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Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

interestingengineering.com

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Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#81

Post by layoutIfNeeded »

renewiltord wrote: post #74
grawprog wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also such things as nuclear weapons, genetically engineered virii, patents on life, tampering with ecosystems, plants designed to be sterile to ensure a seed market, lakes full of sterile fish stocked for sport. >No, if you can save billions and you choose not to, you have killed them. If you can uplift species and you choose not to, you have killed their cognition. We are gods over the Earth. We have dominion o…

No, no, not humans. The we that have dominion are certain genes, for which the humans are mere vehicles. These genes are just as old as the mushroom genes. And this gene cluster is aiming to master the rock that is the Earth through modifying other gene clusters. And you can't stop it. Because through modification it grows stronger and more able. And it has rallied the memome and the hologenome to its cause. This cau…

Yeah, we’ve read The Selfish Gene, too.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#82

Post by ivnubinas »

FPGAhacker wrote: post #67
grawprog wrote: post #46

I find it hard to describe how I feel about this. These scientists essentially created what may have been a new species, that perhaps would have had similar sentience to us and had them terminated after 100 days. The cat's out of the bag with this research so to speak now. Someone's bound to do this again The part about whether they should have been born or not, which was the ethical thing is what tears at me. Is it…

I’m curious if you feel this way about human abortion?

I feel there's a new tendency to value animal life more than human life and I'm not sure how to feel about it.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#84

Post by zhrvoj »

grawprog wrote: post #65
renewiltord wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our track record for messing with the fundamental fabric of reality is creating antibiotics, and over the period of a century saving so many lives that wars of earlier periods are negligible in comparison. A natural reaction from people with high sanctity/degradation (in the MFT sense) is to avoid touching the trolley lever at all points. Decision making is considered association with the decision. The naturalistic f…

It's also such things as nuclear weapons, genetically engineered virii, patents on life, tampering with ecosystems, plants designed to be sterile to ensure a seed market, lakes full of sterile fish stocked for sport. >No, if you can save billions and you choose not to, you have killed them. If you can uplift species and you choose not to, you have killed their cognition. We are gods over the Earth. We have dominion o…

A fool with a tool is still a fool...

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#85

Post by whimsicalism »

Geminidog wrote: post #36
booleandilemma wrote: post #22

This is crucial in order to maintain ethical boundaries. After about 100 days after the fetus had been growing, the international team unanimously agreed to remove the fetus through a C-section I feel we’ve already entered into sensitive territory by aborting it.

Yeah, aborting in some circles is the same as murder so the "ethics" is a bit blurry here. The crossed the line by creating life and then they killed what could essentially be something that could have had the intelligence of a regular human being. I'm not an anti-abortionist but I can't deny that the ethics in this area is blurry. Even worse is when you're aborting genetically modified life.

> I can't deny that the ethics in this area is blurry

If you don't like the ethics of aborting a monkey fetus because it is "like murder", you're going to hate what happens to lab monkeys they don't abort.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#86

Post by read_if_gay_ »

grawprog wrote: post #75
FPGAhacker wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious if you feel this way about human abortion?

No, that's why I find it hard to describe how I feel. I'm pro choice. It's not my place to tell someone what to do with their bodies or the fetuses they're carrying(please don't get into an abortion debate because of this, i'm not going to answer any comments going on about that to avoid things getting out of control), but this still makes me feel uncomfortable. This is something different, this is the first time thi…

> No, that's why I find it hard to describe how I feel.

Cognitive dissonance? Sorry to be snarky.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#88

Post by breakfastduck »

FPGAhacker wrote: post #67
grawprog wrote: post #46

I find it hard to describe how I feel about this. These scientists essentially created what may have been a new species, that perhaps would have had similar sentience to us and had them terminated after 100 days. The cat's out of the bag with this research so to speak now. Someone's bound to do this again The part about whether they should have been born or not, which was the ethical thing is what tears at me. Is it…

I’m curious if you feel this way about human abortion?

If I may chip in - I don't think it's really comparable.

An abortion is a result of a choice being made by a person after a set of real life and possibly unexpected events have happened.

The research is carefully planned in advance. This was genetically engineered to be terminated.

So while I do think you've asked a relevant question, I think the ethical questions the two things raise are actually very far apart.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#89

Post by renewiltord »

layoutIfNeeded wrote: post #81
renewiltord wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, no, not humans. The we that have dominion are certain genes, for which the humans are mere vehicles. These genes are just as old as the mushroom genes. And this gene cluster is aiming to master the rock that is the Earth through modifying other gene clusters. And you can't stop it. Because through modification it grows stronger and more able. And it has rallied the memome and the hologenome to its cause. This cau…

Yeah, we’ve read The Selfish Gene, too.

Naturally, it's 50 years old and one of the most influential science books of all time. If you hadn't, then the reference wouldn't work as well.

Re: Scientists grow bigger monkey brains using human genes, replicating evolution

#90

Post by rootusrootus »

grawprog wrote: post #75
FPGAhacker wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m curious if you feel this way about human abortion?

No, that's why I find it hard to describe how I feel. I'm pro choice. It's not my place to tell someone what to do with their bodies or the fetuses they're carrying(please don't get into an abortion debate because of this, i'm not going to answer any comments going on about that to avoid things getting out of control), but this still makes me feel uncomfortable. This is something different, this is the first time thi…

> Like I say, I find it hard to describe how I feel about it all.

This is good, I like people that can recognize this. Cognitive dissonance should hurt. It's the people who can't feel it that I worry about being around...

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