Genetic Defects and New Colonies

From: Dr. Omni
To: spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2000 9:39 PM
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: Genetic Defects and New Colonies

From: "Tom Tucker (Olympia)"
To:
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2000 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: Genetic Defects and New Colonies
[snikt]
Tom - Bill, Bill, please! We are going over the same territory again!
No, they would still have been born, only without the genetic defects, OK?
[snikt]

No, they wouldnt. As far as I remember, you were advocating forbidding
reproduction/immigration of people with genetic defects in your space
colonies. That would rule out the parents of Tesla and Hawking, since their
families would have a history of genetic disease. Perhaps you would also
rule out Beethoven, whose father was alcoholic.

Tom - Posing a question for discussion and taking a position are two different subjects. I predict that each colony will debate these issues and that there will be a time when many different policies will exist for a period of time. I also predict that the colonies that are most successful at reducing their health care costs and at encouraging the births of successful citizens will have a head start in colonizing the galaxy which, IMO, is the great prize awaiting humanity whether we recognize it yet or not. Many colonies will merely copy their culture from their home on earth this is fine too with me.

Maybe youll say that youre not advocating "selective reproduction"
anymore; maybe youll say that the embryos of Tesla and Hawking would be
fixed by genetic engineering and they would still be born, but without their
defects. However, again youre revealling some ingenuity or lack or
knowledge in genetics: how can you guarantee that, without the aleles for
haemophilia and Lou Gherig disease, they would still be the same people?

Tom - First of all, this thread is intended to stimulate discussion, and not to merely provide a forum for my particular perspective. All points of view are welcome IMO.
Personally, I happen to believe in reincarnation and that the soul brings with it a significant set of desires and goals to achieve during their lifetime. These abilities can be used to overcome any minor changes that the soul encounters if the body isn't exactly what it predicted that it would be before genetic surgery has been done IMO.
Also, usually, a gene codes for a single purpose and if it is defective, then it is clear what needs to be fixed, however, there are infact cases where a gene may code for two or more functions and so, you are correct, we can not guarantee that one repair may not prevent the inadvertent change of another trait. Hopefully, by the time these forms of repairs are attempted, we will have a better idea of the full functionality of each gene.

Unlike what is pictured in popular imagination, genes are not "modular"
functional entities, independent from each other; instead, they interact
with each other and with the environment in almost unpredictable ways. (And
that makes the production of transgenic animals and plants specially
tricky...) For example: the gene for eye albinism should affect only the
color of the eyes but, through probably a series of cascade interactions
with other genes, it also affects brain visual processing, in such a way
that people with eye albinism are almost blind because their brains cant
interpret images properly. This is an example of a gene coding a physical
characteristic affecting also a *cognitive* characteristic -- and this
example only suffices to cast serious doubts that healthy versions of Tesla
and Hawking would guarantedly be the same persons. And Im not even
considering the fact that, without their diseases (which have strong effects
in the way that they lived their lives), their lives could even follow
completely different stories, leading again to completely different
personalities.

Lucio

From:
Dr. Omni
To:
spacesettlers@egroups.com
Sent:
Monday, December 25, 2000 9:39 PM
Subject:
Re: [spacesettlers] Re: Genetic Defects and New Colonies
From: "Tom Tucker (Olympia)" <
tntucker@...
>
To: <
spacesettlers@egroups.com
>
Sent: Monday, December 25, 2000 12:18 AM
Subject: Re: [spacesettlers] Re: Genetic Defects and New Colonies
[snikt]
Tom - Bill, Bill, please! We are going over the same territory again!
No, they would still have been born, only without the genetic defects, OK?
[snikt]
No, they wouldnt. As far as I remember, you were advocating forbidding
reproduction/immigration of people with genetic defects in your space
colonies. That would rule out the parents of Tesla and Hawking, since their
families would have a history of genetic disease. Perhaps you would also
rule out Beethoven, whose father was alcoholic.

Tom - Posing a question for discussion and taking a position are two different subjects. I predict that each colony will debate these issues and that there will be a time when many different policies will exist for a period of time. I also predict that the colonies that are most successful at reducing their health care costs and at encouraging the births of successful citizens will have a head start in colonizing the galaxy which, IMO, is the great prize awaiting humanity whether we recognize it yet or not. Many colonies will merely copy their culture from their home on earth this is fine too with me.
Maybe youll say that youre not advocating "selective reproduction"
anymore; maybe youll say that the embryos of Tesla and Hawking would be
fixed by genetic engineering and they would still be born, but without their
defects. However, again youre revealling some ingenuity or lack or
knowledge in genetics: how can you guarantee that, without the aleles for
haemophilia and Lou Gherig disease, they would still be the same people?
Tom - First of all, this thread is intended to stimulate discussion, and not to merely provide a forum for my particular perspective. All points of view are welcome IMO.
Personally, I happen to believe in reincarnation and that the soul brings with it a significant set of desires and goals to achieve during their lifetime. These abilities can be used to overcome any minor changes that the soul encounters if the body isn't exactly what it predicted that it would be before genetic surgery has been done IMO.
Also, usually, a gene codes for a single purpose and if it is defective, then it is clear what needs to be fixed, however, there are infact cases where a gene may code for two or more functions and so, you are correct, we can not guarantee that one repair may not prevent the inadvertent change of another trait. Hopefully, by the time these forms of repairs are attempted, we will have a better idea of the full functionality of each gene.
Unlike what is pictured in popular imagination, genes are not "modular"
functional entities, independent from each other; instead, they interact
with each other and with the environment in almost unpredictable ways. (And
that makes the production of transgenic animals and plants specially
tricky...) For example: the gene for eye albinism should affect only the
color of the eyes but, through probably a series of cascade interactions
with other genes, it also affects brain visual processing, in such a way
that people with eye albinism are almost blind because their brains cant
interpret images properly. This is an example of a gene coding a physical
characteristic affecting also a *cognitive* characteristic -- and this
example only suffices to cast serious doubts that healthy versions of Tesla
and Hawking would guarantedly be the same persons. And Im not even
considering the fact that, without their diseases (which have strong effects
in the way that they lived their lives), their lives could even follow
completely different stories, leading again to completely different
personalities.
Lucio