3 ms·

This is such a sad exemplar of where we've gone as a technological society. Thirty years ago, you could have suggested releasing a virus that destroyed cancer,

This is such a sad exemplar of where we've gone as a technological society. Thirty years ago, you could have suggested releasing a virus that destroyed cancer, and people would have cheered.

Guthur 4y ago
And after 30 years many of us have seen enough corporate propaganda to weary of any so called technological promises.
animal531 4y ago
I think people have just had to become a bit more realistic after having their eyes opened. Right now my imagination says that this virus might destroy cancer, but who knows what else it's going to do?
- bboygravity 4y ago
  Clinical trials know what else it's going to do. This reasoning is like the fear of a some random TESTED C++ code destroying the internet, because "it might do things that you don't expect in the long run". Well yeah... it might... but...
amelius 4y ago
There is even a worse example: imagine a protein that locks onto pieces of DNA that are only present in people of a certain race, etc. The worst part is, we can stop building the foundations of this type of technology, but our geopolitical opponents will not.
- jacquesm 4y ago
  > our geopolitical opponents Who are they?
  - TechBro8615 4y ago
    Pretty sure OP is referring to the Chinese.
    - FrustratedMonky 4y ago
      Australians. Argentina? Could be anybody.
      - TechBro8615 4y ago
        Could be the NIH too, I suppose!
        tcmart14 4y ago
        I don't know. My neighbor has been acting pretty sketch lately...
- xenophonf 4y ago
  > imagine a protein that locks onto pieces of DNA that are only present in people of a certain race The good news is that "race" is a social construct, not a genetic one. Very little genetic variation differentiates between groups of people, and the differences that exist do not map onto socially recognized categories of race. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23882 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23882 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1078311 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1078311 https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1438 https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1438 I can help you access the full text of all cited research if you can't get it through your library or employer.
  - scottLobster 4y ago
    Won't theoretically stop someone from discovering the genetic signature for a certain natural skin pigmentation, or slanted/smaller eyes. Sure it won't be perfect, but people who would create and use such a weapon probably wouldn't care about collateral damage. I can certainly see it being China's final solution to the Uyghur question. They have a long history of callously and needlessly killing large swaths of their own people toward nationalistic ends, and not just under Communist rule.
    - deleted 4y ago
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    - deleted 4y ago
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    - drekk 4y ago
      There is more genetic variance within "races" than between them. Your imagination is neither necessary nor sufficient for it to be possible, let alone feasible. I also honestly do not understand why China is the bogeyman here given that Long Island, NY was the eugenics capital of the world within living memory. Utah, the state in which I live, didn't shutter its own eugenics program until the 1960s. I'm trying to recall when China dropped nuclear ordinance on civilian populations and really failing here. I figured it's probably a western bubble thing and sure enough most people in most countries don't view China as the obstacle to world peace. https://fullfact.org/news/america-world-peace/ https://fullfact.org/news/america-world-peace/
- stametseater 4y ago
  Naomi: FoxDie is a type of retrovirus that targets and kills only specific people. First, it infects the macrophages in the victim's body. FoxDie contains smart enzymes, created through protein engineering. They're programmed to respond to specific genetic patterns in the cells. Snake: Those enzymes recognize the target's DNA? Naomi: Right. They respond by becoming active, and using the macrophages, they begin creating TNF epsilon. It's a type of cytokine, a peptide which causes cells to die. The TNF epsilon is carried along the bloodstream to the heart, where they attach to the TNF receptors in the heart cells. Snake: And then...they cause a heart attack? Naomi: The heart cells suffer a shock and undergo an extreme apoptosis. Then... the victim dies.
- bboygravity 4y ago
  This is actually super trivial with today's technology. It's a little too late to "stop building the foundations". That's like wanting to "stop building the foundations" for the tech that allows governments to spy on civilians. We're about 20 to 30 years passed that.
barrysteve 4y ago
We did globally coordinate and deploy a vaccine campaign with little spare time.
- noduerme 4y ago
  which was the most technologically positive and futuristic thing that's happened in a long time. Thank you for stating it.

This is such a sad exemplar of where we've gone as a technological society. Thirty years ago, you could have suggested releasing a virus that destroyed cancer, and people would have cheered.

Guthur 4y ago

And after 30 years many of us have seen enough corporate propaganda to weary of any so called technological promises.

animal531 4y ago

I think people have just had to become a bit more realistic after having their eyes opened. Right now my imagination says that this virus might destroy cancer, but who knows what else it's going to do?

bboygravity 4y ago
Clinical trials know what else it's going to do. This reasoning is like the fear of a some random TESTED C++ code destroying the internet, because "it might do things that you don't expect in the long run". Well yeah... it might... but...

amelius 4y ago

There is even a worse example: imagine a protein that locks onto pieces of DNA that are only present in people of a certain race, etc. The worst part is, we can stop building the foundations of this type of technology, but our geopolitical opponents will not.

jacquesm 4y ago
> our geopolitical opponents Who are they?
- TechBro8615 4y ago
  Pretty sure OP is referring to the Chinese.
  - FrustratedMonky 4y ago
    Australians. Argentina? Could be anybody.
    - TechBro8615 4y ago
      Could be the NIH too, I suppose!
      - tcmart14 4y ago
        I don't know. My neighbor has been acting pretty sketch lately...
xenophonf 4y ago
> imagine a protein that locks onto pieces of DNA that are only present in people of a certain race The good news is that "race" is a social construct, not a genetic one. Very little genetic variation differentiates between groups of people, and the differences that exist do not map onto socially recognized categories of race. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23882 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ajpa.23882 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1078311 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1078311 https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1438 https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1438 I can help you access the full text of all cited research if you can't get it through your library or employer.
- scottLobster 4y ago
  Won't theoretically stop someone from discovering the genetic signature for a certain natural skin pigmentation, or slanted/smaller eyes. Sure it won't be perfect, but people who would create and use such a weapon probably wouldn't care about collateral damage. I can certainly see it being China's final solution to the Uyghur question. They have a long history of callously and needlessly killing large swaths of their own people toward nationalistic ends, and not just under Communist rule.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - drekk 4y ago
    There is more genetic variance within "races" than between them. Your imagination is neither necessary nor sufficient for it to be possible, let alone feasible. I also honestly do not understand why China is the bogeyman here given that Long Island, NY was the eugenics capital of the world within living memory. Utah, the state in which I live, didn't shutter its own eugenics program until the 1960s. I'm trying to recall when China dropped nuclear ordinance on civilian populations and really failing here. I figured it's probably a western bubble thing and sure enough most people in most countries don't view China as the obstacle to world peace. https://fullfact.org/news/america-world-peace/ https://fullfact.org/news/america-world-peace/
stametseater 4y ago
Naomi: FoxDie is a type of retrovirus that targets and kills only specific people. First, it infects the macrophages in the victim's body. FoxDie contains smart enzymes, created through protein engineering. They're programmed to respond to specific genetic patterns in the cells. Snake: Those enzymes recognize the target's DNA? Naomi: Right. They respond by becoming active, and using the macrophages, they begin creating TNF epsilon. It's a type of cytokine, a peptide which causes cells to die. The TNF epsilon is carried along the bloodstream to the heart, where they attach to the TNF receptors in the heart cells. Snake: And then...they cause a heart attack? Naomi: The heart cells suffer a shock and undergo an extreme apoptosis. Then... the victim dies.
bboygravity 4y ago
This is actually super trivial with today's technology. It's a little too late to "stop building the foundations". That's like wanting to "stop building the foundations" for the tech that allows governments to spy on civilians. We're about 20 to 30 years passed that.

barrysteve 4y ago

We did globally coordinate and deploy a vaccine campaign with little spare time.

noduerme 4y ago
which was the most technologically positive and futuristic thing that's happened in a long time. Thank you for stating it.