Monstrous People > Mutants, clones and cyborgs

Gene engineering

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KubeSix:
What do you think of gene engineering? Say they find your child is going to be handicapped, they can change that by modifying its DNA. Scientists also think you could "turn on" certain genes and "turn off" others through brain injections.

Here's a good example: A weight loss gene.

A team found a gene that regulates weight loss and how much a person/animal eats. They think that in the near future, you could lose weight through brain injections, which would turn on, or express, those genes and give them a high priority in your body. They've tried it on mice, and it worked. Not only did it lose weight, but it also ate less.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXWHkvtMPVw#noexternalembed

Don't like your natural hair color? Hell, just get a shot... :wink:

This gene seems to be what's making "fast metabolisms" lose weight faster and gain it slower... (Lucky me, I hate shots... Looks like I'll never need it :-P)

lockesk:
i think if it was absolutely necessary. for example diabetes or alhzheimers because bothe are hereditary but to start to genetically change everything thats just ridiculouse

Ryobi:
If it would be treated as a kind of plastic surgery, except on a cellular level, then I'm against it. The reason being, a person usually would commit to appearance altering surgery because they are uncomfortable with how they look, this is a mental problem not a physical problem and by allowing such a person to do this, it doesn't necessarily solve the underlying problem. As a medical tool however, it could save a lot of lives, which is both good and bad.

KubeSix:

--- Quote from: Ryobi on August 11, 2009, 09:26:26 PM ---If it would be treated as a kind of plastic surgery, except on a cellular level, then I'm against it. The reason being, a person usually would commit to appearance altering surgery because they are uncomfortable with how they look, this is a mental problem not a physical problem and by allowing such a person to do this, it doesn't necessarily solve the underlying problem. As a medical tool however, it could save a lot of lives, which is both good and bad.

--- End quote ---

Right.

It could be useful if, say, the person has a hereditary illness as lockesk said, but to use it like people use plastic surgery... For some people, the weight loss thingy could be useful, say they absolutely need to lose weight soon or they'll die. But then, if someone were to use it just because they don't want to go on a diet, they'd just learn to become lazy and eat all they want without growing overweight.

Ryobi:
Definitely, being able to quicken a persons metabolism would be useful, however it doesn't really promote a healthier lifestyle. Having a fast metabolism doesn't mean you can eat whatever you like or sit around forever instead of excersising.

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