The DNA So Dangerous it Does Not Exist
January 4th, 2007Commentary?
This is the most frightening story that I’ve ever posted on Cryptogon.
Via: New Scientist:
Could there be forbidden sequences in the genome – ones so harmful that they are not compatible with life? One group of researchers thinks so. Unlike most genome sequencing projects which set out to search for genes that are conserved within and between species, their goal is to identify “primes”: DNA sequences and chains of amino acids so dangerous to life that they do not exist.
“It’s like looking for a needle that’s not actually in the haystack,” says Greg Hampikian, professor of genetics at Boise State University in Idaho, who is leading the project. “There must be some DNA or protein sequences that are not compatible with life, perhaps because they bind some essential cellular component, for example, and have therefore been selected out of circulation. There may also be some that are lethal in some species, but not others. We’re looking for those sequences.”
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Whether these sequences have any biological significance in living organisms is not yet known – the next step is to test 20 of the peptoprimes in bacteria and human cells to see whether they have any effect such as causing death or provoking an immune reaction.
Hampikian believes the applications of his work could be wide-ranging. He has already received a $1 million grant from the US Department of Defense to develop a DNA “safety tag” that could be added to voluntary DNA reference samples in criminal cases to distinguish them from forensic samples. Such tags would not necessarily have to consist of lethal sequences, but could be based on primes that would be easy to detect using a simple kit.
Further down the line there is the possibility of constructing a “suicide gene” to code for deadly amino acid primes. It could be attached to genetically modified organisms and activated to destroy them at a later date if they turned out to be dangerous, Hampikian suggests.
At least five years ago I became aware of research and development into the Terminator Gene, and related work. I think now, after long awareness, that we are near the point of failure to survive. Barbaric implications in this story.
These maniacs want to find gene sequences that have been eliminated by natural selection! It’s PURE madness.
So tell me If I get that one right:
– GMO are transmitting modified genetic material to other species uncontrolled, with similarly uncontrolled -and uncontrollable- consequences, opening the gates for 1st class disaster.
-Therefore if we unlock a suicide gene, or other evolutionarily repressed/muted characteristic, transfer it to patented selected organisms targeted to be able to commit genetic self termination USING THE SAME GENETIC ENGINEERING METHODS as the one which made the first genetic modifications so volatile in the first place, we end up with a solution that is worse than the problem by several orders of magnitude.
Looks like these guys got their analytical thinking 101 from the same guys who are now “surging” in Iraq…
This is pure, retrograde evil. I’d even get the lunatic Christians in on this one, since they’re the only ones who seem to be able to accomplish anything politically anymore. It should be easy to get them fired up about this.
How about?
Evil scientists, the same devils who try to make us believe the Earth is billions of years old, are tinkering with God’s perfect work.
How could any Christian stand for this? In the name of Jesus, ______ <---- fill in some bibble babble there. Of course, the existential epiphany is that the lunatic Christians and diabolical scientists are just opposite sides of the same coin.
[…] * shiver * If you thought the chimeras and the genetic primes were bad—I’m really not kidding—don’t read the piece below before going to sleep. […]
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