Enough jokes about "human/animal hybrids" this IS very SERIOUS

[RB TexLa]

The batman, mermaid, and such jokes are very easy to blurt out but this is serious business when it comes to medical research. Once again Bush and the GOP want to lock the US in a research equivalent of the Dark Ages. Scientific research HAS to operate in a moral vacuum, we can not limit ourselves because Bush and or Clinton found something to be "ickie" which was how Clinton described human cloning.

A little about it without aquaman, etc.

[xultar]

1. Its Series!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111

[liberalpress]

3. But is it HUGH!!!!!!!?

[RB TexLa]

4. yes it can be

[xultar]

17. Well, those are some hybrids I want some input on.. And I'd like to test!

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. I seek alternative funding streams

for creating my Animal/Human hybrids.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

5. Here's a question for you

and I am not being snarky.

Usually we on this side of the "aisle" if you will, applaud these scientific explorations but we get real freaky about when people talk about genetically modifying food.

Can somebody explain that to me?

[RB TexLa]

9. I've never understood that either n/t

[kahleefornia]

14. not because GMO food is "bad for you"

but because of its potential to reduce natural variety. For example, if you have one type of designer corn that no bugs will eat - why would anyone grow any other type? And of course, the company who designed that corn will have a patent on it, and charge outrageous fees for the seeds. Most other seed types fall out of use (and existence), then some weird new fungus attacks the GMO corn, and all of a sudden there's no more corn.

That, and the potential for cross pollination - where you'd have a GMO crop that is fixed for some particular purpose, mixes with the nextdoor neighbor's crop, and suddenly that farmer has flowers that honey bees won't go near...

I think it's just the general fear that when you muck around with nature, you often get a lot different results than you were looking for.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

21. That's a good explanation.

I guess the fear of mucking around with nature is also part of the problem with the whole stem cell issue. But certainly there must be a way to control these experiements so we don't end up with a race of evil bots or whatever it is we are worried about!

[FlaGranny]

29. In addition to your other answers

I believe there is also a worry of allergic reactions produced by a component of the genetically modified food that no one would know was even there. I haven't looked into this much, so I don't really know if that is a legitimate concern.

[kahleefornia]

31. yes, that makes sense

I have a bio-chemist friend who is studying how to transfer the natural insect resistance of spinach to other crops. So, say you're allergic to spinach - and you eat a tomato with spinach genes (and therefore proteins), you could possibly react to that.

It is an interesting problem - they're trying to reduce the amount of pesticides needed to grow crops - which is a good thing. But then everyone is nervous about what "side effects" will show up.

[Coexist]

32. Also - they engineer a lot of "hybrid" food so it is "sterile"

and poor farmers, who save seeds from last years crop for next years crop are forced to BUY seeds EVERY YEAR - pushing them further into poverty.

[FlaGranny]

33. Yes, lots of things to consider

and they are important issues. Food could always be labeled re: allergies, but in my mind, the seed issue is one of the most important.

[NickB79]

35. Almost no US farmers save seed anyway

That point usually only applies to farmers in developing nations, not the US or Canada. Since the introduction of hybrid seed crops in the 50's, which don't breed true from generation to generation, farmers have been buying new seed every year.

Poor farmers who save seed are just making themselves poorer by replanting hybrid seeds, due to the low yields from the seedlings of hybrid crops.

[Lerkfish]

6. as a diabetic, I am concerned this threatens serious research

[Kansas Wyatt]

10. The pharmaceuticals & medical industry make too much money

Off of diabetics, therefore Bush cannot allow any cure for this lucrative disease.

[Lerkfish]

13. I heard that! just bought a new box of test strips for 100 dollars.

that's just test strips. My medication is 160 dollars a month.

[Kansas Wyatt]

16. That is the biggest reason for hindering research.

Just think about how many diabetics there are in the country, let alone the world, and who benefits from a cure not being found.

They don't want to lose their goldmine that keeps on giving.

[0007]

19. There may be more truth is what you say than most folk indeed

realize. Especially if the discovery was made through stem cells.

[stray cat]

7. Bush is against organ transplantation and stem cell research

There are not enough organs for transplantation so people are dying we could save if we had more donors. Genetic engineering has the potential to grow human organs (such as livers) in animals such as pigs so that we have more human organs for transplantation.

Once again Bush votes against the need of physically ill individuals and against a culture of life.

[seemslikeadream]

8. I'm all for it!

[Botany]

11. we are too late

[JHB]

12. It's not "locking ourselves in the dark ages" to address...

...the problems -- ethical and practical -- with such gene splicing experimentation.

Scientific research that operates in a "moral vaccum" is the kind conducted by Dr. Mengele, not anyone we should be supporting. However, addressing the issues and dealing with them are a far cry from the sort of blanket ban His Chimperial Majesty is calling for.

What he's proposing is the equivalent of shutting down computer research in 1950 because of fears about Terminator robots.

[RaleighNCDUer]

15. Well put. nt

[retread]

18. I think you are missing the point. W is concerned because of his

involvment with farm animals.

[fujiyama]

20. After all

he did like to milk horses right?

:rofl:

[Orangepeel]

22. It's both hilarious and serious

and in my opinion, the best way to raise awareness of the issue is to ridicule bush mercilessly for raising it.

Person A: Animal-human hybrids! What the hell? I think he was watching the Island of Dr. Moreau on TV and thought it was a documentary*
Person B: Yeah, what a moron! What the fuck was he talking about anyway?
Person A: He wants to ban medical research on animals, even though it could save thousands of lives! Can you believe it? It's just like that stem cell thing!

*I don't remember which DUer to credit with that witticism, but I read it here and love it)

[BushOut06]

23. We know it's serious - we're joking because Shrub makes it so easy

To hear Shrub tell it, you'd think that they were creating half-man half-wolf monsters. He's managed to take a very serious scientific and medical process and turn it into some circus sideshow freak argument.

[RB TexLa]

24. excuse me if I chose to leave the jokes about medical research

to children.

[BushOut06]

26. So is this the one area that's totally off-limits?

Please tell me I can still make jokes about clones, at least. }(

[RB TexLa]

27. I simply said what behavior I chose to engage in

I guess when Bush tells a group of children hoping for a cure to whatever disease they have "We ain't gonna have no research with human animal hybrids, whatcha think Batman gonna save ya (insert little Bush giggle)" you can chose if you want to laugh at it or not.

[BushOut06]

28. Bush himself is a joke, unfortunately not a very funny one

Everytime he opens his mouth, I want to :puke:

[Nikki Stone 1]

25. Excellent points

:kick:

[FlaGranny]

30. I take this issue totally seriously,

but sometimes, the best thing to do is to ridicule something stupid. I think people here have ridiculed most of *'s ideas. Now if he had said "gene therapy" or "gene splicing" there wouldn't have been much to ridicule. You've got to admit that "human/animal hybrid" does conjure up Dr. Moreau. I think this will be the next "fundy" big item, that this is their terminology, and * said it to send them a message, because otherwise, how could any speech writer say something so ridiculous.

Edit: It's the terminology that's ridiculous and being ridiculed.

[PATRICK]

34. here's one Bush missed

One that thrilled Paul Wolfowitz* so much he mentioned it as a great opportunity years ago:

Designing viruses with HUMAN DNA to use against individuals, families, ethnic groups, etc. Maybe I missed it along with Bush's recommittment against land mines, poison gas and biowarfare treaties.

In case you didn't get the hint from all the TV commercials selling designer symptom treaters with awesome side effects, the drug companies don't want one time cures for Americans or healthier Americans period. Ignorance added to this massive sidestepping of real science and healthcare helps along with bogeymen like the Bugs Bunny carrot Frankenstein.

* (Anyone ever notice what our spell check suggests for "Wolfowitz"?)

[Pastiche423]

36. Halfwit