Great, so some organisation finds sufficient funding to provide food and medecine for the third world but prevents the poor third-worlders from reproducing with first-worlders without first taking a course of anti-biotics. That really sounds like a big danger, and if I was a poverty stricken Ethiopian or some such I would probably welcome the supplies even if I knew they were 'contaminated' in this way.
A large scale vaccinnation scheme would certainly be possible but would require being in a considerable position of authority. Whilst we could think Nazi Germany Mk II, I think it unlikely that this could happen without considerable opposition (although thinking about recent election in both the US and Israel...). This would be possible but would require widespread support for the plan amongst those handling the vaccines in order that the 'correct' people were to receive the injection. Think _Hitler's Willing Executioners_ if you will, but this would be a serious problem.
As for lifestyle pills, (Viagra, Prozac and why not Extasy), this would be rather indiscriminate (true it affects they effect the not-so-virile, the depressed and the clubbers respectively) and as such of little interest to any organisation aiming at some form of genetic segregation.
You also need to remember that anti-biotics can remove the responsible bacteria. It remains a problem for wasps who haven't discovered anti-biotics yet, but in our society it would not be that big a problem.
This does however remind of an article in The Times (UK) about a year and a half ago about Israeli attempts to create a form of 'genetic weaponry' similar to chemical weapons but discriminatory....
It certainly would be worrying but I think that there is little cause for concern at the moment.
A bacteria has been found that prevents mating between infected and non-infected wasps. As yet we don't know how this works, and the analogy with encoding is contentious at the very best (did they just want to get on/.).
Until its precise workings are discovered and understood there should be little worry. Especially as it is quite possible that it relies upon the specifics of the wasps' reproduction methods.
As to certain groups wanting to use such technology, it would probably be difficult for them to get to a position in todays' society where it could be deployed on a large scale. I could imagine individuals being injected against their will with such a bacteria but the same is already possible with HIV infected blood with equally -if not more so- terrible affects.
So lets get this straight: reading slashdot twice daily, is filling my mind with useless junk and making me unable to remember the phone numbers my cell phone remembers for me...
Ok, I fully admit that my memory is going. I used to learn poems off by heart in minutes, and a good quotes would be on call at any time, now I stuggle. And I'm only 20.
But on the otherhand if my mind is simultaneously being filled with other knowledge, it isn't that I'm losing my memory, or even that I'm not using my brain: my memory is being used to capacity, and, my brain no doubt constantly choosing what to keep and what to bin.
Times have changed, and what we need to use our memories for is changing. Rather than needing phone numbers, and appointments, we have tools for these tasks (PDAs, cell phones, computers...) and keep our own memory for whatever we judge more important (whether it is upgrade locations on our favourite quake levels, c syntax, or the business deal we're working on).
What's the big deal?
Slashdot Mirror
A large scale vaccinnation scheme would certainly be possible but would require being in a considerable position of authority. Whilst we could think Nazi Germany Mk II, I think it unlikely that this could happen without considerable opposition (although thinking about recent election in both the US and Israel...). This would be possible but would require widespread support for the plan amongst those handling the vaccines in order that the 'correct' people were to receive the injection. Think _Hitler's Willing Executioners_ if you will, but this would be a serious problem.
As for lifestyle pills, (Viagra, Prozac and why not Extasy), this would be rather indiscriminate (true it affects they effect the not-so-virile, the depressed and the clubbers respectively) and as such of little interest to any organisation aiming at some form of genetic segregation.
You also need to remember that anti-biotics can remove the responsible bacteria. It remains a problem for wasps who haven't discovered anti-biotics yet, but in our society it would not be that big a problem.
This does however remind of an article in The Times (UK) about a year and a half ago about Israeli attempts to create a form of 'genetic weaponry' similar to chemical weapons but discriminatory....
A bacteria has been found that prevents mating between infected and non-infected wasps. As yet we don't know how this works, and the analogy with encoding is contentious at the very best (did they just want to get on /.).
Until its precise workings are discovered and understood there should be little worry. Especially as it is quite possible that it relies upon the specifics of the wasps' reproduction methods.
As to certain groups wanting to use such technology, it would probably be difficult for them to get to a position in todays' society where it could be deployed on a large scale. I could imagine individuals being injected against their will with such a bacteria but the same is already possible with HIV infected blood with equally -if not more so- terrible affects.
So lets get this straight: reading slashdot twice daily, is filling my mind with useless junk and making me unable to remember the phone numbers my cell phone remembers for me... Ok, I fully admit that my memory is going. I used to learn poems off by heart in minutes, and a good quotes would be on call at any time, now I stuggle. And I'm only 20. But on the otherhand if my mind is simultaneously being filled with other knowledge, it isn't that I'm losing my memory, or even that I'm not using my brain: my memory is being used to capacity, and, my brain no doubt constantly choosing what to keep and what to bin. Times have changed, and what we need to use our memories for is changing. Rather than needing phone numbers, and appointments, we have tools for these tasks (PDAs, cell phones, computers...) and keep our own memory for whatever we judge more important (whether it is upgrade locations on our favourite quake levels, c syntax, or the business deal we're working on). What's the big deal?