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the_ignored
SFN Addict
2562 Posts |
 Posted - 06/20/2005 : 11:18:57
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Evolution in action. Darwin would be so proud! <snif>
According to the Telegraph, Stanford University researchers are breeding mice with human brain cells.
quote:
Researchers at Stanford University have already succeeded in breeding mice with brains that are one per cent human cells.
In the next stage they plan to use stem cells from aborted foetuses to create an animal whose brain cells are 100 per cent human.
Prof Irving Weissman, who heads the university's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology, believes that the mice could produce a breakthrough in understanding how stem cells might lead to a cure for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
Well, it's nice to know that they've learned their lesson from watching "Deep Blue Sea" and are not doing that with a dangerous predator like a shark! Though if those rats ever escaped, then what? At what point would the guy decide that they're too smart and kill them?
quote:
Last week, however, the university's ethics committee approved the research, under certain conditions. Prof Henry Greely, the head of the committee, said: "If the mouse shows human-like behaviours, like improved memory or problem-solving, it's time to stop."
He accepted that the project might seem "a little creepy", but insisted: "It's not going to get up and say 'Hi, I'm Mickey'. Our brains are far more complicated."
And on the flip side, we're getting more stupid! At least according to the ranters here. If nothing else, it would at least apply to them, since they don't seem to have any hard-core material to back their claims up, though I admit I didn't look very hard.
(I'm too busy trying to beat my pet rat at Scrabble)
EDIT: Mind you, I did use the word "dumber" when there actually is no such word! 
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>From: enuffenuff@fastmail.fm
(excerpt follows):
> I'm looking to teach these two bastards a lesson they'll never forget.
> Personal visit by mates of mine. No violence, just a wee little chat.
>
> **** has also committed more crimes than you can count with his
> incitement of hatred against a religion. That law came in about 2007
> much to ****'s ignorance. That is fact and his writing will become well
> know as well as him becoming a publicly known icon of hatred.
>
> Good luck with that fuckwit. And Reynold, fucking run, and don't stop.
> Disappear would be best as it was you who dared to attack me on my
> illness knowing nothing of the cause. You disgust me and you are top of
> the list boy. Again, no violence. Just regular reminders of who's there
> and visits to see you are behaving. Nothing scary in reality. But I'd
> still disappear if I was you.
What brought that on? this. Original posting here.
Another example of this guy's lunacy here. |
Edited by - the_ignored on 06/20/2005 11:28:42
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H. Humbert
SFN Die Hard
USA
4574 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 14:45:30 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by the_ignored
Well, it's nice to know that they've learned their lesson from watching "Deep Blue Sea" and are not doing that with a dangerous predator like a shark! Though if those rats ever escaped, then what?
Then I believe they make their home under Farmer Fitzgibbons rose bush, where stolen electricity would power their civilization.
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"A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true." --Demosthenes
"The first principle is that you must not fool yourself - and you are the easiest person to fool." --Richard P. Feynman
"Face facts with dignity." --found inside a fortune cookie |
| Edited by - H. Humbert on 06/20/2005 14:46:05 |
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Dude
SFN Die Hard
USA
6891 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 19:16:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
He accepted that the project might seem "a little creepy", but insisted: "It's not going to get up and say 'Hi, I'm Mickey'. Our brains are far more complicated."
That is possibly the funniest thing I have read this week :)
I would agree that we are not ready to deal with the ethical implications of raising the awareness and intelligence of our fellow animals up to human level. This research is not likely to do that with mice, however. There is a great deal to be learned by creating animal models that more accurately reflect humans though.
There is an exxcelent series of science fiction books by David Brin that deal with the issues of raising up our fellow animals to human levels of intelligence.
5 or 6 books in this set.
And three more in this set.
Pretty good sci-fi, and an interesting look at the possible consequences of tinkering with the intelligence of other species.
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Ignorance is preferable to error; and he is less remote from the truth who believes nothing, than he who believes what is wrong.
-- Thomas Jefferson
"god :: the last refuge of a man with no answers and no argument." - G. Carlin
Hope, n.
The handmaiden of desperation; the opiate of despair; the illegible signpost on the road to perdition. ~~ da filth |
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Giltwist
Skeptic Friend
USA
69 Posts |
Posted - 06/20/2005 : 20:27:23 [Permalink]
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| Dang it! You beat me to the NIMH reference. |
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Siberia
SFN Addict
Brazil
2322 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 06:21:30 [Permalink]
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I love Nimh!
Anyway, I had seen that already. Looks promising and prohibited at once... nice stuff. |
"Why are you afraid of something you're not even sure exists?"
- The Kovenant, Via Negativa
"People who don't like their beliefs being laughed at shouldn't have such funny beliefs."
-- unknown
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Valiant Dancer
Forum Goalie
USA
4826 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 06:36:44 [Permalink]
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| Ya know, we have enough lawyers and politicians as it is without breeding more. |
Cthulhu/Asmodeus when you're tired of voting for the lesser of two evils
Brother Cutlass of Reasoned Discussion |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/21/2005 : 07:41:02 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Valiant Dancer
Ya know, we have enough lawyers and politicians as it is without breeding more.
Heh, true enough! 
But (more) intelligent rodents are not really a problem; after all, in a pinch, you can roast and eat a rat. The real fun is about to begin.
I and other eco-terrorists have seen this number coming for a long time.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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