"Zombie" Cloned Animals
This story out of the UK is of concern. Cloned animals are having, shall we say, troubles. No surprise there. Consequently, cloners are keeping some of them penned in and causing stress, leading to aggression, particlularly among cloned pigs. Their reported solution? Get rid of the stress and aggression gene! From the Daily Mail story:"GM scientists are actively investigating ways to remove the stress and aggression gene from animals, effectively turning them into complacent zombies. The professor said it might become technically possible to produce "animal vegetables"--beasts which are 'highly prolific and oblivious to their physical and mental status'."
Remember, if it can be done to animals today, it may be done to humans tomorrow. So, I have a better idea. Actually, two: Why not just keep the animals in better quarters? Better yet, maybe we should just stop cloning altogether and call it a day. Our hubris is exceeding our wisdom.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 7:51 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
And people wonder why I'm anti-cloning in general. This is sick.
Look, I'm not an animal right's activist, but I'm a firm believer in humane treatment of animals, and this is just going too far and too wrong.
Betcha they can't do it. They'd have more success just drugging them to make them zombie-like. Not that I'm advocating that. I just think there's a lot of hype about what can be done by genetic modification when it can't really be done.
I think this may have been done to humans already! Seriously though, I agree that we should stop them from cloning anymore animals. They should work on ways to keep animals and people fertile and healthy.
Hey has anyone seen Children of Men? Or read the book? I think you'd find it interesting. I saw it last night, and I'm looking at the wiki entry on the book now. In the movie, they say that "women are infertile", but in the book, it was men's sperm counts that all dropped to zero, so much so that no children have been born since 1995, "Year Omega" (in the movie, it is 2009). They can't figure out why, so they focus on prolonging life, or ending it using a product called "Quietus".
And the whole world is in chaos, with war going on everywhere...cool movie, very metaphorical and with a very good pro-natal, pro-life message.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home