DailyDirt: Waiting For Superman... From A Test Tube

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

The concept of creating superhumans using genetic engineering has been around for quite some time in science fiction, but now that it's almost becoming a practical thing to do, there are some scientists calling for a moratorium on experimenting with germline engineering until we can debate the issue and come to some consensus on what should be considered ethical. Treating diseases with drugs/radiation/whatever may let an individual patient live longer, but messing with embryonic DNA could have more lasting effects because whatever genetic edits are made will be passed down to future generations (well, unless genetically modified humans are purposely made sterile...). This kind of medicine is going to be controversial for the foreseeable future, but it's going to be done somewhere as the science and technology behind it gets better. After you've finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
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Filed Under: biotech, crispr, designer babies, dna, eugenics, gattaca, genetic engineering, germline engineering, gmo, ivf, mitochondria, superhuman, three-parent ivf


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  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2015 @ 5:19pm

    The Umbrella Corporation will keep their experiments tightly controlled and will not endanger the public.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Roger Strong (profile), 29 Apr 2015 @ 5:21pm

    Let's not forget; KFC's geneticists did a great job on their extra-crispy chicken.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2015 @ 5:44pm

    Still waiting on Sarif Industries...

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 29 Apr 2015 @ 7:55pm

    "This kind of medicine is going to be controversial for the foreseeable future, but it's going to be done somewhere as the science and technology behind it gets better."

    Thank goodness! Ignorant primitives, cowering in their caves and whispering prayers to their magic friends, can no longer halt the progress of science but only temporarily retard its rate.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

  • icon
    Padpaw (profile), 30 Apr 2015 @ 3:38am

    I think I will wait until they can get their flu shots working at a 100% rate before I trust medical science with something like this and not screw it up in some way.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2015 @ 5:05am

      Re:

      The flu shots work fine. Some peoples' immune systems - not so well.

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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