Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 27

Thread: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

  1. #1
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    (snip)"Within 10 years, doctors could transplant embryos created by three 'parents' – so eliminating genes that lead to life-threatening conditions – under plans to be debated by MPs tomorrow. Opponents fear this will pave the way for human cloning. Marie Woolf reports
    Published: 18 November 2007

    Babies made by cloning techniques from the DNA of two women could be born within 10 years as ministers prepare to give the green light for embryos produced by biological material from three "parents". A new law, to be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow, opens the door for such hybrid eggs to be implanted in women.

    The novel procedure is designed to find a cure for mitochondrial disease, a range of life-threatening conditions that affect one in 10,000 people.

    The development has delighted scientists who say it will usher in a new wave of groundbreaking genetic research that could prevent thousands of children from being born with debilitating diseases.

    But Christian groups and campaigners concerned about developments in human genetics have reacted with horror at what they see as the beginning of human cloning and the approval of "Frankenstein science". "(snip)


    The 'door' is being opened by raising the point about the possibility of excluding 'genetic' diseases from future children by the use of selecting the 'best' genetics from two mothers (and therefore rejecting the 'less than best' genetics). But the same genetic selection technology would also make it possible for the 'rich' to begin 'selective breeding' of future children. This could potentially lead to a new generation of dancers who have both killer bodies and MENSA brains !

    But seriously, this COULD lead to an actual new division between the 'rich' and the poor, where those who could afford the procedure could actually start 'selectively breeding' children who are genetically superior. And those genetically superior children could pass on those superior characteristics without repeating the procedure, or further improve those superior characteristics by repeating the procedure for subsequent generations.

    After three or four generations of repeated genetic selection, it's very possible that 'rich' people would indeed be so genetically superior to your average poor human that the expression 'the ruling class' could take on a literal meaning. Wasn't there a Star Trek movie plot along these lines ?

  2. #2
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    For the human race however isn't selective breeding for better traits the path we should take? We are only animals, except in the natural world it is survival of the fittest. Here safe in our industrialized countries we can continue the lives of those that would die without constant medical attention. Sending our smartest and fittest to fight in wars and leaving the lesser capable to remain behind and breed.

    Eugenics! Not the Nazi ideal of blonde haired, blue eyed supermen, but the steady breeding out of genectic diseases.

  3. #3
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Ahh, but think of how overpopulation will run rampant as we systematically eradicate genetic deformities, cure cancer, stop AIDS, etc.

  4. #4
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSexKitten View Post
    Ahh, but think of how overpopulation will run rampant as we systematically eradicate genetic deformities, cure cancer, stop AIDS, etc.
    Over population is rampant without it now. Outside of western europe and north america everybody has as many children as they can. Producing ten babies when there is food for five. We may see peak food in our lifetimes. So unless AIDS, Ebola, or HN51 mutate into airborne viruses that wipe out 4 billion people the world is going to suck bad for anyone that doesn't own heir own food source and the means to protect it.

    That sperm bank that carries donations from Nobel prize winners is a good start.

    Back to the article though. We as a species can control our evolution. Where could money go, that didn't go into finding cures for horrible diseases passed on in our genes? Health care and research against viral pathogens? Space such as a permanent presence on the moon?

    Human cloning? Philosophers, ethicists, and religious leaders better have a sit down and decide what is "Human". Somebody is going to do it. I predict it will be a n unscrupulous Defense contractor or State controlled weapons program that "makes" a better soldier.

  5. #5
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Oh, I know overpopulation is already well established. The bleeding heart liberal in me wants to cure everyone's diseases and feed everyone and make everyone alive and healthy and happy, but the pragmatist in me wearily eyes the demolition of nature's population checks as we smart ourself out of survival.

  6. #6
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    The Human race is the most destructive virus ever spawned on planet earth.

  7. #7
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    ^^^ 100% agreed. I have a strange theory about the reason for the human existence, but I don't think I'll get into it on here. It's kinda wacky but it involves us being a virus/bacteria and the world being part of an indefinite microcosm/macrocosm model.

  8. #8
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    You can add it to my Time/space = onion layers theory.

    Still since we control our evolution I can't help but think this is for the best really. Even if i may never be rich enough to buy my progeny a genetic super advantage.

    So I am unusually optimistic on this one.

  9. #9
    Banned Katrine's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    13,855
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    I'm with ArmySGT on this one 100%. Brave New World, here we come!

    "Have you ever been to American wedding? Where is the vodka, where's marinated herring?" - GB
    "And do the cats give a shit? No, they do not. Why? Because they're cats."-from The Onion

    Quote Originally Posted by Mia M
    If a cupcake was tossed at me... well, I'd only be upset if it missed my mouth

  10. #10
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Whether through science or more "natural" means, we'll be evolving. That's actually pretty damn exciting.

  11. #11
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    ^^^ therein lies the 'rub'. This is not the same thing as 'we'll be evolving', as in mankind evolving over milennia. This is 'a very select few of us will be evolving very rapidly, while the vast majority of others are not !'.

    This potentially means that after three generations i.e. 50 years from now, there will be perhaps 1 in 1000 children of school age that have a portion of brain DNA from nobel prize winners plus a portion of physical DNA from professional athletes and/or models. They will have these superior characteristics because their parents were rich enough to pay for them. School systems will not be able to intermix these superior offspring with 'regular humans' because they learn so much faster and perform so much better. So at that point you wind up with a similar version of today's upscale private schools, where all children with 'selected' DNA are concentrated together.

    At that point, a de-facto 'ruling class' of superior people will truly be established, as these 'superior' humans have both the money and the superior characteristics to gain positions in industry / finance / politics. This in turn will probably lead to a 'Gattaca' like future where employers accept or reject job applicants for the highly desirable jobs on the basis of their DNA. If you're not genetically 'qualified', the door will be closed to you ... a future version of the race discrimination of 100 years ago, but one based on absolute proof of a difference in abilities.

    ~
    Last edited by Melonie; 11-19-2007 at 04:39 AM.

  12. #12
    Veteran Member pinupgurl2k6's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2006
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    508
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 20 Times in 18 Posts
    Blog Entries
    27

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_te...cle3172139.ece

    (snip)"Within 10 years, doctors could transplant embryos created by three 'parents' – so eliminating genes that lead to life-threatening conditions – under plans to be debated by MPs tomorrow. Opponents fear this will pave the way for human cloning. Marie Woolf reports
    Published: 18 November 2007

    Babies made by cloning techniques from the DNA of two women could be born within 10 years as ministers prepare to give the green light for embryos produced by biological material from three "parents". A new law, to be debated in the House of Commons tomorrow, opens the door for such hybrid eggs to be implanted in women.

    The novel procedure is designed to find a cure for mitochondrial disease, a range of life-threatening conditions that affect one in 10,000 people.

    The development has delighted scientists who say it will usher in a new wave of groundbreaking genetic research that could prevent thousands of children from being born with debilitating diseases.

    But Christian groups and campaigners concerned about developments in human genetics have reacted with horror at what they see as the beginning of human cloning and the approval of "Frankenstein science". "(snip)


    The 'door' is being opened by raising the point about the possibility of excluding 'genetic' diseases from future children by the use of selecting the 'best' genetics from two mothers (and therefore rejecting the 'less than best' genetics). But the same genetic selection technology would also make it possible for the 'rich' to begin 'selective breeding' of future children. This could potentially lead to a new generation of dancers who have both killer bodies and MENSA brains !

    But seriously, this COULD lead to an actual new division between the 'rich' and the poor, where those who could afford the procedure could actually start 'selectively breeding' children who are genetically superior. And those genetically superior children could pass on those superior characteristics without repeating the procedure, or further improve those superior characteristics by repeating the procedure for subsequent generations.

    After three or four generations of repeated genetic selection, it's very possible that 'rich' people would indeed be so genetically superior to your average poor human that the expression 'the ruling class' could take on a literal meaning. Wasn't there a Star Trek movie plot along these lines ?
    Being a mother of a daughter with an anomaly I understand why this
    science is being implemented, but... this IVF is expensive and obviously
    I agree that the ruling class will be the only ones that will reap the
    benefits of this technology. Still there are other options.

    I am very pro preventive medicine.
    I believe knowledge is power and some would say I believe in a form
    of eugenics, which is not true.

    I am not for designer babies where you pick out eye color, hair color
    or sex.. etc.. But I am a very strong advocate of pre-genetic testing
    before having children. It would be easy to re-instate blood testing
    before marriage even if the couple already has children. A simple
    blood test plus with the privacy acts that are in place could easily
    inform couples of the risk of having a child with common genetic
    anomalies.

    This would allow the couple to seek high risk obgyn's that will
    monitor the pregnancy closely. Though if all obgyn's treated
    every pregnancy like they do high risk pregnancies it would
    benefit the entire population as a whole.

    Just my two cents but this is only the beginning more and more
    genetic engineering will become available as the years pass.
    I have, had genetic testing, the anomaly my daughter and
    son both possess because it is recessive from their father.


  13. #13
    Veteran Member pinupgurl2k6's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2006
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    508
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 20 Times in 18 Posts
    Blog Entries
    27

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by ArmySGT. View Post
    The Human race is the most destructive virus ever spawned on planet earth.
    Yes we are virus like, we spread and populate rapidly, destroying and consuming.
    Intriguing when you look at the human population from a biological stand point.

  14. #14
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    ^^^ We are insanely virus-like!! Even when the earth tries to fight us off, we adapt and become stronger.

  15. #15
    Banned Katrine's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    13,855
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    ^^^ therein lies the 'rub'. This is not the same thing as 'we'll be evolving', as in mankind evolving over milennia. This is 'a very select few of us will be evolving very rapidly, while the vast majority of others are not !'.

    This potentially means that after three generations i.e. 50 years from now, there will be perhaps 1 in 1000 children of school age that have a portion of brain DNA from nobel prize winners plus a portion of physical DNA from professional athletes and/or models. They will have these superior characteristics because their parents were rich enough to pay for them. School systems will not be able to intermix these superior offspring with 'regular humans' because they learn so much faster and perform so much better. So at that point you wind up with a similar version of today's upscale private schools, where all children with 'selected' DNA are concentrated together.

    At that point, a de-facto 'ruling class' of superior people will truly be established, as these 'superior' humans have both the money and the superior characteristics to gain positions in industry / finance / politics.

    ~
    Sweeeeeeeet.

    "Have you ever been to American wedding? Where is the vodka, where's marinated herring?" - GB
    "And do the cats give a shit? No, they do not. Why? Because they're cats."-from The Onion

    Quote Originally Posted by Mia M
    If a cupcake was tossed at me... well, I'd only be upset if it missed my mouth

  16. #16
    zxcire
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by ArmySGT. View Post

    Eugenics! Not the Nazi ideal of blonde haired, blue eyed supermen, but the steady breeding out of genectic diseases.

    It all comes back to EUGENICS FUCKING SUCKS because not everyone is going to agree on what is "best" to breed in or breed out of a certain lineage.

    It's a great idea in theory.

  17. #17
    Senior Member
    Joined
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    176
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    So we will know how the Neanderthals felt...

  18. #18
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by zxcire View Post
    It all comes back to EUGENICS FUCKING SUCKS because not everyone is going to agree on what is "best" to breed in or breed out of a certain lineage.

    It's a great idea in theory.

    See there you go,seeing it in the Nazi "Aryan ideal". I actually hesitated to use that word. They way I mean it is the eradication of undesirable or fatal genes and the promotion of beneficial ones. Lets get rid of cerebral palsy, Alzheimer's, and other crippling diseases, promote and choose traits like a preference for activity, 20/20 vision, and eidetic memory. Sure traits like a donkey cock and high firm breasts are going to creep in, but is that so bad?

    Really though the Vatican is going to call the Faithful to Crusade and the east will rise in Jihad to destroy any such place that would dare "make" such soulless abominations.


    *Obligatory movie homage*
    "Khhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnn! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

  19. #19
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    *Obligatory movie homage*
    "Khhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnn nnn! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
    damn, I KNEW that there was some Star Trek 'quasi-future history' about Eugenics Wars !

  20. #20
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by Melonie View Post
    damn, I KNEW that there was some Star Trek 'quasi-future history' about Eugenics Wars !
    [Threadjack] START
    [Terrell disobeys Khan's order to kill Kirk, who taunts Khan over the communicator]
    Kirk: Khan, you bloodsucker. You're gonna have to do your own dirty work now, do you hear me? Do you?
    Khan: Kirk. You're still alive, old friend.
    Kirk: Still, "old friend." You've managed to kill everyone else but like a poor marksman, you keep missing the target.
    Khan: Perhaps I no longer need to try, Admiral.
    [beams the Genesis device away]
    Kirk: Khan... Khan, you've got Genesis, but you don't have me. You were going to kill me, Khan. You're gonna have to come down here. You're gonna have to come down here.
    Khan: I've done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her: marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet, buried alive. Buried alive.
    Kirk: KHAAANNNN.
    [echo]
    Kirk: KHAAANNNN.
    [Threadjack] END

  21. #21
    Veteran Member pinupgurl2k6's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2006
    Location
    Michigan
    Posts
    508
    Thanks
    51
    Thanked 20 Times in 18 Posts
    Blog Entries
    27

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by TheSexKitten View Post
    Whether through science or more "natural" means, we'll be evolving. That's actually pretty damn exciting.
    Technology is the reason we stopped evolving. Antibiotics and science like
    that. I just hope it is used for a constructive purpose not for designer
    humans.

  22. #22
    Banned ArmySGT.'s Avatar
    Joined
    May 2005
    Location
    SW Counter Troll HQ
    Posts
    5,582
    Thanks
    1,589
    Thanked 1,674 Times in 1,043 Posts
    Blog Entries
    13
    My Mood
    Amused

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by pinupgurl2k6 View Post
    Technology is the reason we stopped evolving. Antibiotics and science like
    that. I just hope it is used for a constructive purpose not for designer
    humans.
    Personal hygiene and agriculture was the demise of human evolution. We keep our selves reasonably free from bacteria and viruses and with full bellies most are safe from the grim reaper.

    Designer People? Yep expect them. Paid writers and commentators will explain to us that this is ok, even right. In some ways tthey would be correct. the half truths surround the lies and make them palatable.

    Will the Rich have super babies? As Melonie points out, a future like Gattaca? One possibility, and not to be ignored. He who has the Gold makes the Rules, right? Angers my Freedoms loving side to admit but, the Names an Accomplishments we remember best were carried out by Dictators. Alexander the Great, Ramses, Genghis Khan, or what they built great empires and monuments we know today.

  23. #23
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    Quote Originally Posted by pinupgurl2k6 View Post
    Technology is the reason we stopped evolving. Antibiotics and science like
    that. I just hope it is used for a constructive purpose not for designer
    humans.
    THANK YOU! I love it, as soon as our brains became advanced enough to solve our bodies' problems, the human body has become weaker. Less hair, can't tolerate germs as well (thx ArmySgt), but it doesn't matter now! Evolution now if left alone, will focus on he brain. Humans have made a leap from body to brain in how we survive. The body might follow in some way, but not necessarily to make us stronger.

  24. #24
    Banned Melonie's Avatar
    Joined
    Jul 2002
    Location
    way south of the border
    Posts
    25,932
    Thanks
    612
    Thanked 10,563 Times in 4,646 Posts
    Blog Entries
    3
    My Mood
    Cynical

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    ^^^ yes but the deeper problem is the 'tower of knowledge versus the shadow of ignorance'. Up until 200 years ago, everybody in the world could understand how things worked just by looking, and everybody was capable of living their everyday lives without someone else's help. Beginning with steam engines / railroads, progressing to internal combustion engines and electricity, and progressing yet again to computers and ATM's, an ever increasing pool of people became dependent on a small pool of 'experts' in order to live their everyday lives. Ask yourself what happens if some terrorist should blow up a major power transmission line tomorrow ... every aspect of your everyday life comes to a screeching halt, both at home and at work, until the 'experts' fix the problem.

    NOW ask yourself what happens 50 years in the future, when the 'experts' are a group of 'super' human elites ... and where regular humans are excluded from any share of their 'expert' knowledge since their regular human brain would take 25 years to absorb the knowledge that the 'super'human brain can absorb in 5 years.

  25. #25
    TheSexKitten
    Guest

    Default Re: I wonder where this is headed ... combining genetics of multiple mothers ...

    My mind is getting boggled! I like this thread.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. opinions please? thyroid or genetics
    By Odette in forum Body Business
    Replies: 15
    Last Post: 05-07-2011, 10:51 AM
  2. Combining Stripper Personas to Find Best
    By exotica268 in forum Hustle Hut
    Replies: 11
    Last Post: 02-19-2010, 03:41 PM
  3. Anyone doing genetics this semester?
    By scarlett_vancouver in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 04-03-2008, 12:00 PM
  4. Nerdy humor (calculus, genetics, etc.)
    By Silverback in forum The Lounge
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 05-01-2007, 08:07 PM
  5. Damn genetics!
    By Juliette_deSade in forum Body Business
    Replies: 19
    Last Post: 08-23-2003, 02:02 AM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •