BREAKING THE SPECIES BARRIER

[lftipton]

BREAKING THE SPECIES BARRIER
Whether you give credit to God, or to Nature, there is a boundary between lifeforms that gives each its integrity, and identity. We are not fish; we are not plants. They are not each other.
So far, there exist no half-human, half-animal “chimeras” (like mermaids or centaurs) but we may soon have them. We already have similar things. Biotech companies are blithely removing components of human beings (and other creatures) and treating us all like auto parts at a swap meat. An astounding array of new creatures is being created. They include mice with human ears; frogs with no heads; fish with human genes plants with animal and human genes; animals created for spare parts for later insertion in to humans; tobacco genes in lettuce; bacteria genes in potatoes; viruses in vegetables; human embryos cloned for later use. It’s like Dr. Moreau’s menagerie, but these are not mad scientists at work. They are highly paid graduates of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and M.I.T. dazzled by dollars and fame.
The industry says that some of these experiments may save lives, but so far there are few successes. There’s an equal or greater chance for terribly negative consequences.
When you transfer body parts, or genes, from one species to another you may also transfer dangerous viruses across species barriers. This has happened by accident several times. In the early 1900s, a swine virus jumped into humans. And lately, AIDS probably resulting from a virus jumping from monkeys into humans. Both of these accidental cases of viruses crossing species boundaries produced global pandemics, killing millions of people. Now our scientists are doing it on purpose. Nobody can be sure of the long-term outcome. There have been few long-term tests. Shouldn’t a sane government require those?

[lftipton]

BREAKING THE SPECIES BARRIER
Whether you give credit to God, or to Nature, there is a boundary between lifeforms that gives each its integrity, and identity. We are not fish; we are not plants. They are not each other.
So far, there exist no half-human, half-animal “chimeras” (like mermaids or centaurs) but we may soon have them. We already have similar things. Biotech companies are blithely removing components of human beings (and other creatures) and treating us all like auto parts at a swap meat. An astounding array of new creatures is being created. They include mice with human ears; frogs with no heads; fish with human genes plants with animal and human genes; animals created for spare parts for later insertion in to humans; tobacco genes in lettuce; bacteria genes in potatoes; viruses in vegetables; human embryos cloned for later use. It’s like Dr. Moreau’s menagerie, but these are not mad scientists at work. They are highly paid graduates of prestigious universities such as Harvard, Princeton, and M.I.T. dazzled by dollars and fame.
The industry says that some of these experiments may save lives, but so far there are few successes. There’s an equal or greater chance for terribly negative consequences.
When you transfer body parts, or genes, from one species to another you may also transfer dangerous viruses across species barriers. This has happened by accident several times. In the early 1900s, a swine virus jumped into humans. And lately, AIDS probably resulting from a virus jumping from monkeys into humans. Both of these accidental cases of viruses crossing species boundaries produced global pandemics, killing millions of people. Now our scientists are doing it on purpose. Nobody can be sure of the long-term outcome. There have been few long-term tests. Shouldn’t a sane government require those?