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Old 2015-07-25, 21:49   Link #1
AnimeFan188
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Genetic Engineering

Easy DNA Editing Will Remake the World. Buckle Up.:

"The stakes, however, have changed. Everyone at the Napa meeting had access
to a gene-editing technique called Crispr-Cas9. The first term is an acronym for
“clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats,” a description of the
genetic basis of the method; Cas9 is the name of a protein that makes it work.
Technical details aside, Crispr-Cas9 makes it easy, cheap, and fast to move genes
around—any genes, in any living thing, from bacteria to people. “These are
monumental moments in the history of biomedical research,” Baltimore says.
“They don't happen every day.”

Using the three-year-old technique, researchers have already reversed mutations
that cause blindness, stopped cancer cells from multiplying, and made cells
impervious to the virus that causes AIDS. Agronomists have rendered wheat
invulnerable to killer fungi like powdery mildew, hinting at engineered staple crops
that can feed a population of 9 billion on an ever-warmer planet. Bioengineers
have used Crispr to alter the DNA of yeast so that it consumes plant matter and
excretes ethanol, promising an end to reliance on petrochemicals. Startups
devoted to Crispr have launched. International pharmaceutical and agricultural
companies have spun up Crispr R&D. Two of the most powerful universities in the
US are engaged in a vicious war over the basic patent. Depending on what kind
of person you are, Crispr makes you see a gleaming world of the future, a Nobel
medallion, or dollar signs.

The technique is revolutionary, and like all revolutions, it's perilous. Crispr goes
well beyond anything the Asilomar conference discussed. It could at last allow
genetics researchers to conjure everything anyone has ever worried they would—
designer babies, invasive mutants, species-specific bioweapons, and a dozen
other apocalyptic sci-fi tropes. It brings with it all-new rules for the practice of
research in the life sciences. But no one knows what the rules are—or who will be
the first to break them."

See:

http://www.wired.com/2015/07/crispr-dna-editing-2/
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Old 2015-07-26, 17:45   Link #2
FDW
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The future is going to terrifying. And awesome. And weird.
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Old 2015-07-27, 06:46   Link #3
SineMora
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Now is there a mad scientist willing to unleash a genetic bomb that transforms everyone into catgirls and boys/ half monsters/ elves/ etc... ?
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Old 2015-07-27, 08:43   Link #4
SaintessHeart
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There are limitations.

Chinese scientists genetically modify human embryos
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Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2015-07-27, 11:43   Link #5
james0246
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Here's hoping this is the beginning of a road that will lead us to some David Brin style Uplifting in the not to distant future.
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Old 2015-07-27, 22:56   Link #6
germanturkey
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this stuff is definitely fun to play around with. in the right hands, it'll expedite the development of therapeutics quite a bit. you can also tailor bioweapons to be somewhat race specific. so...
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Old 2015-07-28, 07:11   Link #7
SaintessHeart
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Well there should be a genetic treatment that lolifies subjects. I don't mind paying a shot for my wife every 20 years.
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When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.
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Old 2015-07-28, 17:00   Link #8
FDW
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SaintessHeart View Post
Well there should be a genetic treatment that lolifies subjects. I don't mind paying a shot for my wife every 20 years.
Wouldn't you want one too? And I don't think you'll have to pay for it more than once.
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Old 2015-08-06, 16:40   Link #9
Draco Spirit
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Being rather serous, the implications of genetic engineering on the social fabric of humanity as a whole is going to be huge. This time next century we could be right in the middle of conflict between 'naturals' and 'improved' human groups.
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Old 2015-08-06, 23:09   Link #10
FDW
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Draco Spirit View Post
Being rather serous, the implications of genetic engineering on the social fabric of humanity as a whole is going to be huge. This time next century we could be right in the middle of conflict between 'naturals' and 'improved' human groups.
It isn't going to be that simple. A lot of what could be done with Genetic Engineering is also possible with Cybernetics.
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Old 2015-08-07, 11:08   Link #11
Draco Spirit
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Tell me about it. Both sciences improve people, the big difference being cybernetic effects one person, while genetic changes effects that persons line. In both cases you can bet the top of the line improvements are going to make differences to peoples abilities and they're going to cost a lot of money.

Poorly handled, it could lead to a serous widening of the gap between rich and poor, to the point were the rich are so much 'better', that the poor will struggle to truly ever catch up, causing all sorts of unrest.

Then you got the international angle. What might end up banned in one country, might be considered perfectly legal in another... begging the question how you even start to police such area when the illegal item in question is a vital part of someone's body or illegal genetic change is in the newborn baby coming through your airport.

Also once the science to make such changes have matured, it's imposable to go back to world were they don't exist, so it's not like any country can ignore the issue, and its likely to start becoming one within the next 50 years.
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Old 2015-08-07, 14:25   Link #12
FDW
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Draco Spirit View Post
Tell me about it. Both sciences improve people, the big difference being cybernetic effects one person, while genetic changes effects that persons line. In both cases you can bet the top of the line improvements are going to make differences to peoples abilities and they're going to cost a lot of money.

Poorly handled, it could lead to a serous widening of the gap between rich and poor, to the point were the rich are so much 'better', that the poor will struggle to truly ever catch up, causing all sorts of unrest.

Then you got the international angle. What might end up banned in one country, might be considered perfectly legal in another... begging the question how you even start to police such area when the illegal item in question is a vital part of someone's body or illegal genetic change is in the newborn baby coming through your airport.

Also once the science to make such changes have matured, it's imposable to go back to world were they don't exist, so it's not like any country can ignore the issue, and its likely to start becoming one within the next 50 years.
Yeah, Transhumanism is shaping up to be the "800-pound Gorilla" of social issues in the 21st century.
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Old 2015-10-14, 00:40   Link #13
AnimeFan188
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First the crops, now the babies: Chinese scientists
genetically modify human embryos to create designer
babies:


"Chinese scientists are taking eugenics to a whole new level at the Sun
Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, confirming for the first time that
human embryos have been genetically engineered."

See:

http://www.naturalnews.com/051460_eu...r_babies.html#
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Old 2015-10-14, 10:17   Link #14
Draco Spirit
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Well, seems the era of humanity tinkering directly with its own genetics has started. Not surprised it's China and I'm not surprised the tinkering is for a medical objective either.
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Old 2015-10-15, 16:12   Link #15
aldw
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If there's one thing the Nietszcheans and Transhumanists do have in common, its that the genetic status quo needs to be upended for better living in the long run.
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Old 2015-10-15, 19:08   Link #16
FDW
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Originally Posted by aldw View Post
If there's one thing the Nietszcheans and Transhumanists do have in common, its that the genetic status quo needs to be upended for better living in the long run.
i agree with that, albeit in more generalized terms.
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Old 2015-10-15, 20:00   Link #17
Mech42ace
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I don't like the sound of this... All though it could lead to newtypes in the future... Just something offsettling about the ability to play God...
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Old 2015-10-15, 22:30   Link #18
AnimeFan188
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One person show Bioviva - tests antiaging gene therapy on
herself:


"Elizabeth Parrish, the 44-year-old CEO of a biotechnology startup
called BioViva, says she underwent a gene therapy at an undisclosed
location overseas last month, a first step in what she says is a plan to
develop treatments for ravages of old age like Alzheimer’s and muscle
loss.

Parrish says she had received two forms of gene therapy produced
under contract with a commercial laboratory, which she did not
identify, outside the United States. In one treatment, she says, she
received injections into her muscles containing the gene follistatin,
which in animal experiments is shown to increase muscle mass by
blocking myostatin, itself an inhibitor of muscle growth. She says she
also received an intravenous dose of viruses containing genetic
material to produce telomerase, a protein that extends telomeres, a
component of chromosomes known as the “aging clock.” Telomerase is
a frequent target of anti-aging research because the molecule is
present in cells that can continue to divide indefinitely, like stem cells
and tumors.

The idea for extending life span using telomerase, for instance, is
based on work by the laboratory of Maria Blasco, a Spanish scientist
who in 2012 showed that telomerase gene therapy could extend the
life span of mice by as much as 20 percent."

See:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/10/one...antiaging.html
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Old 2015-10-16, 13:29   Link #19
Draco Spirit
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mech42ace View Post
I don't like the sound of this... All though it could lead to newtypes in the future... Just something offsettling about the ability to play God...
Well it's happening. TBH it's a pretty scary science and also a powerful one. The ability to finally cure genetic diseases alone makes it's potential to end human suffering huge... but it's early days are going to be full of missteps and screws up. The long term consequences are also pretty earthshaking in regards to the effects on sociality, but so was the effects of the railways, it's just one of those types of technology.

Once we have mastered it however, the quality of human life will likely sky-rocket, but I wouldn't exactly be in a rush to have my children be some of the first to be born with genetic modifications, as there will undoubtedly be mistakes made and unexpected consequences in the early tampering as we find out unpleasant truths like 'this set of genes set up in such a way increase IQ by 50 points.... and likelihood of psychoses by 300%' along the way.
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Old 2015-10-20, 23:07   Link #20
AnimeFan188
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Researchers modify more than 60 pig genes in effort to
enable organ transplants into human:


"For decades, scientists and doctors have dreamed of creating a steady
supply of human organs for transplantation by growing them in pigs. But
concerns about rejection by the human immune system and infection by
viruses embedded in the pig genome have stymied research. Now, by
modifying more than 60 genes in pig embryos — ten times more than
have been edited in any other animal — researchers believe they may
have produced a suitable non-human organ donor."

See:

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/10/res...an-60-pig.html


==========================


Gene-Edited Dogs With Jacked-Up Muscles Are a World's
First:


"Researchers in China are reportedly the first to use a powerful gene
editing tool to produce super-muscled dogs. The goal is to create test
subjects that mimic degenerative human diseases, but the
breakthrough also raises the prospect of customized pets.

A cheap and powerful gene editing technique called CRISPR is taking
the science world by storm. Over the past year, biologists have used
the genetic cut-and-paste tool to genetically modify human embryos,
produce supersized fruit, and create double-muscled pigs and
micropigs. Other animals involved in CRISPR work include goats,
rabbits, and monkeys."

See:

http://gizmodo.com/gene-edited-dogs-...-fi-1737545538
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