From: Kharin (kharin@kharin.com)
Date: Thu Dec 04 2003 - 10:32:48 MST
"does anyone here think technology is as close to this level
of "body customization" as the article seems to imply?"
Frankly, no. As Michelle correctly says the strong possibility of regulatory hurdles is an important consideration. Incidentally, you can have a look at the fish du jour at: http://www.glofish.com/default.asp
"Domestication of animals I can understand, but why on earth did people breed the toy poodle? If such technology were released to the masses, what kinds of stupid things would they make?"
It's a difficult issue. While I suspect few would advocate government programmes to plan eugenic development (for obvious historical reasons) it does seem to me that the difficulties with leaving it to free markets and personal choice are not entirely different (unless there is a regulatory framework, which the libertarians who tend to be most gung ho about such developments would seem likely to oppose). For example, consider the example of the lesbian couple who ensured that their child would be deaf on the grounds that they considered deafness to be a lifestyle rather than an impairment.
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