Re: Mice given bat-like forelimbs through gene switch

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Jura writes: 

> > Dann Pigdon wrote: 
> >
> > Why should such behaviour be acceptable in one
> > organism but not another?
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
>
> Because, unlike other "organisms" (technically
> retroviruses and bacteria are not organisms), we have
> both a history of seriously screwing these things up...

We're still amateurs compared to cyanobacteria. They managed to pollute the 
entire planet's atmosphere with a deadly toxic gas. These days we call it 
'oxygen', but back then it was a dangerous waste product that radically 
changed the planet's surface. Our ancestors managed to adapt to the toxin, 
to the point where we now depend on it. 

> At the very least, I think it would be best to remove
> the ability of any genetic creations to either
> reproduce, or live on their own without supplements
> from us (this is starting to sound very Jurassic
> Park). Just some kind of fail-safe in the inevitable
> event that one of these genetic manipulations winds up
> getting out into the wild.

Some genetically modified organisms are engineered not to be able to 
reproduce. There are GM fish specially engineered to be able to eat noxious 
water weeds. They've been released into some waterways to remove the pest 
plants, and once they've done their job the fish die off without 
reproducing. 

Unfortunately for organic non-GM farmers, GM plants are often reproductively 
viable (and pollen is notoriously difficult to control). Legally speaking, 
once your (formerly) non-GM crops have been contaminated by GM wind-borne 
pollen, you're supposed to pay royalties to whomever owns the patents on the 
genes - whether you wanted GM crops or not! 

(And for the record - the 'lysine deficient' dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were 
a huge mistake by the author. No tetropod is able to produce lysine for 
itself!) 

___________________________________________________________________ 

Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist              http://geo_cities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia             http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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