*UPDATED*'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists *VIDEO*
- Thread starter PurpleSky
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I don't see how this would make zombies what-so-ever....synthetic life people, not a being that has lost all rational thinking, and attacks humans on sight. Even though it would be frighteningly cool if it did happen ( a zombie outbreak would be a lot less fun then you think), its highly unlikely that it would.
I'm just interesting in how we can learn to utilize this in the ways they described. And even more inventions and other scientific and technological advances. My, my. We've teleported an atom and now we've made a cell.
I fucking love science!
I'm just interesting in how we can learn to utilize this in the ways they described. And even more inventions and other scientific and technological advances. My, my. We've teleported an atom and now we've made a cell.
I fucking love science!
Your post sounds like something I wrote for a school exercise in English one time, except in the version I wrote the process was carried out by the government. I also never actually got that far in the story, but that was the original idea.RedMenace said:
OT: This sounds pretty neat, if it can replicate the same way as normal bacterial cells it might be cooler that spider-goats.
How is this synthetic? All they're doing is putting DNA inside a cell that already exists. Hell, I've done this at least 3 times in my high school genetics class THIS YEAR (as in, jan to may semester).
Human DNA is not far more complex than a sheep, though you might assume otherwise. I'm not sure were you received your high-school education or how recent it was, but we were taught that we are not some super special almighty species when it comes to genetics. There are two things we excel at above our other animal brethren, thats intellect/creativity, and long distance travel (we are the best long distance runners in the animal kingdom), we do not however have "super special genes" that make us this way. And yes, it is no harder to clone a human as it is a sheep, all you have to do is take the DNA from one human, and put it into an ova of the same human (of course this wouldn't work with guys) and walla, you get a baby that is a clone of the mother *though you still have to give birth to it*.Julianking93 said:Both. I like the whole creating/cloning new species concepts.tthor said:really? huh, i thought cloning human beings was about as simple as cloning sheep, (tho i might have just assumed that,)Julianking93 said:This I know, but they were never able to successfully create human DNA, but with this, it's one step closer.tthor said:well to be fair, this isn't exactly cloning, but just a synthetic copy. and also, cloning technology is already fairly developed and available, so much so that scientists have even said really any scientist/small laboratory could effectively afford/achieve cloning (so much so that there is worry of rogue scientists trying to create their own crimes against nature)Julianking93 said:Well that's pretty fucking cool. Just one more step to cloning and the inevitable future depicted in The Sixth Day.
That and I like how the professor has the same name as me
on topic, i think the benefits of this breakthrough are astronomical, but at the same time, the dangers are just as great, if not greater
Also, the part about the renegade scientists making their own creatures just reminded me of that upcoming movie Splice which I think will be fucking awesome
and which is awesome, Splice, or creating freaky mutants? splice looks good, tho the idea of scientists creating genetically altered creatures kinda scares me, especially since it is almost certain a reality at this very moment somewhere,
And yeah, Human DNA is far more complex than that of a sheep.
I see this is as a double-edged sword. In the future, doctors can use this to recreate damaged tissue in patients caused by a variety of diseases. But on the other hand, certain groups could possibly create new viruses.
Let me start off by saying I am not religious, but I do think there is a point at which "playing God" (a term I feel awful using) can go too far. There are so many amazing things we can do with this discovery, we could create viruses that target only cancer cells, regeneration for burn victims or amputees, auto-immune diseases can be stopped in their tracks with cells resistant to the immune systems attacks. But there is most certainly a trade off. I fervently hope that every government -does not allow- the military to have any acess to this research beyond its healing capabilities. A bio-weapon constructed with this technology would have massive repercussions. I fear the possibilities that this research has in the wrong hands more than I fear the power that many countries have this very moment to send the world into a nuclear apocalypse.
I also hope that they research the shit out of this, and do not use it for medical purposes until we know -exactly- what we're dealing with. In my previous example of the benefit it could have fighting off a auto-immune disease such as MS, there is also the danger of creating a new cancer cell. Resistance to the body's immune attacks beyond what is currently available to a cancer cell is quite dangerous.
Although, if the scientists can construct synthetic DNA similarly to a programming code, with a possible "back door" it would be pretty cool. For example if they designed the cell to stop respiration and die off when introduced with a very specific chemical compound, one that is easy to make, but that would never normally be found in the human body. Perhaps a synthetic hormone our endocrine system cannot synthesize. Once again however, this leaves opportunities for misuse. If someone wished to harm another person, and they knew that their target had synthetic cells in their body, they could potentially use this back door and inject them with the chemical against their will.
Besides the obvious physiological dangers, one has to consider the effect it would have on our culture and society. If cells can be designed to be impervious to aging, and humans really do gain the ability to live if not forever, significantly longer than currently possible, one has to consider what effect this will have on the human race as a whole. Longevity comes with longer memories, and longer memories means longer held grudges. Any current animosity between nations could extend way farther into the future than it might otherwise, and long held tension is never a good thing. Besides that, if people live considerably longer, it also means that people will begin maturing slower, and having children later in life due to the fact that their biological clock just got rewound centuries.
If we have a society where there are less children and longer lived people we may observe a drop in crime, and it is possible people will be much more peaceful due to the wisdom that age often grants. However we will stagnate. In order to maintain a sustainable population we will most definitely have to have less children, and with slower or non-existent new generations we will "evolve" less as a society than ever before. In the past century we have experienced a huge gain in technology, life expectancies and have progressed significantly as a society. 100 years ago women were essentially servants (early 20th century America). Now they have more equality than ever experienced in the history of humankind, although it is not nearly perfect. Yet, 2000 years ago the role of men and women was practically unchanged with roles 200 years ago. How will our culture grow and progress if we do not have the new blood to take over when we are through? If we all live forever, I believe that we can expect to see a gradual shift into a society without difference. Gender, race, and social status will mean nothing. This has the good effects of bringing equality and quite possibly peace to the world, but one has to consider: Who are we without our differences? Would you enjoy an MMO where every class was the exact same? Where all the stats gave you the same bonus? I would not. I would -hate- to see the world become a bland, uni-culture.
I apologize for... Rambling... >_>
I also hope that they research the shit out of this, and do not use it for medical purposes until we know -exactly- what we're dealing with. In my previous example of the benefit it could have fighting off a auto-immune disease such as MS, there is also the danger of creating a new cancer cell. Resistance to the body's immune attacks beyond what is currently available to a cancer cell is quite dangerous.
Although, if the scientists can construct synthetic DNA similarly to a programming code, with a possible "back door" it would be pretty cool. For example if they designed the cell to stop respiration and die off when introduced with a very specific chemical compound, one that is easy to make, but that would never normally be found in the human body. Perhaps a synthetic hormone our endocrine system cannot synthesize. Once again however, this leaves opportunities for misuse. If someone wished to harm another person, and they knew that their target had synthetic cells in their body, they could potentially use this back door and inject them with the chemical against their will.
Besides the obvious physiological dangers, one has to consider the effect it would have on our culture and society. If cells can be designed to be impervious to aging, and humans really do gain the ability to live if not forever, significantly longer than currently possible, one has to consider what effect this will have on the human race as a whole. Longevity comes with longer memories, and longer memories means longer held grudges. Any current animosity between nations could extend way farther into the future than it might otherwise, and long held tension is never a good thing. Besides that, if people live considerably longer, it also means that people will begin maturing slower, and having children later in life due to the fact that their biological clock just got rewound centuries.
If we have a society where there are less children and longer lived people we may observe a drop in crime, and it is possible people will be much more peaceful due to the wisdom that age often grants. However we will stagnate. In order to maintain a sustainable population we will most definitely have to have less children, and with slower or non-existent new generations we will "evolve" less as a society than ever before. In the past century we have experienced a huge gain in technology, life expectancies and have progressed significantly as a society. 100 years ago women were essentially servants (early 20th century America). Now they have more equality than ever experienced in the history of humankind, although it is not nearly perfect. Yet, 2000 years ago the role of men and women was practically unchanged with roles 200 years ago. How will our culture grow and progress if we do not have the new blood to take over when we are through? If we all live forever, I believe that we can expect to see a gradual shift into a society without difference. Gender, race, and social status will mean nothing. This has the good effects of bringing equality and quite possibly peace to the world, but one has to consider: Who are we without our differences? Would you enjoy an MMO where every class was the exact same? Where all the stats gave you the same bonus? I would not. I would -hate- to see the world become a bland, uni-culture.
I apologize for... Rambling... >_>
Sure we might end up creating mutants, zombies, mutant zombies and whatnot, but otherwise, this is just plain cool. I kind of like the idea of a society influenced in almost every way by this kind of technology. For an idea of how this would work, I suggest you read "In the Courts of the Crimson Kings" by S.M. Stirling.
You've not thought of Bioware computers? Synthiskin gloves that can replicate movements along with Ocular Projectors?RedMenace said:
Or Amalgamam-ware that combines Biotech and Cybertech?
*sigh* You'd think people would have learned from the virus/zombie movies by now. You do not mess with things like that.
But, alas, if humanity is advancing, so must science.
It will be interesting to see what is done with this discovery in the short term.
But, alas, if humanity is advancing, so must science.
It will be interesting to see what is done with this discovery in the short term.
I am super psyched.
This is about the most exciting thing I could imagine happening to the human race in a long time.
The possibilities! They're endless! I can't wait to see what happens next.
We could end up with religion fighting science, we could end up with humans in love with androids, we could end up with three-legged synthetic war machines.
It's progress, at any rate.
This is about the most exciting thing I could imagine happening to the human race in a long time.
The possibilities! They're endless! I can't wait to see what happens next.
We could end up with religion fighting science, we could end up with humans in love with androids, we could end up with three-legged synthetic war machines.
It's progress, at any rate.
