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Scientists Attach Bar Codes To Embryos
Zothecula writes "Fans of the film Blade Runner may remember a scene in which the maker of an artificial snake is identified by a microscopic serial number on one of its scales. Well, in a rare case of present-day technology actually surpassing that predicted in a movie, we've now gone one better — bar codes on embryos. Scientists from Spain's Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), along with colleagues from the Spanish National Research Council, have successfully developed an identification system in which mouse embryos and oocytes (egg cells) are physically tagged with microscopic silicon bar code labels. They expect to try it out on human embryos and oocytes soon."
I put on my tinfoil hat and proclaim that the insane conspiracy fantasies of right wing fundamentalist nutters are coming true? On second thoughts, I may need to be dosed up with a little more religion.... or LSD.
Everytime you put a barcode on a living thing, you stir up that pot of crazy.
The summary really should have pointed out that THE TAGS DON'T STAY ON. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud.
And try not to forget that just because science is great, it doesn't mean that the Christian retards have any less power.
What power in this context? The power to foam at the mouth about this fairly boring bit of research from Spain? The ability to pass laws stipulating that human embryos should not be marked with barcodes?
Don't get me wrong, any power is more power than those nuts -should- have, and this could get them new recruits which would also be bad, but this is not a serious issue otherwise.
Salmon otoliths were barcoded in the early 80's (I think) to distinguish between different hatcheries. Coding was achieved by varying the water temperature during development, thus affecting the rate of growth, and hence colour of the bone in bands. The code stayed with the fish for life.
Finally, a use for my :cue:cat!!!!
Someone I knew during my university days in scenic New Jersey painted "666" on his forehead, and walked into the local 24-hour Wawa market (it's like a Kwik-E-Mart) at the middle of the night. Some Schlaumeyer grabbed two loaves of French bread (baguettes), and put them in a cross shape. Then he yelled, "Back! Back!"
At least one person in the store got the joke.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Just take the baby off the shelf, scan the bar code, enter your credit card, and all the paperwork takes care of itself!
Once again, it's worth noting that no Christians are attacking atheists here. There's just you attacking them.
And here's a link:
http://indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/barcoding-wild-salmon
Is the barcode alphanumeric? In that case I claim: "Robert`); DROP TABLE Students;--"
The summary really should have pointed out that THE TAGS DON'T STAY ON. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud.
That's not how the psychology of confirmation bias works. Anyone looking for confirmation of their beliefs about a barcode apocalypse will simply ignore that part of the story. I'm sure these Van Impe characters would quite happily spread the story that embryos are being barcoded to their flock, selectively quote mining the relevant news stories.
(1.21 gigawatts) / (88 miles per hour) = 30 757 874 newtons
Yes, the tags are only there to help identify the egg so that mix-ups don't happen when fertilising them. There was a case a few years ago in the UK where two couple's eggs got mixed up resulting in each mother having the child of the other's partner.
I don't know if sperm can be tagged in the same way but at least this would reduce the chances of a mistake by 50%.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
The odd thing I see with the arguements above is the failure to realize some caution in the application of science is a good thing.
.....
If the 'religious nuts' provide some caution to the scientific community and encourage the public to debate how science is implemented then that has a net positive result. Worth noting here that not all things claiming to be in the religious name actually are.
'declared biologically innocuous in an earlier study', yeah, we were told Thalidomide was a great drug
It is an interesting way to improve the tracking of embryos - the potential effects on development post embryo will need to be tested further before they can progress to human embryos. Further debate and research will be needed to identify if this is the only or desirable way to achieve the desired result.
The relevant bible clause here is worth a read - then ask yourself if forecasting this as a bad thing for mankind 2000 years ago makes Nostradamus look like an amateur. I can't help but wonder what Jesus would have said about gene patents.
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
Albert Einstein