Engineered Organisms

[Taskmage]

Paul Root Wolpe: It's time to question bio-engineering | Video on TED.com

Depending on how closely you track science, many of the stories described in this talk may be old news to you, but I'm awestruck every time I hear them. The cyborg technology at the end is particularly fascinating and terrifying.

[Kailea]

Re: Engineered Organisms

still waiting for battle armor and buster cannon *taps foot*

[Takelli]

Re: Engineered Organisms

This is playing god! This should not be done! Taking away even an insects free will is wrong! This should not be done at all! They should do voting on this. Engineering animals, insect and humans is wrong!

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

The phrase "playing God" had been mere conceit until we reached this level of technology. Now it's quite descriptive.

[Takelli]

Re: Engineered Organisms

I honestly feel that this is going to get out of hand. Soon we will be making cyborgs with AI, and I only see bad outcomes to this. Sure, we use them for our slaves for a while Free labor, and even sex slaves, which mean people will no longer need to work, because we will teach the cyborgs how to create them selves, and take care of them selves.

So, then people will get even lazier than they are now, and people will no longer even leave their houses to do anything, and due to this, people will stop meeting each other, and then there will be no offspring, then the human race dies out.

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Oh there are a myriad of ways things could go horribly badly that science fiction has been cheerfully exploring for the past several decades. I think the better question to ask is how might things go right and what can we do to steer towards those outcomes instead. The bell can't be unrung now. One way or another we are going to have to learn to deal with humanity's newfound ability to create and manipulate new life.

[Takelli]

Re: Engineered Organisms

I just hate this though. So much shit could go horribly wrong.

I mean, yea, it is good too, because it can give hope to those who have lost limps, and are paralyzed and such, but that's what stem cell research was doing though until they took it away.

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Stem cell research had its own horror scenarios, too, don't forget. The specter of harvesting fetuses is at least more grounded in fact than "death panels." Stem cell research is still quite alive, they're just having to figure out how to get more out of non-fetal cells. Of course, regenerative medicine is broader than that.

[Takelli]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Oh yes. They stopped funding it, they didn't abolish it. I had forgotten.

I mean, if it was aborted, I see nothing wrong with that. At least give some one who had no chance to live, to help people who need it.

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Ah, but then you're giving doctors an incentive to encourage women to have abortions over other more socially palatable options. The whole issue is wrought with moral hazard.

---------- Post added at 06:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:42 PM ----------

Oh yes. They stopped funding it, they didn't abolish it. I had forgotten.

I think to be more accurate about it, they declared that they would no longer fund any projects that used fetal stem cells in their research. There are other types of stem cells that can be pulled from adult bodies which are permissible to use, and methods have been discovered to turn specialized cell such as skin cells back into stem cells. They're just harder to work with than fetal stem cells and have less potential.

I believe that in the last few months the policy changed again to be less restrictive.

[Takelli]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Hmmm... I guess I am. Even though I am against abortion my self, I think that they should be used, rather than just thrown away, right?

I think to be more accurate about it, they declared that they would no longer fund any projects that used fetal stem cells in their research. There are other types of stem cells that can be pulled from adult bodies which are permissible to use, and methods have been discovered to turn specialized cell such as skin cells back into stem cells. They're just harder to work with than fetal stem cells and have less potential.

I believe that in the last few months the policy changed again to be less restrictive.

I never heard about this. I guess I gotta start reading up again on this.

But, if they can use skin cells, and turn them back into stem cells, then they should be using that instead.

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

It's not exactly that simple. Stem cells have sortof a tech tree. To put it in RTS terms, say you had a Terran Wraith and had some hack that could turn it back into a Starport. From the Starport you'd be able to make more Wraiths, Dropships, Battlecruisers and whatever other specialized units a Starport leads to, but you couldn't take a step back down the tech tree and produce say a Siege Tank. That's sortof the situation you have when you turn a skin cell into its parent stem cell. There are a number of other options as to what that cell can grow into, but it's still partially differentiated from say a brain cell. A fetal stem cell is like a Command Center, which sits at the top of the tree. If you have that you can proceed down the tech tree in any direction you wish and create any tissue composition or organ, in theory. That level of flexibility is required for some proposed applications of stem cell technology.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Engineered Organisms

Totally read the title of the thread wrong.

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Engineered Organisms

lololololololol Me too!

[Taskmage]

Re: Engineered Organisms

/facepalm

---------- Post added at 09:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:01 PM ----------

There is a site for that!