Scylla Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 As this does not directly relate to fossils I'm not sure I posted to the appropriate part of TFF. Ok, I have some ethical and scientific concerns with this line of research, but here's an article to start with:My link As for fixing birth defects in utero like cleft palate, it would be much cheaper and faster to just make sure women get enough folate prenatally. As far as understanding morphogenesis there is some value in tweaking the genes responsible to learn how they influence the phenotype of the organism. Accelerating evolution? Thats crazy talk! Just look at our wonderful record with management of current ecosystems. How many "beneficial" species have we introduced that just turned out to be nightmares. (Kudzu, asian carp, every invasive plant from dandelions to tumbleweed) OK I'll be quiet now as I see a rant comin on.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted August 20, 2011 Author Share Posted August 20, 2011 Oh, and this is the article that led me to the chicken one, this is also not directly fossil related, but has some evolutionary significance My link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xonenine Posted August 20, 2011 Share Posted August 20, 2011 amazing story Gus, thanks. "Your serpent of Egypt is bred now of your mud by the operation of your sun; so is your crocodile." Lepidus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexx Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 darn...then this guy was right!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOn7DInBWK4&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexx Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 "If scientists are able to turn the process around and speed up evolution, they could create species better adapted to the changing planet." I don't see why they think that because they can turn back evolutionary genetic events to create an organism that remotely looks like their genuine ancestors, why they think they could chance genes such that they are well suited to an environment that does not exist at the current point. If you look a VHS video and you are the the very end you can always turn it back to some part but you can't forward it anymore because nothing exists there. Of course they can engeneer wheat or whatever that takes up more CO2 or for example, but what else? there might be some other limiting factors for growth then, certain minerals, water, etc. With animal organisms this would be much harder and could turn them for example into keystone predators that disrupt the equilibrium of a given ecological system. What I want to say with that is, that when we look into the past we have a certain guideline dictated by evolution that tells us what has changed and in what way, but for the future there is no guideline, so the principle of "forward" genetic engeneering is a totally different concept. The best adaptation is already present, it's the presence of the possibility of mutating genes that confer the ability to adapt to ever changing environments. Difficult to improve that, because too much in this direction can also lead to genetic instability wich is one of the primary hallmarks of tumor growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickNC Posted August 21, 2011 Share Posted August 21, 2011 I wrote a paper on the work with chickens for my genetics class. Fascinating stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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