Playing God with Genetics…. or Bend Over and Kiss It Goodbye

Today while driving back from Pensacola, where I shopped at a health food store and purchased organic and non-genetically engineered food, I heard a most disturbing story on NPR (National Public Radio). Emily Anthes, author of the new book, Frankenstein’s Cat, was being interviewed by Terry Gross. The story is truly a horror story and as I listened I thought….this cannot be happening! But it is my friends. It is indeed.

As I listened to stories of genetically engineered animals I thought of the Hunger Games trilogy and the freakish human and beast alterations that took readers into the possibilities of what happens when human arrogance and greed take over common sense and basic moral and ethical reason. My heart sank as I heard story after story of ways scientists are altering nature, sentient creatures, for our own selfish reasons.

Here are some of the things already done: Fish engineered to glow in the dark by adding jellyfish DNA; goats raised with human gene for breast milk; cat that glows; pigs that lose genetic information that causes humans to reject organs transplanted from pigs; cockroaches with mechanical implants (the Borg of the insect world); and the Chinese mice experiment.

In a lab in Chinese researchers are experimenting with mouse genes by randomly disabling their genetics, one gene at a time. They are doing this to identify the function of each gene and then breed populations of mice specific to that genetic deficiency so they can sell them to medical labs doing research on that particular medical issue. So far they have developed mice that are prone to tumors, mice that have OCD and obsessively bury marbles, a mouse that only makes left-hand turns and one that has male-pattern baldness.

For all humans prone to making only left-hand turns, this must bring a sigh of relief!

There was an experiment that injected pigs with human growth hormone to produce faster-growing, leaner pigs. The results were pigs that were riddled with human diseases…some of the worst diseases were arthritis, eye problems, and metabolic disorders. Ms. Anthes reports that the pigs were ‘miserable.’ I think the humans that did that to the pigs were truly miserable…miserable excuses for human beings. But that’s just my opinion.

Intentionally breeding animals with ‘problems’ isn’t a new practice in the world of animal experimentation but the Chinese researchers wanted to speed it up and so have elected to roll the proverbial dice with their mouse subjects to create little armies of mutant and highly marketable mice.

The cockroaches are being implanted with mechanical devices which are controlled with joy-stick-like devices. The US Defense Department is funding these studies. They can already make mechanical drones as small as cockroaches but they don’t have an energy source that lasts. By combining a living being with mechanics, they will be able to send the cockroach army into caves, into your home…wherever they want to gather information.

The number one problem on our planet seems to be overpopulation. There are too many people, not enough resources to support them and the population is projected to explode in another twenty years. These resources are basic and include food, energy, clean water…shelter. It seems money going toward these freakish genetic experimentations could be better spent trying to solve the problems facing the dwindling resources on our planet. So what if scientists figure out how to make humans live fifty more years? If there are no resources to support said humans and we have genetically modified mice and cockroach drones hunting us for food, who wants to be alive for that freak-ish nightmare of a world?

Aside from the ethical and moral questions raised…(please…tell me SOMEBODY is raising these questions)…what happens when these animals are released into the wild? When the aquarium owner tires of the colorful, glowing fish and decides to just release them in the river or the glowing cat is allowed to reproduce with monkeys bred to snakes. Oh…did I mention they are genetically modifying species by mixing genetics of species. Did you ever watch the X-Men movies or read the comics? If so, you understand the implications. It has already happened in the movies and it wasn’t pleasant.

The infestation of burmese pythons in the Everglades will seem like child’s play once the mutants are released into the wild. I hope my ashes are scattered in the ocean long before this happens….but sadly it is already happening and there are no laws to govern it. And big countries that have sketchy morals and ethics are prone to disregard laws anyway….and no….I’m not just talking about China.