Comments on: Sci-Fi Future: Bioengineering

By: SeanMcTex

SeanMcTex — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:24:08 +0000

@Wonko’s Bud: Thanks as always for the good political insight. I hope your allele brings you millions in royalties, though I’m not sure who’s going to pay you for the genetic sequence that causes excessive flatulence.

@JasonY: Hah! Glad you approve, sir! I have indeed seen Gattaca, but it’s been long enough that most of what I remember is “DNA…recombinant…Uma Thurman…eugenics…Uma Thurman…” I may have to go back for another viewing sometime soon.

I wish I had some sunny optimistic, airtight reason that the bleak future you paint won’t happen, but I can’t think of one. Where’s Pollyanna when you need her?

By: JasonY

JasonY — Thu, 08 May 2008 04:30:55 +0000

Now THAT, sir, is a Blog Post. yippee!
Please tell me you’ve seen GATTACA?
I did a report in 7th grade on recombinant DNA. It was as excreble as most 7th grade reports, but it did get me thinking about genetic engineering. I’ve been following this sort of thing with interest for many years now and have come to the sad conclusion that we’re all pretty much boned as soon as the technology allows us to easily engineer the kind of virus or superweapon you allude to. Note that I don’t think we’ll ever attain the ability to target a bioweapon to a specific genetic group, mainly because I think that we’ll all be wiped out by the SuperSARS/AIDS epidemic before we figure out how to open that particular compartment of Pandora’s Box.

Cynical and defeatist? Yup, and I hate that, but when I look at the history of technology- ANY technology- I see that as soon as a tech develops to the point where something horrific can be done, it will be done. And I don’t think the spectre of total human annihilation will prevent some nutcase from doing it just because he can (See: 12 monkeys).

By: Wonko's Bud

Wonko's Bud — Sat, 03 May 2008 05:05:46 +0000

“…is it possible for corporations to copyright certain genetic sequences?” The short answer is we’re headed that way. Corporations do hold patent’s for simpler (is that a word) organisms and are seeking to patent specific human alle sequences to combat certain diseases.

The future does not look bright. In fact only recently the House of Reps have passed legislation that bars the use of DNA to determine health insurance premiums and employment. The legislation has been working its way through Congress for the last thirteen years. It is hoped that the Senate Dems will pass its’ version of the bill before this session of Congress expires.

I think that the only way to retard (but not stop)a more pervasive exploitation of the Human Genome Projects results lays within our our Constitution. More specifically our right to privacy. I think that it is within this arena that we can buy some time to allow our laws catch up to the science.

But until that happens, I lay claim to the following sequence atgttagtta. Can I have my money now?