shannon
nugentec

Bland never really touches upon over one partial disturbing point, but instead glosses over it like yesterday’s weather report when he writes, “Still, cells are notorious for evolving unwanted traits, like the rise of drug resistant bacteria and cancers. Schilling said they plan to tap into that evolutionary bent and turn it into profit.”

What is even more distressing is the arrogance of Genomatica’s Schilling when he says, ” “We have ways to essentially accelerate [evolution], so the bacteria can evolve to tolerate higher concentrations of BDO and not in the exact way we would have predicted with the computer models.”

If you have ever read Michael Crighton’s PREY or if you are even remotely scholared in genetics you immediately realize the dangers in this “Let’s Play God” statement, particular in a such a common bacteria form like E. Coli raised in optium conditions and that can live in the human body.

In light of the recent potential apocalyptic ramification of scientific testing by science industry giants such as CERN, a daunting question remains: Who decides what is “acceptable risk”? Who looks out for the public’s best interest? Government? The science Community?? Puh-lease. Don’t even get me started…