Genetic Craps

Actually there's not much difference between selctive breeding and genetic engineering, despite your claims. Fact is, corn is the most genetically engineered plant of all time, despite your protest. Corn is grass.

And selective breeding has had a dangerous effect...We don't have the diversity in the gene pool for many farm animals as we used to have. The use of DNA may enable us to preserve many of the heritage breeds of farm animals.

Maybe my comment about life expenctancy is "stupid" which makes it an appropriate response to your "smart" comment about people living too long. In your hollier-than-than opinion, just how long should people live?

And your reference to Stalin is insulting. My comment about limiting life to 46 years was SARCASM Thom. That means it wasn't my true feelings. Where did I lose you? My original point was about LENGTHENING life spans, not shortening them, which was YOUR point.

How about using my point that those of us that didn't have children can live longer? After all, your argument was about over-population, a problem you contributed to, but not me. You have kids and preach to me about over-population? Seriously? A big reason I chose not to have kids with my ex of 13 years was specifically because of over-population...Not that it's any of your business.

You do understand it wasn't until science took over in the mid-late 1800s that we started living longer? We've had selective breeding for thousands of years, yet there's a good chance you're alive today due to scientific advancements.

Out of curiousity, just how long should human life be? You didnt like it when I say make it longer, then you didn't like it when I "suggested" to make it shorter. What's your perfect age Thom? The one everyone else should have to live? Why is it EXACTLY your own life expectancy?

Should we stop trying to increase it? Should we stop heart transplants and kidney transpants? Is it better to transplant a kidney for Kim or have him grow his own or have him die waiting? If he could grow his own, he wouldn't have to worry about a DNA match or rejection problems.

FYI, there's more people on this planet now that have lived throughout the rest of history. We wouldn't even double the population if no one ever died. Maybe with DNA science we could triple our food output.

And yes, there's a number of people I wish was still alive. And no, Stalin isn't one of them. I guess that's your example of "intelligent" conversation.

But way to hurl insults when you disagree with something...Ironic.

Hey Jim...

If you read my posts, I never made claims of good or bad. And I asked a lot of questions.

And instead of people actually THINKING about the possible benefits of a green cow, they rejected it immediately due to their preconceived ideals. We don't know if green cows would be a benefit or not, but some are even afraid to discuss any possible benefits, dismissing the concept without thought.

But what if we could produce a cow that didn't need to eat, getting it's energy directly from the Sun like plants do, and it was safe to eat?

I'm just not as "sure" about these questions as some others on this thread are.

And like you said, there's a balance in everything. Most posting on this thread only spoke of the negatives, but left out the positives. I tried to balance the conversation, but was called "stupid".

There were grave robbers in the 1800s. It was a despicable crime at the time. But from those crimes gave birth to modern medicine and a better understanding of the human body...And the results were that it greatly increased our life expectancy from about 46 years to 78 years in just a few generations.