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Originally Posted by freeztar
It seems people are going to bypass behavioral changes anyways as evidenced by liposuction and other physical alteration procedures.
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It seems that way, but none of those procedures change your DNA. In my mind, it is one thing to use gene therapy to correct a genetic defect/mutation that account for some of our rare but devastating syndromes. It is quite another thing though to try to fix something that is not broken in order to allow people to gorge with out the consequences.
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Originally Posted by freeztar
This certainly seems like a valid concern, but I think that over population will become a problem before a massive population of calorie-hungry genetically-modified humans become a significant factor.
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I don't know. They are already running tests on mice to see the effects of the deactivated gene. We already have the ability to alter genes in living humans. Is the next step really that far fetched? The population crisis is 30-50 years off by estimates I have read. It won't take that long to find a way to apply what was done to the mice to humans.
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Originally Posted by freeztar
Well, presumably, someone in a situation to afford such cutting edge gene altercation would probably not be concerned about not being able to purchase the necessary amount of calories.  |
1. How many former wall street big money makers are now in foreclosure or in serious financial stress at the moment?
2. Obesity related illness accounts for 10% of health care spending, and is currently the fastest growing area of health care spending. I think a gene therapy regiment for obesity would be mainstreamed really fast (which would cut costs) and health care insurance companies would pay for it as a hedge against future costs related to obesity in their patient population.
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Originally Posted by freeztar
In general, I think it's a bad idea for humans to intentionally try to alter evolution. At the extreme, it reminds me of "Brave New World" by Huxley. In a lesser extent, it reminds me of our own fragility and the lengths we go to in order to compensate. The fact remains. No matter what we do, we will still be subject to the natural (from Nature, apart from human-induced) Evolution. |
The ramifications of tampering with DNA, in living or soon to be born humans is scary in general. I'm wondering if our society is even ready to tackle that question, let alone the implications of the treatments.
