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Science/Tech See other Science/Tech Articles Title: "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" I have read as many things as I could find about population control, disease propagation, cancer, new diseases and etc. I have never read anything that scared me like the following. This is another one we'll file under the heading: "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?" Answer: We don't know for sure, but it sounds like the opening scene of a movie I really don't want to live through. Did you know you can order jellyfish DNA by mail? Sure. It's a bargain at less than $100. And why would you want jellyfish DNA? Why, to make your homemade genetic engineering projects glow, of course! According to a recent Associated Press report, 31-year-old San Franciscan computer programmer Meredith Patterson purchased jellyfish DNA to work on a little project she's got going on at home. She hopes to genetically alter yogurt bacteria that will glow green when exposed to melamine – the industrial chemical that prompted deaths in China when it was added to milk. On one hand, I'd be very happy if my bowl of yogurt could somehow inform me that melamine is present. And if it could also tip me off to the presence of bovine growth hormones and antibiotics, even better! But I can't say I'm comfortable knowing that Meredith is tinkering with do-it-yourself genetic engineering in her dining room "laboratory." Of course, Meredith isn't the problem. The potential problem is that there are apparently many Merediths – part-time science buffs who do a little reading, get some advice from online forums, send away for a batch of DNA, and then dive in to the wildly unpredictable world of homegrown genetic engineering. Just for fun, I thought I'd look into purchasing jellyfish DNA to see how easy it might be. I figured a quick Google search would quickly reveal a DNA wholesaler, but instead, I found multiple references of jellyfish DNA inserted into monkey embryos, pig embryos, albino rabbits, bacteria, etc. I can't imagine what all these experiments will lead to, but apparently they'll have a beautiful jellyfish glow. Remember Jurassic Park? The scientist played by Jeff Goldblum predicts, "Life will find a way." His point: Whipping up a here-and-now T. Rex out of dinosaur DNA just might come back to bite you with a couple hundred razor-sharp teeth. I doubt Meredith and her fellow amateur scientists will produce a rampaging, man-eating reptile, but they just might create something far smaller that could do much more harm. For instance, the AP article looks at a Massachusetts community lab called DIYbio (that is: Do It Yourself biology) where grassroots scientists can share equipment. One of the lab's cofounders notes that amateurs might actually pursue serious work, such as new vaccines. To some, that example might seem comforting. Make a vaccine to curb a disease? Wonderful! But to get from the idea of a vaccine to a workable vaccine, you'll have to experiment with living viruses or bacteria in living creatures. And how controlled is that going to be in a community lab? You can just imagine this post-it stuck on a coffee machine: "Whoever fed my bubonic rats might want to see a doctor, like, immediately." In a previous e-Alert about genetic modification, HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., offered this insight: "Whistle-blowers in the GM industry all say the same thing: One genetic modification ALWAYS causes more than just the desired change (and that's if you only modify one thing!)." And that's what's most frightening: Life doesn't just find a way – it finds all kinds of ways. Sources: "Amateurs Are Trying Genetic Engineering At Home" Marcus Wohlsen, Associated Press, 12/25/08, ap.org www.healthiertalk.com ">Click for Full Text!
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#1. To: richard9151, *Agriculture-Environment*, *Humor-Weird News* (#0)
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