll be enlightened (free for 1.x members)" |
| n/a |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 06:50:03
Human clones kittie? Only if it was a Frank clone...
We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal dear
It's round about, it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/03/2005 : 06:42:34
Well whatever really, I was just curious as to what most people automatically think about them GMO's are mentioned. I know a lot of people go organic and are distinctly anti-GMO when it comes to foodstuffs and it gets slated a lot in the press.
And people tend to get well hissy when it comes to gene therapy and cloning and the like. Was just interested.
And darwin you're very clever (the nucleotide bases are (G) guanine, (A) adenine, (C) cytosine, (T) thymine)
you
me
we used to be on fire |
| darwin |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 22:06:29
quote:
Originally posted by Daisy Girl
Reminds me of Brave New World or Gattica. I have very mixed opinins about this-- pro science but anti the lack of diversity it will bring the world
It's Gattaca. I only point it out because one day noticed "Hey. It's like the amino acids" (ACGT, kittie remembers the names). I was quite proud of my cleverness when my wife cut me down by announcing that it was obvious. I still think I was clever.
Is this kind of thing we're suppose to be talking about? |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 20:38:58
how'd you figure that daisy?
you
me
we used to be on fire |
| starmekitten |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 20:37:42
thanks floop.
(I'll go back to studying in silence shall I)
you
me
we used to be on fire |
| Daisy Girl |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 20:37:34
Reminds me of Brave New World or Gattica. I have very mixed opinins about this-- pro science but anti the lack of diversity it will bring the world |
| floop |
Posted - 02/02/2005 : 19:56:59
what could be so wrong with human cloning?
did WEIRD SCIENCE not teach us anything?
ist es möglich für ein quesadilla skrotum zu lecken? beim sprechen der quesadillas von LBF, ja. ja in der tatheheheheheheehehee! |
