Scientists create glow-in-the-dark bunnies.
So, yeah. They’re adorable as hell, to be sure.
I have two things to say:
- (Lame and Punny) I, for one, welcome our new glow-in-the-dark, hopping, loves-to-eat-carrots (not yet quite zombied) bunny overlords.
- (Serious) At what point does genetic modification yield a new organism altogether? Are these really bunnies? They’re injected with jellyfish DNA. Is it a bunny/jellyfish hybrid?
To quote Jurassic Park’s Ian Malcolm (<3 Jeff Goldblum) “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should.”
I am a scientist at heart, but we must closely examine the possible repercussions of futzing around with the very essence of an organism. To not do so is borderline insane and -definitely- dangerous.
Food for thought.
Omg, great choice of JP quote there!
I was wondering the same thing when I first heard about this… Man-Playing-God aside, what *purpose* does this serve? To wit, the scientist could and did, but should they have?
All they’ve done, as far as I can see, is destroy what little defenses rabbits have to begin with. A glow-in-the-dark bunny is just a tasty bull’s-eye for predators at night (unless the odd discoloration dissuades predators?).
This specific application has little to no purpose, other than to do a proof of concept (albeit a cool one) to get the public to be interested.
The stated overall goal is to develop medicine in a different fashion (perhaps implant genes that will help with diabetes, ssri issues, etc).
It’s a cool proof of concept, but I worry about tampering with genetics. It’s a dangerous game.
Gattaca and KHANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN (a Star Trek reference for those who aren’t in the know) moments are possible and downright scary sometimes.
Progress is a good thing, if we can make use of it in an intelligent manner. Here’s hoping.