Chinese scientist He Jiankui defends 'world's first gene-edited babies'

[Brent S]

Brave New World on a whole new scale. All the humans will be genetically engineered and then grown in labs.

Been a few movies on this.... keep in mind that 20,000 leagues under the sea was written a hundred years before the first submarines.

 

[DrHenley]

Been a few movies on this.... keep in mind that 20,000 leagues under the sea was written a hundred years before the first submarines.

Not to take away from all the great things Jules Verne predicted...but...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published in 1870.

The H L Hunley (CSA) was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship...in 1864.

 

[KateMTx]

Not to take away from all the great things Jules Verne predicted...but...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published in 1870.

The H L Hunley (CSA) was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship...in 1864.

And what is generally credited as the first submarine (though there were a few before it) was built during the American revolutionary war, almost 100 years before 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published. I do think of Jules Verne as the inventor of science fiction though.

 

[DrHenley]

Verne actually studied the French submarine Plongeur (launched in 1863) at the 1867 Exposition Universelle. It inspired him to write the book. The Nautilus was, however, much more advanced than any of the then current submarines.

Verne did predict propeller driven heavier than air aircraft in a different book.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Not to take away from all the great things Jules Verne predicted...but...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published in 1870.

The H L Hunley (CSA) was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship...in 1864.

The remains of a prototype of this sub is in the bottom of lake Ponchatrain. A personal friend of mine discovered it and is currently the only one to know its location. The Cabildo museum in New Orleans has 2 early subs from the late 1700's.

 

[DrHenley]

The remains of a prototype of this sub is in the bottom of lake Ponchatrain. A personal friend of mine discovered it and is currently the only one to know its location. The Cabildo museum in New Orleans has 2 early subs from the late 1700's.

That is really cool Rellgar!

 

[Gazrok]

Been a few movies on this.... keep in mind that 20,000 leagues under the sea was written a hundred years before the first submarines.

It wasn't just the basic idea of the sub...but a lot of the DETAILS of this vehicle, and aircraft, even spacecraft, that Verne envisioned (and described) WAY before their time, that is completely remarkable. I still like to imagine he was an actual time traveler.

On the sub, he described a lot of detail that made it into later sub designs though, that weren't in the one he studied in France.

He also described newscasts vs. papers (when radio newscasts didn't happen until 30 years later).

He described a multi-stage rocket, with a cone shape on top with crew module, (even that it would take off from FL)....which wouldn't happen for decades. (he even described it coming back to Earth using a parachute). This, for me, is still the eeriest one of his predictions.

He described video conferencing, calling it "phonotelephote".

All kinds of weird things. He was a man well ahead of his time, and really had a penchant for envisioning the future.

I always think of it this way. If you had told me, as a kid, that years from then, I'd have a device in my pocket that could take pictures (without film), talk (with a screen even to see the other) to someone around the world, look up nearly any information, and store books, etc., watch movies, I would have thought you a madman. Yet here we are.

Dude, I remember when video games were Pong, or the Atari 2600. Now? It's just crazy.

 

[DrHenley]

Apparently the Chinese government is NOT on board with the gene editing, nor was the University the doctor worked for. So this WAS very much like The Island of Dr Moreau with a renegade scientist doing unethical research - even by Chinese standards.

China confirms the birth of gene-edited babies and vows to punish scientist He Jiankui who 'violated rules to carry out the unethical study for personal fame'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6614607/China-says-doctor-gene-edited-babies-acted-own.html

• Investigations reveal He Jiankui had acted on his own and forged review papers
• He organised and handled funding for experiment with no outside assistance
• China confirmed He gene edited human embryos and two baby girls were born
• Another woman is still carrying a gene-edited fetus, Xinhua said on Monday
• Scientist modified the DNA of twins to make them resistant to infection with HIV
• University where He worked announced his dismissal following the investigation

 

[Gazrok]

There's going to be no stopping this though. Eventually, this WILL become the norm. Eventually, it won't even be legal to have children the natural way. Luckily, it will be many decades in the future, and long after I depart this mortal coil. But it WILL happen. It's nearly a certainty.

Reference the movie Gattaca for a preview of it. (and what the result would be).

 

[user 7704]

As you know, I have a Special son. I was asked with both pregnancies if I wanted prenatal testing and I said no. It wouldn't matter. His disability would not have shown on their tests anyhow. Fragile X Syndrome. You have to ask for a specific DNA test.

 

[Kevin L]

Not to take away from all the great things Jules Verne predicted...but...

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea was published in 1870.

The H L Hunley (CSA) was the first submarine to sink an enemy ship...in 1864.

I also guess this depends upon your definition of a submarine.

The ancient Macedonian Alexander the Great was said to have personally explored the undersea world in a glass diving bell. He took notes, took specimens, and made drawings of his findings, but these were lost when the great library in Alexandria (now Cairo) was torched and sacked.

He was able to propel his diving bell by walking (the Confederate sub was also man-powered), he could do crude navigation, and he could gather intelligence.

I would call him the first sub mariner, but that's me.

 

[user 7704]

Not sure which threat this belongs.....

Family Tree DNA has turned over it's complete data base to government.

Another on of those "oh, that will never happen. You are just paranoia " situations.

Big Brother.