Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

[we_are_toast]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Just Great! Fiat DNA! How are we going to hedge against the inevitable DNA inflation? And how long before DATA (DNA Anti-Trust Action) starts exposing the manipulation of the DNA markets by the government?

[don]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Just Great! Fiat DNA! How are we going to hedge against the inevitable DNA inflation? And how long before DATA (DNA Anti-Trust Action) starts exposing the manipulation of the DNA markets by the government?

Ah Ha! It's clear where your toast is buttered now, we are ;). With our profane union of finance and government, DATA, however cleverly cast, is clearly a false flag. So toast, is it Heavenly Hedge Jam rockin' on from here

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Posted this in Select News because I missed this thread.

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal...df/465422a.pdf

Jim Thomas has a kit in his Montreal office he can use to make cells glow with synthetic DNA.

"I can do it in the kitchen," says Thomas. Cooking up artificial genes is fast becoming child's play.



Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/technolo...#ixzz0oqVo3MXs

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_a...t/10132762.stm

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/s...fe-in-lab.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/ma...l?pagewanted=3

Interesting discovery. We can now design life on a computer and insert it into a cell to replicate.

It seems to me that once this process is improved, anyone with a computer will be able to say "i want this, this and this genome" and then press "run" and out comes the blueprint for the cells. I suspect implementing the blueprint won't be that hard to do.

Do you see how dangerous this is? How game changing about everything? Socially, economically, militarily. Nuclear proliferation is piddling compared to this.

The rise of synthetic biology only intensifies ethical and environmental concerns raised by earlier forms of genetic engineering, many of which remain unsettled. Given synthetic biology’s open-source ethic, critics cite the possibility of bioterror: the malicious use of DNA sequences posted on the Internet to engineer a new virus or more devastating biological weapons

We need a global agreement to manage scientists. When some guy in a basement laboratory in Iran can recreate a known pathogen that have a history of wreaking havoc in those with a white protestant european immune system and then mixin in some DNA strands that make it super viral .. well, what's to stop them?

Nothing.

Dangerous science and scientists must be managed. This outcome is undeniable proof of this.

Probably what will happen is someone will release a pathogen that wipes out some species other than humans and announces it to the world how easy it was .. that'll serve as a wake up call.

Why do I mention Libertarians? Our (I am a libertarian) insular views do not work in a world like this.

We need global leadership than can work together.

I hate the idea of authority and being controlled but the simple fact is that Libertarians are on the wrong side of history.

Sorry folks.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

What Kurzweil doesn't publically admit though I bet he privately knows, is that his theories of accelerating change also applies to our accelerating ability to destroy as much as they do to create.

If you measure the growth in our ability to kill as a ratio of death/resources to cause those deaths, I bet you'll find it's as exponential as anything else Ray has talked about.

[aaron]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

"I hate the idea of authority and being controlled but the simple fact is that Libertarians are on the wrong side of history."

Yeah, Libertarians believe you should be able to create super-bugs to destroy the human race. Those damn Libertarians are destroying the planet with their stupid science and freedom. We need a strong dictator to manage these crazies.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Your sarcasm is misdirected.

Libertarians believe there shouldn't be enough oversight that governments can control the science we're allowed to do in our basements.

When such basement science has the ability to take out the human species I honestly see no other choice.

At least not until we develop enough science to auto-defend against such super bugs. Kind of like a Norton's Anti-Virus for the Human Body, I guess.

I don't like it any better than you do .. I just think I appreciate the dangers of our philosophy better.

[lsa420]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Isn't it government that has done the most harm to society throughout history? Or is it all those psychotic libertarian ideas (never fully put into practice) like freedom, liberty, the rule of law and sound money that have wreaked havoc and destruction upon humanity?

Seems we have confused parties in this thread. Know your enemy.

[Guinnesstime]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Before we start jumping the gun here.... has this been peer reviewed or replicated? Life is very complex and while this discovery is pretty cool this may be as far as it goes... a blank bacteria. I think people are getting a little too worried about this just like the supercollider/blackhole, DNA cloning, and any other new scientific discovery in our recent history.

[Rajiv]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

The problem is not with Libertarian ideas, but rather that libertarianism assumes that everybody has a conscience, and empathy, and is possessed of "the virtues"

Things become unstable as soon as you add in the 1-3% who are sociopaths. That I believe is what is driving Blaze's concerns.

There was a good discussion in the Nihilist thread

See also this interview with Dr. Robert D. Hare and Dr. Paul Babiak

[Guinnesstime]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Go here and read this.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceno...y-answers.html

Hopefully this will calm some fears.

[Rajiv]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Thanks for posting that. I had already assumed that this was the case. However, as each new milestone is reached along this path, the risks of accidental or deliberate release become higher.

As I said there is that 1-3% of humanity. How are we going to deal with their access to risky technologies? Particularly when the technologies have the potential to cause mass extinctions.

Sociopaths can be hard to detect - The Signs of a Sociopath

The key trait of sociopaths is that they don't feel. They may seem to laugh or cry but they present with no depth of emotion. While easily provoked to frustration or rage, their display of feeling is little more than a momentary, isolated temper tantrum. To the sociopath, other people are tools to get them what they want: money, sex, a job or other possessions. They live in their own amoral world where nothing they do has any consequences and where they owe no one anything. They have no empathy. Thus, they elude all responsibility for their actions, and can easily turn the tables, blaming their partner without guilt or shame.

The Relentlessness of Deception

Sociopaths lie all the time. As they don't view their spouse as a thinking, feeling person, they do not see this behavior as wrong. Their only quest is to serve themselves and, if this entails lying, cheating or even murder, they will do so. If one catches them in lies, they are brilliant at changing the subject, placing the onus on the other person, denying their involvement or trying to make their spouse seem crazy. They are even good at deceiving the police and the court system; sociopaths rarely end up in prison for their actions.
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These issues become very relevant, and are what are driving my concerns, and possibly Blazespinnakers.

[Ghent12]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

Your sarcasm is misdirected.

Libertarians believe there shouldn't be enough oversight that governments can control the science we're allowed to do in our basements.

When such basement science has the ability to take out the human species I honestly see no other choice.

At least not until we develop enough science to auto-defend against such super bugs. Kind of like a Norton's Anti-Virus for the Human Body, I guess.

I don't like it any better than you do .. I just think I appreciate the dangers of our philosophy better.

Well the issue is actually that stopping such "basement science" is literally impossible. It cannot be done by anyone. How many "basement laboratories" are there in the United States? Probably over 100,000. So many meth heads...

Regardless of the accuracy of collectivist labels, anything beyond a very mild, cost-effective oversight is a complete waste of resources. Resources that might otherwise be utilized finding or distributing said antibody.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

These issues become very relevant, and are what are driving my concerns, and possibly Blazespinnakers.

That's exactly my concern. I come from a world where virus writers have created a lot of destruction for no other reason than mere amusement and experimentation. I see no reason why that sort of wanton disregard for others will not occur in biology.

What if someone with a grudge against african americans decides to release a pathogen into the wild targeted at their particular lineage?


BTW, I'm not hyper concerned about bioerror .. that particular ship sailed a long time ago. As for comparing this with super coliders, etc, that's a false comparison. Scientists today can give you a specific blueprint on how to develop a pathogen that can take out whole species.

The technology is here, today - right now. It's not so available that any random joe can do it, but it won't be long.

[blazespinnaker]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

The reason it is not possible is because we have things like the ACLU standing up for our rights and people are willing to put up with meth addiction rather than having the government intrude upon our privacy.

That time is rapidly coming to a close.

[marvenger]

Re: Synthetic lifeform created for first time-amazing.

power attracting sociopathic personalities and creating a sociopathic environment is also a major problem. There should be transparent rules - everyone given thorough education on how the work and what they are there to achieve -as to how power is exercised and limitations on private wealth accumulation. Then you might get something approaching libertarian ideals.