On 8 Jan., 13:31, Molly Brogan <[email protected]>
wrote:
>
> My point is, manipulating DNA to prevent illness is like taking a pill
> because an uncomfortable symptom is occuring without knowing
> definitively the nature of the illness.
This is, of course, the kernel of the whole discussion. It is one of
the main reasons why, for example, Europeans are so suspicious of GM-
crops, while they seem to be taken for granted on the other side of
the Atlantic. There have been massive advances in genetic/genome
understanding in the past decade, but there is also a lot which we
still don't understand, especially with regard to multiple functions
and interactions between specific bits of genes and coding. Much of
our understanding still seems to be at the level of, "Wow, we now know
that if we do x, y will happen." Why y happens, and whether y
happening will also effect the way z1, z2 and z3 happen (or don't
happen) are the things that we don't know (not to mention the dire
Rumsfeldian things we don't know we don't know :-)). All of this makes
me think a lot about the Sorcerer's Apprentice: 'Die Geister die ich
rief, die werde ich nicht mehr los.' (Goethe)
Francis
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