Making gametes for humans
It’s not possible yet, but they’re working on it:
Progress toward making “artificial gametes” has been accelerating. In Japan, mice were born from eggs scientists had manufactured in a dish from a tail cell. Chinese scientists later claimed they had determined the exact sequence of molecular signals required to make mouse sperm. So far, the exact biochemical formula for prompting a stem cell to mature into functional human eggs or sperm remains out of reach. No human skin cell has been turned into a bona fide human reproductive cell. But many scientists believe it’s only a matter of time—maybe only a year or two—before they get the right recipe. Recent advances have been “absolutely clear, and breathtaking” says George Daley, a stem-cell biologist who recently became dean of Harvard’s medical school.
This sounds both terrifying and exciting. It conjures up Brave New World of course (a book that seems more brilliant with each passing day; perhaps I should read it again, something I haven’t done in decades). And yet for people struggling with infertility because of a lack of sperm or eggs, it would be a wonderful thing.
However:
The technology could carry socially disruptive consequences. Women might have children regardless of age. Just grab some skin and poof, young eggs. And if eggs and sperm can be produced in the lab, why not also make embryos by the dozens and test them to pick those with the least disease risk or the best chance of a high IQ? Henry Greely, a member of Stanford University’s law faculty and one of the most influential bioethical thinkers in the U.S., finds that scenario likely. Last year, in a book titled The End of Sex, he predicted half of couples would stop reproducing naturally by 2040, instead relying on synthetic reproduction using skin or blood as a starting point.
Others say it’s possible, even probable, that lab-made gametes could be genetically engineered to remove disease risks. And still more speculative possibilities are on the horizon. For instance, scientists believe it will be possible to make eggs from a man’s skin cell and sperm from a woman’s skin cell, though the latter would be more difficult because women lack Y chromosomes. This process, termed “sex reversal,” in theory could allow reproduction between two people of the same sex. And then there is what Greely terms the “uni-parent—his own sperm, his own egg, his own ‘unibaby.’”
From Brave New World, written in 1931 and published in 1932 :
“But I don’t want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness, I want sin.’
‘In fact,’ said Mustapha Mond, ‘you’re claiming the right to be unhappy.’
‘All right then,’ said the Savage defiantly, ‘I’m claiming the right to be unhappy.’
‘Not to mention the right to grow old and ugly and impotent; the right to have syphilis and cancer; the right to have too little to eat; the right to be lousy; the right to live in constant apprehension of what may happen tomorrow; the right to catch typhoid; the right to be tortured by unspeakable pains of every kind.’ There was a long silence.
‘I claim them all,’ said the Savage at last.
Mustapha Mond shrugged his shoulders. ‘You’re welcome,” he said.”
Progress, one step forward, two steps backward, maybe. Evolution, chaotic, and prophetic, certainly. I suppose that the progress of transhuman and trans-social orientations are national experiments to predict or force outcomes.
Don’t forget Demolition Man, 1993. No bodily fluid sharing! Be well!
Sixties graffiti: My mother made me a homosexual.
Response: If I get her the wool, will she make me one too?
Ray Kurzweil predicted this two decades ago. It is inevitable that we will take over our biological evolution. Let us hope that we use restraint and wisdom in the process.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil
Roy Nathanson: Kurzweil is one of the big thinkers I pay attention to — with fingers crossed and furrowed brow.
I recommend his book, “The Singularity Is Near” (2005) in which genetic modification, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence will elevate humanity to near-god-like status. We cannot understand that future anymore than our cousin monkeys can understand what we humans are up to today.
Kurzweil even predicted the date for our lift-off into the singularity to be 2039. Since then he’s hedged that bet to 2045.
As a software engineer, I’m not sanguine we are anywhere near the AI breakthroughs Kurzweil assumes. Moore’s Law has pooped out and the problems of parallel computing remain wicked complex. Nonetheless, progress is progress — the AI guys recently beat the Asian game of Go — even if slow.
Things are changing.
Forty years ago I read “The Biological Time-Bomb” by Gordon Rattray Taylor (I’m amazed I remember his name — must be my strict marijuana regimen) and was appropriately alarmed.
Then nothing much happened for decades. But I think we are on that doorstep now.
huxley on June 3, 2019 at 9:32 pm said:
Roy Nathanson: Kurzweil is one of the big thinkers I pay attention to — with fingers crossed and furrowed brow.
I recommend his book, “The Singularity Is Near” (2005) in which genetic modification, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence will elevate humanity to near-god-like status.
* * *
And yet Christian beliefs in bodily resurrection & near-god-like status are deemed too fantastic to believe…
I recommend his book, “The Singularity Is Near” (2005) in which genetic modification, nanotechnology and artificial intelligence will elevate humanity to near-god-like status.
Haha. Meanwhile, people think it is hilarious that the gods walk amongst us.
A bit of a difference there in gullibility. But regardless, I get the blank stares of incomprehension whenever I start talking to people, no matter what the subject is.
The real killer is when I start talking about Newton’s 3 body problem in calculus. It shuts up even the talkative Youtube stars.
Huxley,
Yeah, Kurzweil relied heavily on Moore’s Law, which, as you said, has failed after about 50 years. Although, a breakthrough in computing could easily restore the trend.
Right now, the most dynamic fields of technology are in biology and genetics. These seem to be producing marvels on a daily basis.
When it becomes possible to slow and reduce the aging process, and finally, to reverse it, how many among us will say, “No.”?
I think that, instead of focusing on fancy new technologies, we should refocus our attention on more fundamental, more old fashioned things like, Oh, I don’t know, creating two parent families, and giving children a moral foundation. Things that might give such new technologies a much more stable environment for them to occur in, and to react with.
Look at this article, which focuses on the increasing numbers of mass shootings, and sees fundamental things as the reason for them.
See https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/why-so-many-mass-shootings-ask-the-right-questions-and-you-might-find-out/
This is an attempt to cloning, but cloning of mammals always was methodically problematic, with a very small success ratio, and many leading scientists doubt that these hurdles are surmountable. I am not optimistic in this matter.
Snow on Pine on June 4, 2019 at 11:51 am – Candace Owens is getting banned on social media for daring to say things like that.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/facebook-singled-out-candace-owens-for-scrutiny-potential-ban-internal-document-indicates_2928720.html
https://thehill.com/policy/technology/444421-facebook-temporarily-suspended-conservative-commentator-candace-owens
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2019/06/candace-owens-and-the-lefts-effort-to-ban-common-sense.php
Snow:
“I think that, instead of focusing on fancy new technologies, we should refocus our attention on more fundamental, more old fashioned things like, Oh, I don’t know, creating two parent families, and giving children a moral foundation. Things that might give such new technologies a much more stable environment for them to occur in, and to react with.”
It’s impossible to overstate how wildly correct that comment is. “Two Thumbs Up” is inadequate response; I ought to be a Hindu idol so I could give you a hundred.
AesopFan:
My hope and prayer is that the frantic character of SJWs’ attempts to “stop the signal” is a sign that they are losing control: That to their horror, it’s getting out and changing minds.
I’ve been praying the Psalms recently, and I think certain of David’s prayer habits, when he was beset by his enemies, are particularly apropos:
From Psalm 3:
“5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, for the Lord sustains me.
6 I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who have set themselves against me round about.
7 Arise, O Lord!
Deliver me, O my God!
For thou dost smite all my enemies on the cheek,
thou dost break the teeth of the wicked.”
From Psalm 5:
“8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness
because of my enemies;
make thy way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their heart is destruction,
their throat is an open sepulchre,
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against thee.”
From Psalm 7:
“14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil,
and is pregnant with mischief,
and brings forth lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole which he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own pate his violence descends.”
From Psalm 9:
“9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
…
16 The Lord has made himself known, he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.”
From Psalm 12:
“1 Help, Lord; for there is no longer any that is godly;
for the faithful have vanished from among the sons of men.
2 Every one utters lies to his neighbor;
with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
4 those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is our master?”
…
7 Do thou, O Lord, protect us,
guard us ever from this generation.
8 On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the sons of men.”
From Psalm 25:
“19 Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
20 Oh guard my life, and deliver me;
let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in thee.
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for thee.”
From Psalm 58:
“6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them vanish like water that runs away;
like grass let them be trodden down and wither.
8 Let them be like the snail which dissolves into slime,
like the untimely birth that never sees the sun.”
God granted David victory over the Philistines.
I think He can handle the shrieking of SJWs and the scheming of Social Media Monopolies.
AesopFan on June 4, 2019 at 4:18 pm said:
Snow on Pine on June 4, 2019 at 11:51 am – Candace Owens is getting banned on social media for daring to say things like that.
We used to get burned at the stake for saying things that pissed the Authoritarian Totalitarian Romans off.
Figuratively, if not literally.
Actually, technically speaking, the Roman Catholics still try to get rid of me for cooking the sacred cows of their institutional man made religion. So I guess that hasn’t changed other than them finding it hard to kill me with Laws.
Wasn’t there some incident with the Noah boy in your Book of Mormon, about some boys and girls getting burned alive? Seems burning people alive is a human hobby that people love to replicate…. and humans think I am the problem…. hah.
I think they are the problem and the Earth would feel better if most of you humans got wiped out and reset.
For thou dost smite all my enemies on the cheek,
thou dost break the teeth of the wicked.”
I find it hilarious that David the warrior king of the Israelites, would often proclaim the glory of his god by talking about how we destroyed his enemies. Did he not realize that we were watching him with that naked girl? It’s like he was dumb as a rock… actually rocks are smarter given quantum entanglement with the spirit of the Earth. Human filters and the Veil makes David to be a fool, as divine wisdom makes human wisdom into foolishness.
We are watching you humans, all the time. David didn’t get it.
I am not afraid of ten thousands of people
who have set themselves against me round about.
You had better be afraid of us watching you from the Heavens.
Somebody go tell him about wiretapping and NSA spy taps.
For there is no truth in their mouth;
their heart is destruction,
their throat is an open sepulchre,
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of their many transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against thee.”
What did you think you were doing, Dav, when you got her husband killed in a battle just so that you could get her as the widow? Ya think you weren’t betraying Us or your god that way? These primitive humans, have some serious issues.
Dav probably talked too much about this and it backlashed on him with that girl. If a human keeps wishing curses on others, eventually that will backlash due to the System (and those of us working as GMs and observers).
Do thou, O Lord, protect us,
guard us ever from this generation.
These human children need to grow up and protect themselves. This over reliance on a lord or god, is a problem, although engineered for.
I think He can handle the shrieking of SJWs and the scheming of Social Media Monopolies.
Actually, we created the SJWs and the scheming Social Media Monopolies for a reason. It was part of the Divine Plan. By “we”, I don’t mean the Divine We or Us, but the regular “humans did it” problem. What humans created, they can destroy. What they can’t destroy is the eternal spirit.
Snow on Pine on June 4, 2019 at 11:51 am said:
You talk sense, for a human. Aesop should agree with that, given the priority of his church on family matters.
https://youtu.be/Vu0JjhbaVbE
R.C. on June 5, 2019 at 11:29 am said:
From Psalm 7:
“14 Behold, the wicked man conceives evil,
and is pregnant with mischief,
and brings forth lies.
15 He makes a pit, digging it out,
and falls into the hole which he has made.
16 His mischief returns upon his own head,
and on his own pate his violence descends.”
From Psalm 9:
“16 …
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.”
* * *
The gods of the copy-book headings work pretty closely with the God of the Psalms.
The question is: will the internecine heresy wars of the Left sufficiently distract them from their war on the Right so that the rest of us can get back to living unmolested by either extreme?
Most articles in popular literature about biology and medicine are very incorrect and usually overrate the scope and importance of new findings. Do not expect some earth-shattering news, natural sciences do not produce magical solutions to anything. But this is really great, if true: jpost.com/Israel-News/Israeli-study-Nervous-system-can-transmit-messages-to-future-generations-591795. It puts evolution theory on its head. (And yes, it is about gametes, and about ability of our brains to modify our gametes!)