A lazy Sunday with love to my readers……..
Have you seen the movie “Gattaca” (I believe)…..where you can design your child to be born….with all the progress being made in genetics these days can that be that far away?
Source: London Telegraph
Humans who have had their DNA genetically modified could exist within two years after a private biotech company announced plans to start the first trials into a ground-breaking new technique.
Editas Medicine, which is based in the US, said it plans to become the first lab in the world to ‘genetically edit’ the DNA of patients suffering from a genetic condition – in this case the blinding disorder ‘leber congenital amaurosis’.
The disorder prevents normal function of the retina; the light-sensitive layer of cells at the back of the eye. It appears at birth or in the first months of life and eventually sufferers can go completely blind.
The rare inherited disease is caused by defects in a gene which instructs the creation of a protein that is essential to vision.
But scientists at Editas Medicine in the US believe they can fix the mutated DNA using the ground-breaking gene-editing technology Crispr.
Read more
Now this is a subject that needs to be discussed and debated before there is any final decision……think “Khan” of Star Trek fame……
It seems that there is a study (there is always a study…these days)…….
Some prominent scientists in the US have called for a moratorium or ban on the genetic modification of children and future generations, after major developments in genetic engineering and synthetic biology, which, they say, could potentially have irreversible and monumental effects on humanity.
The Center for Genetics and Society (CGS), a key US-based organisation that encourages “responsible and effective” uses of biomedical technologies, issued a statement pushing for the moratorium on Monday.
The release of the statement, endorsed by more than 150 advocates and scholars, came a day before the US National Academies of Sciences and Medicine holds the International Summit on Human Gene Editing in Washington DC.
Source: US scientists urge ban on human genetic modification – Al Jazeera English
On this issue I agree…..I do not like the implications that this could bring forth……
Thoughts?
World Gone Mad?
Surgery Could Give Men Wombs of Their Own Within 5 Years https://www.yahoo.com/health/surgery-could-give-men-wombs-1302360099545142.html?soc_src=social-
Big issue here with trans genders wishing to be called women,because they are women..
Germaine Greer had something to say about that!
She was abused for it…..she was right.
Human genetic modification?
Nah…
Still we have fish and then we have fish….
The House of Frankenstein -FDA and GMO Salmon https://shar.es/1cBhug via @sharethis
Enjoy….
A perfect example of the human tendency to leap before looking. Sure they may believe their technique will fix the gene part… but, what else will it do, that they DON’T know about? It’s possible the absence of that gene, in that person, may be necessary for them to live at all; there is no way to know, as they do NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, know how it works, exactly, or even simply. They’re throwing darts at a black target in a room with no lights, blindfolded, and think they can see….
What do you want to bet their ‘technique’ will create people who can see, but, have no souls…. or, are born without any emotional connection to other humans? In short, we may be creating a creature which will compete with humans for supremacy on an evolutionary platform….
Once again, the implications are much WORSE than anyone can even imagine, for we are fooling with the very basis of the creation of life, and we don’t know a fucking thing about what will really happen when we fuck with it…. which is scary, to think they’ll continue in this vein, believing they are learning, when what they are doing is sealing their own death warrant….
I can see NO good outcomes to this…..Humans are NOT ready to be gods….
gigoid, the dubious
My perfect Example is Khan from Star Trek fame….he believed he was a god…like you say…we are not ready for that….chuq
As I always say, “Every terrifying Science-Fiction nightmare has either come true, or is about to.”
If it works, this technology will only increase the divide between haves & have-nots. They will use their resources to make themselves even more “superior”, in order to more deeply entrench their position. And if this technology doesn’t work, or has some “side effects”, look for Frankenstein’s monster to be added as a Gattaca character.
One thing for sure, people will NOT use this to make better people of themselves, or a better society. They will use it for the most selfish and shallowest of reasons (better looking, bigger tits/dicks, attempts at becoming athletes or celebs, etc)
Me? I’m already starting my search for a “genetically superior” piss/blood donor to befriend.
I agree it is always the way….what benefits them and screw everybody else….chuq