Decaffeinated, Real Coffee

reeb writes "ABC News Australia reports that Brazilian scientists have discovered a naturally occurring but rare coffee plant, native to Ethiopia, that is 'almost free of caffeine.' Decaf without the genetic engineering?"

Comments

Re:No. Not Insightful.

[Red Rocket]

Argument by analogy is not persuasive. And car analogies are the most annoying.

And antiseptic argument by pedantism is even more annoying.

1) You didn't define what and why a certain mode of genetic change is normal. Is it because it's done by nature and not by man? (what's the difference?) Is it because the genetic changes are imprecise? (what about precise changes to DNA that a natural virus causes?)

The reason is that the natural mode of genetic propagation is the mode that created absolutely every living thing that came to be on this planet for millennia. For a fairly clever ape to jump up and say, "Hey, I can make changes in a completely different way -- damn the consequences" is the ultimate in hubris and recklessness.

2) You didn't explain exactly why a natural change in DNA is good, but an artificial one is bad.

That's because I don't know whether the consequences of artificial change will be good or bad or horrendously tragic, and neither do you. That's what makes it so dangerous.

Your example of "plague" is a red herring.

You sound pretty sure of yourself, there, cowboy. Can you really say that a plague won't result from fiddling with something's DNA?

The issue at hand is not about harmful products of genetic change, it's about the mode of the genetic change itself. We've already seen that both natural and artificial genetic changes can arrive at dangerous conclusions, so the argument that artificial genetic changes should be avoided because of that is irrelevant.

Hey, call it faith if you want to, but I'd rather take my chances with the natural forces that my body has evolved to cope with over eons than risk everything on the whim of some DNA hacker in a lab coat.

I'm beginning to believe that you're a paid PR flack for a biotech firm. It's well known that they troll discussion boards to inject corporate propaganda into the stream of consciousness. You're response was just a little too quick and prepared, if you know what I mean.