[Azred]

Originally posted by K T Ong: To Azred: I would agree that genetic engineering can be a great boon when used safely and sanely. Question is: can we prevent it from being used in harmful ways? For how long?

There is no way to prevent misuse of this knowledge, other than its own inherent limitations due to knowledge, training, and equipment. Do you know how to splice a sequence? Neither do I.
The only thing we can do is punish those who misuse the technology. *sigh* I suppose we'll have to develop a range of "crimes against nature" or something like that.

Originally posted by Neb: To Azred: How can having more food be bad, you ask? It means that we'll be able to support more humans on the Earth, which means that we'll continue to expand our numbers for even longer. There are already enough of us around to ruin our homeworld. We should definitely see about limiting our population rather than letting it grow unchecked. Making it easier for our population to grow is a big no-no in my book, too. The microbes used to eat oil spills is one thing that I consider a GOOD use for genetic engineering. Perhaps we could create a special plant that released lots of energy when burnt and very little pollutants, that would produce some environmentally friendly fuel. Might sound a bit too sci-fi, though.

Originally posted by MagiK: Why not worry about that once we make sure that EVERYONE that already exisits is fed?

I could not have said it better myself, MagiK.
Yes, family planning would help many of the poorer nations begin to stabilize themselves; education and better medical care are also desperately needed.

Neb, why not sound sci-fi? Sci-fi requires thinking, thinking leads to ideas, ideas lead to research (investigation), and research leads to advancement. [img]graemlins/petard.gif[/img]