talk72000 wrote:The point is we haven't figured out the meaning all the sequences of the four bases that form the genetic code.and what they do. What if accidently this bacteria causes a disease and cannot be killed?
It shouldn't do. It's a minimalist life form, stripped of everything except for those genes that are necessary for life. At least, that's what the project set out to do in the first place.
And you shouldn't really worry about it escaping. Normally, laboratories have very high biosafety standards. Pirbright was an exception, of course, as were a few of the US bio-defence labs.
Quote:This is a tough area for there are real benefits to this kind of activity but also very dangerous ones far more dangerous than any other technology. Imagine a super intelligent patented franken human who decides to kill his/her franken father/mother as he/she was to be free of the restrictions placed on his/her activities as this creature might not be considered human and will be without rights. He/she could bypass the reproductive process and create a secret lab to grow more of his/her kind and definitely humans could be eliminated or put into a subservient position as they are not as superior in athletic nor intellectual ability. The movie iRobots and Matrix trilogy show robots or machines becoming masters. These franken humans are far more dangerous as they have everything and more what humans have as scientists have removed all the genetic impediments to superior performance to every activity. The X-Men movies illustrate some of the problems with mutants as well as the TV show Black Angel. The franken humans are not mutants but lab perfected humanoids.
The best minds need to get on top of this and a robust and rigorous oversight is needed to prevent the a future catastrophe.
Yeah, that's what ethics committees are for. Scientists have to apply for funding from research, whom have to ethically evaluate every proposal.
