Cloning, genetic engineering, eugenics

[Zbyszek]

It is serious problem.
Do you believe that eugenics could/should be introduced? Me - yes.
If not, do you believe that everyone has should be held alive, do you think that people should be artificially helped: new born and elders? (Me - no)
If you want to keep new born children alive artificially do you agree for genetic engineering?

Do you know that in each our generation new diseases with genetic background appear? Why? Because children who would die naturally are kept alive. Our genes become weaker and weaker.

Do you believe that 4 or 6 cells is a human beeing? They say they cloned human, but what they have done they got 2 or 3 divisions of cell.

[Hiram Sedai]

quote:

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Originally posted by Zbyszek:
It is serious problem.
Do you believe that eugenics could/should be introduced? Me - yes.
If not, do you believe that everyone has should be held alive, do you think that people should be artificially helped: new born and elders? (Me - no)
If you want to keep new born children alive artificially do you agree for genetic engineering?

Do you know that in each our generation new diseases with genetic background appear? Why? Because children who would die naturally are kept alive. Our genes become weaker and weaker.

Do you believe that 4 or 6 cells is a human beeing? They say they cloned human, but what they have done they got 2 or 3 divisions of cell.

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Interesting topic!! I do hope we use some gene research to correct the genetic defects we suffer from. Here is my perspective...

I have the following in my family: Diabetes, brain cancer, lung cancer, high blood pressure, and scary moles. The last isn't quite fatal though. I don't want to pass down any of those traits/genetic defects to my offspring. I wish the our medical advancements were sufficient to keep the next generation from getting any or all of them.

I wish that cloning and gene splicing weren't so taboo in our society. I'm not even talking about creating a new person because our definitions of a person would open up a theological debate dealing with souls, spirits, personalities, and electricity.

[Neb]

quote:

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Originally posted by Zbyszek:
It is serious problem.
Do you believe that eugenics could/should be introduced? Me - yes.
If not, do you believe that everyone has should be held alive, do you think that people should be artificially helped: new born and elders? (Me - no)
If you want to keep new born children alive artificially do you agree for genetic engineering?

Do you know that in each our generation new diseases with genetic background appear? Why? Because children who would die naturally are kept alive. Our genes become weaker and weaker.

Do you believe that 4 or 6 cells is a human beeing? They say they cloned human, but what they have done they got 2 or 3 divisions of cell.

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Could someone tell me what Eugenics is? I've never heard that word before.

Not everyone should be kept alive artificially, maybe if a cure for their condition is just a few days, weeks or months away and they need to be kept alive during that, but not otherwise.

I have no problem with genetic engineering, to a certain extent, I think we should leave most things as Nature/God made them, I am more for the "sci-fi" version of genetic engineering than the practical one such as disease immunity, my favorite use of genetic engineering would be to allow us to survive on other worlds that we might settle(Venus, Mars, Europa to name a few in our solar system.), I think we should use genetic engineering to make ourselves immune to diseases only in cases where there is a serious epidemic that might threaten the survival of our species, if we make ourselves immune to all diseases, imagine the overpopulation..... I would like it if we could remove hereditiary diseases though, and mental handicaps....

4 or 6 cells are NOT a human being, I think we should clone only human organs for use in transplants, not complete humans, would make for too many of the same genes in "circulation" causing inbreeding.

Can anyone decipher the point of my post? I think I got a bit muddled somewhere along the way.

[Zbyszek]

quote:

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Originally posted by Neb:

Can anyone decipher the point of my post? I think I got a bit muddled somewhere along the way.

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Yep, you are SF fan and want to colonize other planets, great!!!
Have you read books from Endymion(?) series, some people live in space there [img]smile.gif[/img]

Eugenics , unfortunatelly this word has wrong assosiacion because of Hitler. Do you think that people with genetic brain problems (disease, IQ about 40) should be allowed to reproduce? Hitler went far, too far and ordered to kill all diabled persons (clean, supreme race), but I am talking about reproduction. Do you approve sterilization, euthanasia and death penalty from the other hand? (I know I will lose my battle for death penalty here but here I am )

[Neb]

quote:

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Originally posted by Zbyszek:


Yep, you are SF fan and want to colonize other planets, great!!!
Have you read books from Endymion(?) series, some people live in space there [img]smile.gif[/img]

Eugenics , unfortunatelly this word has wrong assosiacion because of Hitler. Do you think that people with genetic brain problems (disease, IQ about 40) should be allowed to reproduce? Hitler went far, too far and ordered to kill all diabled persons (clean, supreme race), but I am talking about reproduction. Do you approve sterilization, euthanasia and death penalty from the other hand? (I know I will lose my battle for death penalty here but here I am )

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(OT: Never read that series, I think I'll look for it in my local useless bookstore since you mentioned it.)

Those who have mental handicaps of any sort should not be killed, but cared for and attempts should be made to treat them in some way, this is probably the one thing that I would most like to see genetic engineering used for, as for them being allowed to reproduce.... I'm afraid that I have to say that I don't think it should be allowed, they wouldn't be allowed to raise their children properly or care for them well, I'm sure there are cases in which it has worked well, but this is my opinion, I'll happily listen to others as well, I don't mind being proven wrong, because then I know that I was wrong, far worse to go around thinking you're right when you're actually wrong.

[Zbyszek]

I havent read all series, I like some, but not all books from what I have read. There are also some shortstories in serie. Author was Dan Simmons???, and I think that most, at least at the beginning of series, of books had in title Hyperion. (I dont want you to give up, but that other species as far as I know appear at the end of serie and in shortstories)

Soming back to people with genetically demaged brain - they cant live by themselves, someone else has to take care about them. I am not talking about killing them. My brain is not damaged as their so I dont know what they think about their lives, but next generation?, who will care about their children?

Another controversy: sterilization:
What about people from really far magin, with deep alcoholical problems? Are they able to beget healthy children?, are they able to rise them properly?
My parents friends took 6-8 children from orphanage. In Poland most of children in such places comes from families broken by alcohol, violence. That boys and girls, between 6 and 10 were smaller 9didnt eat enough), had big difficulties in school, but everything was OK until they grow up to about 15. (their life was not easy before, new parents were not rich but could support their basic needs) They started to drink, to steal, to disappear from house. They started their way down.

[Neb]

quote:

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Originally posted by Zbyszek:
Another controversy: sterilization:
What about people from really far magin, with deep alcoholical problems? Are they able to beget healthy children?, are they able to rise them properly?
My parents friends took 6-8 children from orphanage. In Poland most of children in such places comes from families broken by alcohol, violence. That boys and girls, between 6 and 10 were smaller 9didnt eat enough), had big difficulties in school, but everything was OK until they grow up to about 15. (their life was not easy before, new parents were not rich but could support their basic needs) They started to drink, to steal, to disappear from house. They started their way down.

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I think sterilization should be employed if they are addicted to something and take it in such amounts that it would damage the unborn child, anything counts, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs.... Or if they were so addicted that it affected their mind, in which case they would be unable to take care of their children properly.

[Ronn_Bman]

I think the advances of genetic engineering are great. The possibility of cloning a healthy liver, lungs, heart, or whatever that can save otherwise healthy people who die waiting for a transplant is very promising. I'm not in favor of the complete cloning of human beings. Seems kind of ridiculous with a world that's already over populated, but the advantage to medicine is undeniable.

[Ronn_Bman]

I did see a disturbing story about an American couple who had funded a cloning program in hopes of having a clone made of their toddler who had died. They did not want to try to have other kids, they wanted a clone of the child they lost because she was irreplacable. For some reason, they couldn't understand that a clone would be a replacement and not the actual child resurrected.

[Ziroc]

Off topic. Moving to Gen Con.