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A major breakthrough in disease prevention which shows a positive side to this area of science. But is a step towards babies to order or even dystopianly (made up word of the day) humans engineered to be cannon fodder for armies? Was Huxley prescient when he wrote of 'hatcheries and conditioning centres ' that churned out babies for different purposes?

Thoughts?

Edited by nickgusset (02 Aug 2017 8.19pm)

Good thread.

We are on the cusp of these things and like all technologies they will have good and not so good applications.

Genetic engineering for babies is coming and being against it is a bit like King Canute and the waves....it's going to happen.

Sexuality for example, from a genetic standpoint most families are going to choose heterosexual and its base level when this comes online.....It's a way off but there you go. I have no doubt that initially they will try to prevent it....But that's hugely controversial as well once the technology is there.

This said, I see heterosexuality going as well....At some point in the future sexuality becomes a bit pointless.....Get those orgasms on mental tap.

Edited by Stirlingsays (02 Aug 2017 8.57pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

You have only just thought about this?

It's coming whether we like it or not, providing humans exist long enough.
If some c*** can make money out of it or use it to kill people, it will happen in some form.

To Hrolf. No I have not 'just thought about it'. f***ing hell can't you join any thread without a f***ing dig. Standard.

You see Hrolf, in general talk we tend to debate things currently in the news. This breakthrough was announced today hence the thread. It's not difficult to understand. Really it isn't.

I said to myself before I started this thread that homo/heterosexual would be mentioned within 5 posts.

What does worry me is unintended consequences. What will the pitfalls be? Will people start to look the same? What if something happens to these 'frankenstein' babies when they reach 50?

OMD time...
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Good point...lets get on it.

Seriously though, it's an excellent question. I had a gay mate through university and we talked about this a bit and both looked into the research on it. Also there's been some good discussion stuff on here about it.

I think a possible answer is that....like the genes for intelligence, sexuality is complex. It's not the case of flipping a couple of things and bob's your uncle.

But it most definitely has a genetic grounding. That isn't to say that environment doesn't play a larger or lesser role in affecting it.....Someone might be straight all their life but a pop into prison for an extended period...with its restricted opportunities....Well, for some of them...well bob suddenly starts to look a lot more attractive.

But I think in the most part, which gender you want to fcuk or fall in romantic love with is mostly set for the majority.

Genes affect behaviour.
Environment affects genes....some people more than others.
The balance between both is debated from fifty fifty to eighty genes, environment twenty.

Edited by Stirlingsays (03 Aug 2017 11.05am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

I think the amount the environment affects genes depends upon those genes susceptibility to it.....for example, early famine affects the diseases you get later on.

How much a normal run of the mill environment affects who you want to bonk however.....I'd say your sexuality here is pretty much set in those circumstances for a majority.

Edited by Stirlingsays (02 Aug 2017 11.06pm)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)