[at-l] Genetics...was oops!, goat silk, and kewl pix (semi OT)

[cballs@mindspring.com (cballs@mindspring.com)]

Rami <rbenhameda@home.com> wrote:

GOAT SILK:
SNIP...Scientists (Dr.
Frankenstein?) have crossed arachnid genetic material (the gene that allows spiders to
produce silk) with goats.  The enhanced goats now produce milk with silk protein in
it.  They are then able to extract silk from the goat's milk.  Being five times
stronger (ounce for ounce) than steel, they are examining all sorts of applications
like super ballistic vests for law enforcement and military personnel.
SNIP


This stuff is amazing and impressive and man aren't we clever.  However, I don't know about the rest of you, but this stuff spooks the hell out of me.  And that's pretty spooky.  Steven Jones, the eminent British geneticist, author, professor, says what these guys doing this stuff don't understand isn't genetics, it's evolution.  In his magnificent updated explanation of the processes and history of evolution and evolutionary understanding, "Darwin's Ghost" (Highly recommended for anyone who considers themselves a naturalist.)  he cautions about genetic engineering despite all the benefits touted by the engineers and the companies that employ them.  

The driving force of biological evolution is mutation in response to environmental factors and sex selection and these guys are introducing combinations of genes that would never be found in nature and then expecting that these combinations will not somehow eventually end up in the general environment.  Poppycock!  The Titanic was unsinkable!  Once there, they cannot predict with 100% accuracy how these genetic materials will then evolve.  I think what we need to understand is that when they do this kind of stuff they aren't just messing with goat and spider genes, in the bigger context they're messing with human genes.

Should we call a halt to all genetic engineering?  No and it would be impossible anyway.  We've been engineering genetics for thousands of years but not like this.  This is unprecedented and new and I don't think they know completely what they are doing.  This is going to be another one of those things where human beings are carried away with their cleverness and ingenuity only to discover later there's a great big fat bill to pay for it.  

Luddite Balls