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How do you feel about genetic engineering?

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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
I like it and hope to get a job in it or something similar when I'm done with school.

But here's an interesting idea, what if I changed a bacteria so that it was able to devour plastic as a food source? I've already thought of a few good things that this would do, but I thought of one really bad one too. I won't say yet but what do you guys think about that and genetic engineering as a whole?

and crazy religious people need not worry, i'm not thinking about trying to mutate people yet. well, thats not true but it's all they bring up when I tell them what i want to do with my life. like damn, if you have a genetic issue maybe we can fix it. god doesn't want you to do that or thats something you shouldn't mess with. always the same story. no one gave me an actual reason yet. or showed me any bad results.

i made this in the thinkers cult too but it's dead. BTW, a leader should mass message everyone in the cult and let them no they're still part  of it.
Feb 26 2011 11:19PM
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Chokolite
Posts: 1050 - Karma: 23
plastic eating bacteria could be useful in landfills or the ocean, but i dont think it can be done. plastic has no nutrients... right? i dont really know anything about it. maybe it can happen. but i think genetic wngineering and mwdical advancements as a whole are going to be a large part to a successful future as as country, and they should be pursued
Feb 26 2011 11:23PM
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Chokolite
Posts: 1050 - Karma: 23
im on my phone typos and caps are not my fault.
Feb 26 2011 11:24PM
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._.
Posts: 76 - Karma: 10
Don't see whats wrong with it. I'm assuming as the technology gets better, any negative side effects will decrease in magnitude/frequency...


Although i do think you have to be more specific with your topic; there are so many different types of genetic engineering, and I assume most/all NSers have no fucking clue about the science behind any of it.
Feb 26 2011 11:24PM
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.jersey
Posts: 1925 - Karma: 9
if you can make something that devours plastic you would be become the next bill gates and save the world. But i dont know if that would even be possible, i think that would be more chemical engineering then genetic.
Feb 26 2011 11:28PM
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._.
Posts: 76 - Karma: 10
I believe there was some ted talk about fungi that was engineered to eat oil or something like that... im not sure.
Feb 26 2011 11:29PM
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RudyGarmisch
Posts: 25443 - Karma: 13,844
Humans have been biologically engineering the planet for thousands of years, and I honestly see more positive outcomes of rapid scientific development in this area of science than possible negatives, considering how our population is putting such strain on the world we live in. If we're going to have populations like is expected and draw on the earths resources like we're projected, its an absolute necessity that we figure something out, and bioengineering seems to be the answer.
Feb 26 2011 11:49PM
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Cufe.
Posts: 1950 - Karma: 262
Genetic engineer this man into existence

Feb 27 2011 3:13AM
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Static
Posts: 8491 - Karma: 4,053
send in Chinese Needle Snakes. Then, let loose snake-eating gorillas. And then when winter time rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
Feb 27 2011 3:47AM
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birdshake
Posts: 1228 - Karma: 71
bacteria that eats plastic has been done

http://www.vbs.tv/en-ca/blog/did-this-kid-fix-the-ocean
Feb 27 2011 4:03AM
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klayer_9
Posts: 2037 - Karma: 188
meh.
Feb 27 2011 4:04AM
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Hemulen.
Posts: 448 - Karma: 17
first thing that comes to mind when i hear the words genetic engineering is animals with multiple asses. thank you southpark for making me dumber.
Feb 27 2011 5:53AM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
alright, i guess you have to understand exactly what happens when an organism consumes something and turns it into to energy. there's lot of molecular processes, and basically it comes to the fact that you need a certain molecule to make energy. WE happen to need sugars (among other things). The mechanism hat creates energy uses the energy thats holding sugar together to create other things, and then uses the hydrogens in it for something else. all you have to do is make it so that something else, say a bacteria, can use plastic to get energy. you'd have to modify the genes that code the proteins that make up the electron transport train and the enzymes that catalyze the reaction.

the waste will go where all bodily waste goes, out. depending on what it is, maybe you can use it. could be fuel, could be fertilizer, who knows?

the bad: it took me a bit to realize this, but you can't just let it run wild. if it got out, it would devour all plastic and keep multiplying and keep eating. and sure you could probably kill it but to get rid of all of it would be nearly impossible. so i guess you' have to contain it and bring the plastic to it.

and yeah i know thats a crazy idea but what if it worked?
Feb 27 2011 8:57AM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Some non-scientific reading for you:

http://www.mangareader.net/bio-meat

Click for larger image
Feb 27 2011 9:05AM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
thats more i less what i figure would happen, without the people eating of course. thats a pretty good idea too though.
and before someone says if they eat trash and you eat them, aren't you eating trash. well yeah sort of. but if it breaks it down into other stuff then you're not really eating garbage.
Feb 27 2011 9:14AM
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qbehr
Posts: 1044 - Karma: 686
how do you feel about my nuts in your mouth?
Feb 27 2011 12:27PM
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icon1234
Posts: 3081 - Karma: 1,475
We just started talking about this shit in bio, really interesting stuff. I think if you could do it, which I have my doubts on, being able to contain the bacteria would be a pretty easy fix. However, doing what you said making bacteria able break down plastic would be a very difficult feat.
Feb 27 2011 2:33PM
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gus555
Posts: 4170 - Karma: 34
i'd probably feel different about it if I knew what it was
Feb 27 2011 2:35PM
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Lolocaust.
Posts: 1716 - Karma: 512
I believe no man (or woman) should have the power or divine like qualities to genetically change or render nature.
Feb 27 2011 2:51PM
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Mike-O
Posts: 14593 - Karma: 1,089
Haha, yup, let's halt scientific breakthroughs and advancements in genetics, that's just too divine.
Feb 27 2011 2:56PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
then you might as well stop eating fruit. tons of plants are  genetically enhanced to yield more, larger fruit. and animals are too.
and like I said, no one is trying to make mutant people yet. I mean what would you do anyway? I'm not gonna anyone into X-Men or something. sure there's the whole designer baby thing but that seems like more of a novelty. unless of course you have 2 parents that want to have a kid, but will pass on a genetic disorder to him/her. well we can fix that.

how about this; a more viable idea.
use viruses as medical treatments. make a virus so that it injects sequences into cells. maybe you can kill tumors that way, by injecting genes that would code proteins that trigger apoptosis. and before you say, that won't work your body will detect the virus and kill it before it does anything, ask yourself, o you get sick? yes you do.
Feb 27 2011 3:03PM
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Mr.Turtle
Posts: 3690 - Karma: 96
its dope
Feb 27 2011 3:06PM
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Mr.Turtle
Posts: 3690 - Karma: 96
its dope
Feb 27 2011 3:06PM
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mommy
Posts: 12072 - Karma: 59
i dont understand why religious types take such offense to genetic engineering, seeing as how by using it correctly we could genetically engineer the perfect god.
Feb 27 2011 3:11PM
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Winston_Smith
Posts: 722 - Karma: 35
I'm game for that but say we figure out how to replicate stem cells without mutations (creating an unlimited supply pretty much) there would be a great many uses for that, although many problems still arise like controlling the growth etc.
Feb 27 2011 3:33PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
^also an extremely good idea.
Feb 27 2011 3:35PM
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Funkadelic
Posts: 1967 - Karma: 391
That sounds like a good idea, it would be very difficult to accomplish though. You have to make sure you have extreme measures to contain the bacteria, etc. You couldn't just let them go loose on a landfill. Genetic engineering as a whole has yielded some extremely important advances, without it modern agriculture wouldn't be anything what it is today.

The only thing that really makes me nervous about scientific advances in genetic engineering is some scientist in like North Korea working to genetically enhance humans to make like super warriors. I know that sounds really science fictiony, but I don't think its that farfetched.
Feb 27 2011 3:36PM
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a_pla5tic_bag
Posts: 9210 - Karma: 5,357
no you're right. as soon as somebody figures out the trick to all this you can bet the government will be trying to make spartans.
Feb 27 2011 3:40PM
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._.
Posts: 76 - Karma: 10
I figure this will happen with robots/computers being integrated into people before actual genetic engineering occurs.
Feb 27 2011 3:53PM
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Winston_Smith
Posts: 722 - Karma: 35
China sometimes takes people that are missing something or lacking it, inject them with stem cells in that area and sit back and watch, if anyones gonna be making spartans it's them
Feb 27 2011 3:56PM
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