• China, world 1st in human embryo genetic manipulation
    82 replies, posted
[QUOTE]"I believe this is the first report of CRISPR/Cas9 applied to human pre-implantation embryos and as such the study is a landmark, as well as a cautionary tale," says George Daley, a stem-cell biologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. "Their study should be a stern warning to any practitioner who thinks the technology is ready for testing to eradicate disease genes."[/QUOTE] [[URL="http://www.nature.com/news/chinese-scientists-genetically-modify-human-embryos-1.17378"]Source[/URL]]
Before people explode, the procedure only worked like 15-20% of the time and research was halted after the first batch because it needs refined quite a bit This is great news though, because its a first step towards eliminating genetic diseases, but real world applications are decades off
Oh man, the time when genetic diseases are a thing is rapidly coming to a close.
[QUOTE=Sableye;47582064]Before people explode, the procedure only worked like 15-20% of the time and research was halted after the first batch because it needs refined quite a bit This is great news though, because its a first step towards eliminating genetic diseases, but real world applications are decades off[/QUOTE] Just eliminating disease? Try a new era of human evolution with giving people new genetic traits to age slower, burn fat easier, lowered cholesterol, even radiation resistance. It will be a new era in human history.
Who knows what sort of fucked up, organ-liquefying super disease could result from tampering with these things on a genetic level.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;47582098]Just eliminating disease? Try a new era of human evolution with giving people new genetic traits to age slower, burn fat easier, lowered cholesterol, even radiation resistance. It will be a new era in human history.[/QUOTE] more like the rise of mutants. i can see a whole number of things going wrong with this and cancer is the least of them.
[QUOTE=Sprockethead;47582105]Who knows what sort of fucked up, organ-liquefying super disease could result from tampering with these things on a genetic level.[/QUOTE] None, because we're not gonna start injecting people with random shit, it's pretty simple to revert these diseases and shit if we can actually do this with some accuracy.
If things go wrong, maybe. But put genetic design in the hands of a skilled artisan, and things could turn out amazing.
[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47582117]None, because we're not gonna start injecting people with random shit, it's pretty simple to revert these diseases and shit if we can actually do this with some accuracy.[/QUOTE] Well its important to not be naive about these things. Nothing we humans have ever gained was without some sort of sacrifice.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;47582098]Just eliminating disease? Try a new era of human evolution with giving people new genetic traits to age slower, burn fat easier, lowered cholesterol, even radiation resistance. It will be a new era in human history.[/QUOTE] No they can only replace single genes not add them, radiation resistance would require adding tons of new mechanisms, cholesterol, aging, and metabolism are controlled by dozens of genes
[QUOTE=ironman17;47582130]If things go wrong, maybe. But put genetic design in the hands of a skilled artisan, and things could turn out amazing.[/QUOTE] I can't wait to have a tiny genetically engineered saber tooth tiger, get myself a tiny ressurected mammoth once we bring them back from the dead and I'll raise them to be best buddies.
[QUOTE=Sprockethead;47582105]Who knows what sort of fucked up, organ-liquefying super disease could result from tampering with these things on a genetic level.[/QUOTE] If we screw up then the embryo becomes non-viable.
[QUOTE=Sprockethead;47582134]Well its important to not be naive about these things. Nothing we humans have ever gained was without some sort of sacrifice.[/QUOTE] No man, really, for a lot of genetic diseases we know the exact cause of it and shit, with this all we need to do is rewrite those genes to bring them back to the same baseline as a healthy individual and then boom, disease gone.
[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47582150]No man, really, for a lot of genetic diseases we know the exact cause of it and shit, with this all we need to do is rewrite those genes to bring them back to the same baseline as a healthy individual and then boom, disease gone.[/QUOTE] I remain sceptical. Seems too easy.
[QUOTE=Sprockethead;47582160]I remain sceptical. Seems too easy.[/QUOTE] No, cystic fibrosis for example is caused by like two defective genes in the entire genetic code of an individual, gene therapy has been trying to target those for years but this does it when there's just a single cell to change Same goes for a bunch of genetic diseases, we have identified through massive statistical analysis the genes responsible for these diseases, we just have not developed the tools to treat them other than screening of the mother and fathers DNA to make informed decisions about the possibility of these diseases
[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47582141]I can't wait to have a tiny genetically engineered saber tooth tiger, get myself a tiny ressurected mammoth once we bring them back from the dead and I'll raise them to be best buddies.[/QUOTE] Engineered pets would definitely be a market caused by such a Genetic Revolution, but I was thinking more along the lines of wiping out a lot of human genetic problems, then moving on to the art of augmentation through advanced gene therapy. That said, from an ethical standpoint engineering your child to be superhuman, or even making it specialized for a specific role, doesn't sit right with me since it should be the individual's choice as to how they "evolve", not the whimsy of giddy nobles who think that it'd be awesome to be parents to some sort of superman. If a child is to become "Ubermensch", it should be on their terms alone and not the mother flying to Argentina for an illegal child design session. [QUOTE=Sableye;47582185]No, cystic fibrosis for example is caused by like two defective genes in the entire genetic code of an individual, gene therapy has been trying to target those for years but this does it when there's just a single cell to change Same goes for a bunch of genetic diseases, we have identified through massive statistical analysis the genes responsible for these diseases, we just have not developed the tools to treat them other than screening of the mother and fathers DNA to make informed decisions about the possibility of these diseases[/QUOTE] And that is why we need to invent a potent, yet precise, mutation vector. Something that can spread to every cell in the human body and alter it accordingly, rewriting the organism's genetic code to eliminate problems and add whatever enhancements are appropriate. When we've invented such a thing, gene therapy would become vastly more potent, and the Genetic Revolution would be in full swing.
Well im obviously not too knowledgeable about this sort of thing. But humans have a penchant to be way too comfortable in the belief that they have dominion over nature. They should still go ahead with it i think, but just being slightly weary that nature, by wich i mean this whole biosphere of organisms that has had billions of years to evolve is not exactly inclined to give up its living space.
[QUOTE=codemaster85;47582098]Just eliminating disease? Try a new era of human evolution with giving people new genetic traits to age slower, burn fat easier, lowered cholesterol, even radiation resistance. It will be a new era in human history.[/QUOTE] Yeah, average person will be young even when they are 80, meaning you won't be able to go into retirement until you are 100, or after working for 70 years or something.
[QUOTE=AntonioR;47582321]Yeah, average person will be young even when they are 80, meaning you won't be able to go into retirement until you are 100, or after working for 70 years or something.[/QUOTE] And when that day comes, people will probably consider old age to be a genetic disorder. And considering all the shit things that happen to your body as you go through senescence, they probably wouldn't be wrong.
[QUOTE=ironman17;47582332]And when that day comes, people will probably consider old age to be a genetic disorder. And considering all the shit things that happen to your body as you go through senescence, they probably wouldn't be wrong.[/QUOTE] Well, that's because aging basically is a disease and you better believe there are folk working on it and making headway in the staying and reversal of aging.
[QUOTE=Rapscallion92;47582415]Well, that's because aging basically is a disease and you better believe there are folk working on it and making headway in the staying and reversal of aging.[/QUOTE] Hence why I said "they probably aren't wrong". I just hope that once we invent the Fountain of Youth there won't be some order of madmen who say that growing old is natural and actively try to prohibit the use of "Eau de J".
If we become masters of genetic manipulation, we should use it in order to colonize mars. The first people who go their can be genetically modified to withstand the cold, cells that are immune to radiation, and possibly adapt to lower oxygen conditions due to having a limited amount of oxygen when they go to mars.
[QUOTE=ironman17;47582454]Hence why I said "they probably aren't wrong". I just hope that once we invent the Fountain of Youth there won't be some order of madmen who say that growing old is natural and actively try to prohibit the use of "Eau de J".[/QUOTE] Imagine the future where robots do all the labor work, people live for 150 years and 99% of them doing nothing and being completely irrelevant in day to day life. I think mentally people wont be able to handle such a long lifespan in a "future utopia". Even today many people have problems handling too much free time with all of today's responsibilities. Imagine taking those away on a global scope + adding few decades of free time...
Just because a lot of labour industries are being automated, I don't think there would be such a ghastly derth of job opportunities. After all, while machines could easily perform manual labour better than most humans, there would still be a requirement for human dexterity and human intellect for the finer things in life, including the arts and the sciences.
[QUOTE=ironman17;47582613]Just because a lot of labour industries are being automated, I don't think there would be such a ghastly derth of job opportunities. After all, while machines could easily perform manual labour better than most humans, there would still be a requirement for human dexterity and human intellect for the finer things in life, including the arts and the sciences.[/QUOTE] But that's wrong, machines are capable of creativity now, Watson comes up with new recipes and stuff, and there's computer programs that can write quite good music. Creativity isn't an innately human characteristic, it can be imitated and replicated.
It's frustrating that as soon as anything like this comes about people immediately think complete genetic overhauls - even supposed scientists that are quoted by the media are warning against 'designer babies', can they not see the massive positives in this type of research? I mean, which is the bigger ethical problem, manipulating genetics or allowing hereditary diseases to continue in the knowledge that we could have at least tried?
[video=youtube;PC6ZA1dFkVk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PC6ZA1dFkVk[/video]
Reminds me of the movie Gattaca, great movie by the way. In the beginning it shows how the parents could choose the traits they want their child to have and then the protagonist is born naturally, which you see as he's older that he's developed certain complications like poor eye sight and asthma. [editline]23rd April 2015[/editline] Revan you ninja bastard
I don't know why people see this as something major and against nature and that we shouldn't fuck about with it too much. I mean, humans have already moved mountains both literal and metaphorical in both civil and genetic engineering. Feats that have completely and irreversibly changed how every single human on earth lives, but somehow preventing a blood disorder is too far.
[QUOTE=Deng;47582756]I don't know why people see this as something major and against nature and that we shouldn't fuck about with it too much. I mean, humans have already moved mountains both literal and metaphorical in both civil and genetic engineering. Feats that have completely and irreversibly changed how every single human on earth lives, but somehow preventing a blood disorder is too far.[/QUOTE] I don't think that it's single gene treatments that people are fearful over. People are fearful of what this can mean for the future of our development as a species, because with every discovery comes people seeking ways to profit from it. The deeper we delve into gene therapy, the more catastrophic it can become. Changes to single genes are one thing, but it is when we eventually try to change things such as eye color, and offer it a price, that the biological and ethical issues arise.
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