Sunspots 951

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to others*

Education: A Conversation writer tells us about the Liberal Arts. The article considers the matter of West Virginia University planning to cut many of its courses, and the question of higher education and race.

Environment: Once again, there is a report that Exxon knew that fossil fuel use caused climate to change, but didn't really respond to this knowledge. (from NPR)

Ethics: Nature reports that research on octopi may be subject to ethical standards.

Finances: (and Politics) Yahoo! News reports that the Trump organization reported that an airplane was worth about $1,000 in April, 2023, and, more recently, reported that it was worth about $5 to $25 million.

Humor: (and Science) The Scientist and Gizmodo report on the igNobel prizes, for such work as studying licking fossils in the field and using spider-like appendages to enhance the grip.

Politics: A Conversation article on how the children of Presidents have been perceived, going back quite a while.

Science: Gizmodo reports that bumblebee populations in Europe are declining.

A Conversation writer reports that NASA has found no evidence for UFOs.

Another Conversation writer tells us why most of us adults don't urinate in our sleep.

*I try not to include items that require a password or fee to view

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 825

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Christianity Today has an article exploring the ins and outs of cohabitation before, or instead of, marriage.

A Relevant article reminds us that the default position of Christians shouldn't be outrage.

Computing: (and food) Gizmodo reports that Mars candies is testing a device that rolls along the aisles of grocery stores, trying to get you to buy candy. (There's Mars candy as part of the device.)

Education: Grammarphobia discusses o'clock, and other words with apostrophes.

Ethics: NPR reports that scientists have facilitated cell growth from single cells to a structure that resembles a very early embryo. The article brings out some of the ethical questions about the procedure.

The Scientist gives more lab details on this research.

Health: (or something) Gizmodo asks about hair loss, and how to slow it down.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes positions of US House members and candidates, and finds that, for both parties, moderate candidates did very well. But there aren't many of them.

Science: The Scientist reports on a study of the giraffe genome. Giraffes have, for one thing, genes that raise their blood pressure, allowing their brains to receive blood.

NPR reports that bonobos seem to be innately more likely to share, and much less likely to kill each other, than chimpanzees.

Gizmodo shows us face mask details, magnified significantly.

Sports: NPR, and other outlets, on disparities between facilities for the men's and women's NCAA basketball tournament. Guess who has the better facilities?

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

 

Sunspots 816

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Russell Moore, a Southern Baptist official, on the insurrection at the Capitol last week.

He Lives says that Uzzah, Ananias and Sapphira were not punished. An interesting idea.

Christianity Today on the bible used in incoming President Biden's inauguration.

Computing: (And politics) Gizmodo reports on "industrialized information," in other words, pumping out what's usually false or misleading stuff  as a business, or using such entities. It's growing. One of the worst offenders: Michael Bloomberg's unsuccessful run for President.

Environment: The Trump administration has enacted a rule that makes it easier for fossil fuel companies to pollute, according to Gizmodo.

And they have rolled back regulations that expected more efficiency in water heaters and gas furnaces.

And they have given a green light to a company that wants to mine on land considered sacred by the Apaches.

On the good news side, Gizmodo reports that a wolverine was photographed in Yellowstone National Park, and wolverines have also been seen at Mount Rainier National Park, for the first time in 100 years.

Ethics: Christianity Today considers three ethical questions related to COVID vaccines, and concludes that these should be taken.

Politics: Politico has a thorough article on 30 things that the Trump administration accomplished. My view is that some of them were for the good, some not. Yours probably would be the same, although perhaps we might differ on specifics.

Science: LiveScience on why it's so hard to swat a fly.

Gizmodo reports on the discovery of electric eels hunting in groups, something like wolves.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 802

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer argues that telling churches to close, because of COVID, is not persecution..

Ethics: The Daily Mail reports that one of the medications administered to President Trump was developed from an aborted fetus. The company does not consider the product to be from an aborted fetus. ScienceMag, an important scientific journal explains further, and says that aborted fetal cells were not used. Gizmodo discusses the situation. It's complicated.

Health: Gizmodo reports on studies about how long the COVID virus lasts, on device screens. Too long.

Politics: The Washington Post has what appears to be an accurate and unbiased page on where Trump and Biden stand on several issues.

FiveThirtyEight reports that nobody really knows why crime becomes more, or less, common.

FiveThirtyEight also discusses how the reputation of the Supreme Court has dropped in recent years.

Science: Gizmodo reports that a couple of dozen planets, orbiting other stars, seem to be well suited for life.

Gizmodo also reports on a water-loving species of mouse from Africa.

Gizmodo also reports that the US Department of Agriculture killed over a million wild animals last year.

Gizmodo also reports on a poisonous caterpillar, found in Virginia.

And Gizmodo reports on tool use by ants.

Science Alert reports on evidence that the artery structure in our arms is evolving.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

 

Sunspots 767

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else: 

Environment: Gizmodo/Earther says that the Trump administration is destroying part of Organ Pipe Cactus national monument, in order to build the border wall.

Ethics: Listverse describes some cases where robots have been abused. Really.

Politics: Relevant reports that most attempted immigrants from El Salvador, when returned to that country, were murdered, tortured, or raped.

The Trump administration's foreign aid cuts have seriously damaged Christian non-profits in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. One of the things these groups were working on was helping young people seek alternatives to fleeing to the US, according to Christianity Today.

President Trump used a prayer breakfast (!) -- The theme was "loving your enemies." Trump used his appearance to brag about the Senate vote on his impeachment, and to blast those who voted to remove him, or were part of that effort in the House. However, he said this, according to Yahoo! News (which reported on the entire event):  "I'm sorry. I apologize. I'm trying to learn. It's not easy,” he said. “When they impeach you for nothing and then you're supposed to like them, it's not easy folks. I do my best." 

Science: Gizmodo reports that two populations of crows in western North America must have been separated by a glacier, and were considered to be two species, descended from a single group, but are hybridizing now, and should probably be considered a single species.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

A call for a moratorium on creating gene-edited babies

National Public Radio and other news sources have reported on a call to put a "moratorium on heritable genome editing" in place.

The call for a moratorium was published on October 13, 2019, in Nature, the same journal that originally published the Watson-Crick paper, which explained how the structure of DNA was responsible for its use as a heredity-carrying molecule. Here is that call. It was made by 18 scientists and ethicists from 7 countries, namely Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United States. Paul Berg, who was prominent in calling for a similar moratorium on developing recombinant DNA, in the 70s, was one of the authors. Jennifer Doudna, perhaps more responsible than anyone else for the development of current genetic engineering methods, using the CRISPR-cas9 system, was not among the authors. She believes that the CRISPR system should be used to change genes in early embryos.

The earlier moratorium was most likely the reason that scientists working on genetic engineering, in the 70s and after, became quite cautious about the possible dangers of such work. I am not aware that any disaster, caused by recombinant DNA, has ever occurred. Without the moratorium, and the publicity that resulted, some disaster might have occurred.

The current proposed moratorium, by Eric Lander and the others, will probably not be made into law, or perhaps even into research regulations, by the US and other countries. But, again, it most likely will cause scientists to be very careful in what research is carried out, and how it is carried out.

This is probably the most important statement in the call for a moratium: "clinical germline editing should not proceed for any application without broad societal consensus on the appropriateness of altering a fundamental aspect of humanity for a particular purpose. Unless a wide range of voices are equitably engaged from the outset, efforts will lack legitimacy and might backfire." 

Some Christians (and others) are concerned about any manipulation of human embryos. (See here for discussion of abortion.) Many people are wary of the possibility of somehow enhancing humans, for example by manipulating genes so that people with better vision, or stronger muscles, result. And, also, many are concerned that genetic manipulation techniques would be available only to the wealthy. There are also safety concerns. Have we demonstrated, in animals, that the use of the CRISPR system won't result in unintended changes in genes, whether the gene under consideration, or some other gene? There are possible negatives, perhaps so serious that the technique should not be used on human embryos, ever, buty, on the other hand, manipulating genes might make it possible for some embryos, which would otherwise never have had a chance to survive, to live normal lives.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 704

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: NPR reports on Antonin Dvořák's influence on American music, and how he tried to incorporate African-American music into mainstream classical music. Dvořák was a Czech, and he wrote the "New World" symphony.
  Ethics: A Chinese scientist claims to have altered the DNA of twin girls, so that they are less likely to succumb to AIDS, if they are ever exposed to it. Scientists and ethicists have had an almost entirely negative reaction to this news, for more than one reason, and there has been some skepticism that the result was as claimed. See here and here.

Health: (or something) Listverse describes 10 creepy things that bodies do after a person has died.

Humor: (or something) Gizmodo reports that it takes about 42 hours for an adult male who has swallowed a LEGO head to pass it through the gut. Really.

Science: Gizmodo reports that an elephant-sized mammal-like creature lived during the time when dinosaurs also lived.

Scientific American on the redefinition of the kilogram, and the likely redefinition of other measures, including the mole, the Ampere, and degrees Kelvin. This gets pretty geeky . . .


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.
Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 701

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to

someone else: 

Christianity: Christianity Today asks if the United Methodist Church has a case against Jeff Sessions, Attorney General.

Education: Grammarphobia on how (mostly English) families got their names.

Ethics: Remember Scott Pruitt, Trump's first head of the Environmental Protection Agency, who was removed after several ethical clouds? Ryan Zinke, Secretary of the Interior is probably going, for similar reasons, according to UnDark. Unfortunately, both of their replacements, or likely replacements, are likely to be more efficient, if that's the right word, at removing environmental protections, than the original appointees.

Food: Relevant reports on how long candy should be stored before discarding it.

NPR reports that immigrating to the US probably causes changes in the gut bacteria, and that this, in turn, may lead to obesity. (The study involved Southeast Asian immigrants.)

Health: Relevant reports on a study that found that over 8,000 children are hospitalized because of gunshots, each year. (More are killed, or are not brought to a hospital.)

Humor: The man who inspired the appearance, and name, of Super Mario, of video game fame, has died, according to NPR.


Politics: The Supreme Court is allowing a lawsuit, by some young people (one is 11), against the Federal Government, saying that federal actions and/or inactions related to climate change are depriving them of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Listverse describes nine Senate filibusters, and one in the Texas State Senate.

Politico reports that most Americans want stricter gun laws. That is true of Republicans, too.
White supremacy groups are using video game participation as a recruiting tool, says NPR.


Science: Earther shows us some newly discovered sea slugs. Fabulous photographs!

Gizmodo considers how much dead human skin cell material we take into our bodies.

Sports: Greg Popovich, coach of the San Antonio Spurs, has been with the team for a long time. Every other NBA team has changed coaches during his tenure, usually several times.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 700

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

 
Computing: National Public Radio on the question of whether self-driving cars should have ethics built in.

Food: National Public Radio reports on the likely effect of climate change on five important crops. All five will be impacted negatively.

Health: (or something) Gizmodo reports that families have been scattering the ashes of their loved ones at Disney theme parks.

Politics: Gizmodo discusses a case, from the 19th Century (!) on the question of whether people can use photographs of individuals without their permission.

National Public Radio discusses the meaning of "nationalism," and the history of the use of that word.

Earther reports that the newly elected President of Brazil wants to turn the rain forest into a soybean field.

Earther also reports that President Trump has designated a new national monument, with significance for African-American history.

Science: Science Magazine reports that there is considerable variety in the shape of women's birth canals, which means that fetuses have different challenges when being born, depending on their mother's anatomy.

New Scientist has posted winners of an astronomy photo contest.

Scientific American reports that tiny bits of plastic are commonly found in people's poop.

Scientific American discusses the determination of sex, which is complicated and difficult to predict, and may even change as the individual matures.


The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, I believe, it is public domain.

Thanks for looking!

Sunspots 687

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (and astronomy) Gizmodo has posted some stunning astronomical photos.

Computing: (and politics) Gizmodo writes about President Trump's charge that whoever broke into the Democratic National Committee's e-mail could be found, if the server involved was available, and his implication that, somehow, the server wasn't provided to the FBI.


Education: Grammarphobia on the use (and misuse) of "should" and "would," in Downton Abbey and elsewhere.

Ethics: A Council on Bioethics, in the UK, has concluded that allowing gene modification, even in germline cells (where the modification may be passed on to future generations, should not be completely prohibited.

Health: The new head of the Environmental Protection (?) Agency has presided over a rollback of coal ash requirements.

New Scientist reports that cell phones do not cause cancer.

(or something) A store to nap in has opened in New York City, according to Relevant.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight looks at the life expectancy of each of the current Supreme Court justices, including the recent nominee.

Gizmodo reports that a Microsoft official says that the Russians have targeted candidates running for office in the 2018 US elections.

Science: Scientific American reports on what we know about planets orbiting other stars. We know a lot more than we did a few years ago, and our solar system is rather odd.

Gizmodo reports that we really don't remember what happened when we were younger than 42 months old, or so, but we often think that we do.

(and politics, unfortunately) FiveThirtyEight tells us what global climate change is doing now. Too much.

Sports: Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a contract for Nowitzki's 21st year with the same team, a record for the National Basketball Association.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 673

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Christianity: Gizmodo reports that some Catholic priests are performing exorcisms over a phone connection.

Computing: Gizmodo reports that the European Union is proposing to give robots/artificial intelligences legal status as persons, much like corporations may have such legal status, but not be able to vote, and with other limitations. A number of AI experts, and other experts, don't think this is a good idea.

Finance: (or something) National Public Radio reports that those stickers and labels, saying "warranty void if removed," are illegal.

Health: New Scientist reports that people who stay up late are more likely to die.

(or something) FiveThirtyEight reports that suicides may be a bigger threat to police than various kinds of non-police angry people, but that no one is keeping track of police suicides, nationwide.
  
Humor: (and several other categories) National Public Radio remembers Carl Kasell, long-time newcaster with a splendid voice, and also part of its humor and news show, Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, here and here.

Politics: Sojourners asks why many evangelicals still support Scott Pruitt, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, in spite of several ethically questionable actions.

More on Pruitt's questionable behaviors, which have been questioned by the EPA, itself.

We may be concerned, and should be, about the fate of Syrian civilians, but the US has accepted only 11 Syrian refugees this year, so far, according to NPR.

Relevant reports that Franklin Graham has questioned the Christianity of political progressives.

Thanks for looking!


Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 657

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Relevant discusses the extraordinary effort put into filming the Battle of Helm's Deep, in The Two Towers.

Christianity: National Public Radio reports that, at the trial of a white policeman, who was convicted of depriving her African-American son of his civil rights (he was shot in the back, and died), the victim's mother told the shooter that she forgave him. (The shooter apparently told her that he was sorry.)

A Relevant contributor discusses that perennial topic, the so-called "war on Christmas."

Relevant also reports on a survey, which indicates that Muslims and Jews give more to their religions than Christians do.


Computing: Developers of artificial intelligence are thinking about some of the ethical questions associated with this technology, according to Wired.

Here's a web site that will tell you if your information, such as Social Security number or financial accounts, has been compromised. Just enter your e-mail address. It doesn't tell you what to do about such problems.

Wired tells us that a lot of e-mail is being tracked -- the sender is informed as to when a message was opened, where the opening was, and on what type of information appliance, and more.
  Finance: Listverse describes some types of money that used to be used in the U. S., but aren't, any more.

Health: National Public Radio reports on the much more frequent deaths of black women, in, or shortly after, giving birth, and points to the stress of being the target of racism as at least one of the causes.

History: Listverse reports on some interesting aspects of life in ancient Egypt.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight reports on the change in attitude toward Israel in Republicans, over the last few decades.

(And Computing) Wired reports on false, or misleading, claims made by the 3 Federal Communications Commissioners who voted to do away with net neutrality.

(And Health) The Centers for Disease Control has been told not to use seven words/phrases, according to the Washington Post and other outlets. One of these is "fetus." (!) Scientific American, and others, are outraged at this directive, and believe that it will have real health consequences, bad ones. Shades of 1984.

Thanks for looking!

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 633

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: On The Writer's Almanac, Garrison Keillor reads a fine short poem, and discusses the beginning of National Parks in the U. S., and other things.

Christianity: Andy Crouch discusses the Creation in a thought-provoking and stimulating post from BioLogos.


Computing: Wired considers the possibility of having a simpler smartphone.

A Wired writer asked a cybersecurity company to send him phishing e-mails. He almost got caught.

Ethics: Wired has an essay on the ethics of the lies told by President Trump, and other people. The article references what some church fathers had to say on the subject of lying.

Food: National Public Radio reports that India is having political, religious, and economic disagreements over the use of cows as meat.

Humor: Relevant warns us of serious theological problems with fidget spinners.

(or something) Wired shows us a photo of an amazing "bicycle graveyard" in China.
 

Politics: Relevant on the danger of Christians entertaining conspiracy theories.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 619

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today writer tells us why Down Syndrome children are valuable.

Fox News reports that some Muslim refugees are converting to Christianity, in Europe.

(and health) From a blog: "What I'll say to my Children if I'm Diagnosed with Alzheimer's." (Thanks to a regular reader for the link.)


Ethics: A Sojourners article says that President Trump's lies are putting us on the brink of a moral crisis. The article notes other lies from other Presidents, but claims that Mr. Trump's lies are bolder, more frequent, and, apparently, deliberate.

History: The History Blog reports on a toilet seat that was made nearly 2,000 years ago.

Listverse tells us 10 interesting things about trains. (Some of these are about Japanese trains.)

Humor: (sort of) Listverse tells us 10 stupid things that the CIA did years ago.


Politics: FiveThirtyEight and other sources, including Scientific American, indicate that President Trump's recent roll-back of environmental regulations affecting coal won't have much effect -- the coal industry, and coal miners, aren't going to be helped significantly.

Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 616

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (and Sports) National Public Radio reports on how to practice effectively.

Christianity: A Relevant writer tells us that worship may be personal, but it isn't private.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware has posted about a utility which can find deleted files.

Ethics: National Public Radio reports that scientists have been able to culture human embryos for 14 days or more, and discusses the ethical implications of this.

Food: A Relevant writer says that 40% of the food in the US is thrown away, and that's a stewardship problem.

Health: NPR says that, if you wonder what happened to a supposed miracle cure of some kind, wonder no more. About half of news stories about medical breakthroughs are about items that are found not to really help us.

Politics: (sort of) Listverse discusses alternative facts.

Wired on Mr. Trump's accusation of illegal wiretaps by the Obama administration.

Science: Scientific American says that the District of Columbia cherry trees will probably bloom earlier this year than they ever have.

National Public Radio reports on possible finding of the oldest fossils ever found.



Image source (public domain)

Sunspots 592

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity:A Christianity Today article on the pervasive role of coffee in many churches.

Christianity Today also has an article on reasons why we can't afford not to pray for each other.

A writer for Relevant points out three lies that churches often teach about dating.

A Christianity Today interviewee wants us to stop reading the Bible in little pieces.


Computing: Gizmo's Freeware points to a helpful article on how to sort, and how to find most anything in your gmail.

Education: A Scientific American contributor weighs in on whether tablet devices are a good teaching tool.
 
Politics: A Relevant writer says that "we" are not in a holy war with ISIS.

Science: Scientific American reports that people react differently to moral dilemmas when they hear about them in a language other than their native tongue.

Scientific American also reports that a bipartisan group of military leaders is urging action to prepare for climate change. (The Republican-controlled Congress has specifically barred the military from doing so!)

And, says Scientific American, there is an almost unknown group of soil microorganisms, the Cercozoans, that occur in immense numbers, and astonishing variety, and are important in soil ecology.


Sports: (or something) The Associated Press reports that an 800-plus pound alligator has been caught in South Carolina.

Congratulations to In Gee Chun (aka Chun, In-Gee) on arguably achieving the best score ever in a major tournament, by a golfer of either sex, in the recent Evian Championship. (ESPN; Wikipedia)





Image source (public domain)

Atheism doesn't have all the answers, and it can be a religion, say some prominent atheists

Michael Ruse is a prominent philosopher. His academic career has included a lot thinking about the relationship between Christianity and science. He has written a lot about the connection between Darwinism and ethics. In a recent article, he describes himself as "an atheist Darwinian evolutionist ..."

The article is about what Ruse sees as excesses by some other prominent atheists, and he names some of them: Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Jerry Coyne, Edward O. Wilson. Actually, he calls these people, and they would probably agree, Humanists. These Humanists, and others, Ruse says, are too enthusiastic. In other words, they are actively trying to convert others to their views, and ignoring weaknesses of their position. At least some of these four, and others, are advocating a sort of religion based on science.

Ruse points out some serious weaknesses. For one thing, he says ". . . there is no simple line from evolutionary biology to the ethical life, and there is no guarantee that an alternative secular religion will lead us there." I agree. Ethics has to be based on something, and Darwinism doesn't provide such a foundation, whatever the scientific merits of Darwinism.

Another serious weakness is that science has limitations. Ruse says that science can't answer the question "Why is there something rather than nothing?" or "Does life have a purpose." Indeed. The Humanists claim that those questions can be answered by science, or that they aren't important, which is ridiculous.

Ruse makes a powerful case, and it's more powerful because of his prominence, and his own atheism.

For more about Dawkins, see here and here.

*  *  *  *  *

In another article, Gary Gutting, writing in Salon, claims that Richard Dawkins has departed from ideas with firm foundations. The question Gutting considers is the question of whether God exists. Dawkins does not, I believe, claim to have disproved God's existence beyond all doubt, but he clearly believes that he has made some strong arguments against His existence. Gutting, a philosopher who apparently believes in God, himself says that "I myself think that there’s no argument that decisively establishes that God exists." But that's by no means the same as proving that He doesn't.

(Gutting is apparently a solidly competent philosopher, but he's not much of a biologist -- he seems to think that tortoises are amphibians . . .) 

Gutting concludes that there is a serious case to be made for theism. Therefore, either Dawkins doesn't understand that, or he does, and has chosen to pretend that there is no such serious case.

I conclude by quoting Hebrews 11:3 "By faith, we understand that the universe has been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen has not been made out of things which are visible." (World English Bible, public domain) My own belief is that Gutting is correct -- there is no decisive argument for the existence of a creator God. But I can logically and legitimately believe that He does exist, and so can you, even if Dawkins doesn't.

See also here.

I thank Jim Stump, of BioLogos, for pointing me, and other readers, to these articles.

Revolutions in genetics - again, part one

In 1975, an important conference, called by a scientist, and attended by scientists in a particular research field, and some key non-scientists who were invited, was held at the Asilomar conference center, near the Pacific ocean, in California. The purpose was to consider the safety of work with microorganisms -- could some dangerous genetically engineered superbug escape, and put humanity at risk? The conference resulted in guidelines for research on genetically modified organisms. It was suggested, for example, that laboratories doing certain kinds of work, such as with human cancer-related genes, would take stringent precautions against the accidental release of microorganisms carrying such genes. The most widely used experimental bacterium was, and is, Escherichia coli, which grows naturally in the human intestines. Presumably, an E. coli strain carrying dangerous genes, developed for experimental purposes, and grown in glassware, could become established in humans, if it came in contact with them.

The Asilomar Conference was a landmark in science. It established guidelines, developed by scientists, that, although not having the force of governmental edicts, were generally adhered to. (The guidelines were adhered to by non-US scientists.) It was one of the few times that scientists, as a group, and in conjunction with non-scientists, looked ahead, and tried to envision what might go wrong because of technological break-throughs. Apparently, for example, no one thought much about the tremendous changes in society that would come about as a result of the development of automobiles -- such as auto accidents, the dedication of large portions of real estate to roads and parking, the use of autos as a rendezvous for sexual activity, and the politics of oil distribution. I'm not aware that anyone seriously thought about the effect of cell phones, either.

At about the turn of the century, there were suggestions that something like the Asilomar conference should be held again, in an attempt to prohibit the use of genetic engineering techniques for warfare. Self-replicating weapons are potentially as, or more, dangerous than fission or fusion bombs.

Some have suggested that, within the last three or four years, there has been a sudden leap forward in our ability to move genes from one organism to another. The technique involves what are called CRISPRs. Quoting the Wikipedia article on these:
Since 2013, the CRISPR/Cas system has been used for gene editing (adding, disrupting or changing the sequence of specific genes) and gene regulation in species throughout the tree of life. ... By delivering the Cas9 protein and appropriate guide RNAs into a cell, the organism's genome can be cut at any desired location...

It may be possible to use CRISPR to build RNA-guided gene drives capable of altering the genomes of entire populations.

The scientists most involved in developing these techniques have indicated that they don't think it should be used on humans yet, but a group of Chinese scientists tried them on "non-viable embryos."

There are considerable ethical questions about the possible application of these new techniques, not least the possibility of using human embryos, however derived, as experimental organisms.

The Wikipedia article, referenced above, on the techniques, is a good place to start reading about CRISPRs, although it's not for the faint of heart. There is a recent article in Wired, which introduces the possibilities, and also discusses questions about patenting these techniques (which brings up other ethical questions) and profiles the most important scientists in the field, most of whom are female.

The use of CRISPRs seems to be a truly revolutionary change in how we manipulate DNA, other organisms, and in how we may manipulate ourselves.

Thanks for reading. I have written previous essays on what the Bible says relating to technology, and on what the Bible says about environmental stewardship.

Creating DNA sequences has gotten easier, and some people think we need to be careful.

National Public Radio reports on a new technique for making sequences of DNA to order, apparently relatively quickly and easily, if you have the right equipment and know what you are doing. The report, and the company itself, use the term DNA printing. It isn't printing, in the usual sense. The only item on the company's web site seems to be a video, nearly 6 minutes long, about a CNN reporter, who had his DNA "hacked" by the company, as a demonstration of what they think they can do.

The CEO/chief scientist of the company, Cambrian Genetics, said a number of interesting things in the CNN report. I will mention two:

The ability to safely insert a DNA sequence into an adult, or any other cell, has not appeared yet.

Austen Heinz implied strongly that, when we can safely do this, we will have an ethical obligation to fix their DNA. That's worth an argument, I think.

The NPR report says: "But Heinz envisions a day when mass-produced DNA can genetically engineer people — or let anyone use DNA like computer code to design their own organisms." Again, that last part seems to be worth an argument.

I know -- we have been selecting organisms for different characteristics for centuries -- think dogs, for one example. So what's the big deal? Well maybe there isn't one. But consider: a terrorist might be able to produce an organism designed to destroy wiring, or pass on disease, or attack people. A lone geek might produce an organism which does something obnoxious, like digging holes in people's lawns, and is also resistant to poisons and disease, or is difficult to kill with traps or guns. Designing one's own organisms might lead to a lot of animal suffering by the products, if they were poorly designed, and, organisms being quite complex, poor design should occur all too often.

When dogs, or cows, were selected for some particular characteristics, it took a long time, maybe more than one human generation. There was time to assess the result. It also took a lot of effort. Usually, more than one person, or tribe, or family, was involved. There was at least a little consideration and discussion. If this technology becomes widely available, there are serious potential dangers.

See here for a report on different techniques, but which raises similar issues.

And all long-term exercises of power, especially in breeding, must mean the power of early generations over later ones. - C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. HarperOne, 2015 paperback edition, p. 57. (Originally published in 1943)

Editing genes in human embryos -- we may be almost there, for better or for worse

And all long-term exercises of power, especially in breeding, must mean the power of early generations over later ones. - C. S. Lewis, The Abolition of Man. HarperOne, 2015 paperback edition, p. 57. (Originally published in 1943)


Wired has recently reported on what they are calling gene editing. (Another term is human genetic engineering.) The title of the article is "America Needs to Figure out the Ethics of Gene Editing Now." Yes.

What is gene editing? Gene editing is changing the DNA of an embryo. In the Wired report, it mentions that Chinese scientists attempted this, with the goal of curing an inherited disease before the embryo was born. According to the article, the experiment didn't work, and was terminated. My guess is that, even if there were no reasons not to do this, and government and industry invested heavily in it, we still wouldn't see any successful medical interventions of this type for several years.

The article includes several statements from scientists and others, all concerned that there is a possibility that this sort of treatment is likely to result in unforeseen bad consequences, most likely in deformed embryos or infants. (That seemed to happen in the Chinese experiments.) In other words, even if the techniques become well understood, and scientists and medical personnel become proficient in such techniques, the procedures won't always work.

Another reason for concern, not really raised in the statements, is the likelihood that human embryos will have to be used, and sacrificed, in the development of the techniques, for practice, as it were.

Yes, we need to have a conversation about this, and now. As the quotation at the beginning of this post indicates, C. S. Lewis, for one, was concerned about this sort of thing, although his statement was published about ten years before the discovery of the DNA double helix. Others, including ethicists, politicians, theologians, lawyers and scientists, have been concerned since that time. The reasons for their concerns are almost coming to fruition. (Not everyone is concerned. Some people want to forge ahead, and let the consequences fall where they may.)

The research discussed above is motivated by a desire to help children who have inherited diseases. But future gene editing might be for less beneficent purposes. For example, it might be possible to edit the genes of an embryo so that that embryo would be more likely to develop into someone with athletic prowess; or with a certain kind of hair, eye, or skin color; with the likelihood of getting better grades at school; or even with genes from other organisms -- firefly or jellyfish fluorescence comes to mind, as a cosmetic "enhancement." Such gene editing would most likely exaggerate the gap between the haves and the have-nots, even if there were no other bad consequences. It also might be an important step on the road towards re-defining what a human being is, and is not.

Thanks for reading.

Kathryn Applegate, at BioLogos, has commented on this research, and the questions surrounding it.