To Thread - Forum Home

The Mudcat Café TM
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=161840
43 messages

BS: What would you Genetically engineer?

05 Apr 17 - 08:08 AM (#3848769)
Subject: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

prolifically strawberry fruiting bamboo ...


05 Apr 17 - 09:09 AM (#3848788)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Dave Hanson

me.


05 Apr 17 - 09:16 AM (#3848790)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: punkfolkrocker

pocket size dinosaurs and mammoths...


05 Apr 17 - 09:41 AM (#3848797)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Steve Shaw

A self-refilling bottle of Morrisons Nero d'Avola.


05 Apr 17 - 09:42 AM (#3848799)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Iains

pfr. Without teeth I hope-just in case.


05 Apr 17 - 09:55 AM (#3848809)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: punkfolkrocker

they'd be tiny teeth even less dangerous than hamsters...

But for all concerned about that risk..
a bit more DNA dabbling.. and hey presto... matchbox size dinos and wooly mammoths...


05 Apr 17 - 10:38 AM (#3848818)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Senoufou

Zero-calorie buttered crumpets
Wee-less Siamese cats
Infertile mosquitoes


05 Apr 17 - 11:11 AM (#3848836)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mrrzy

Punkfolkrocker, Larry Niven tried the tiny elephants, they were vicious.

Hmmm - dogs that use litter boxes? Cats who play fetch? Oh, wait, we can do that with training.

I kinda like strawberry-fruiting bamboo.

Little roasted piggies to run around the city streets inquiring so politely if a slice of ham we'd like to eat?

Something to eat the plastic in the ocean, and excrete something that scrubs CO2, and die without mutating into something that feeds plankton

The "can't mutate" is key, like the Bandersnatchi, to get back to Larry Niven


05 Apr 17 - 02:18 PM (#3848875)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

There are butter flavored mushrooms that are less than zero calories. They take more calories to digest than they deliver.

Wow plastic eating ocean flora. Quick write the book about ship wreck survivors in an inflatable raft slowly being devoured.

the most succinct and elegant answer has to be "me"
what else could it be
For everyone else
it may have been health
but it has to be "me"


It had to be you
Dave.


05 Apr 17 - 02:24 PM (#3848877)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: punkfolkrocker

I'd try it out on one of my clones first...

just to make sure nothing goes to catastrophically wrong... 🙄


05 Apr 17 - 02:37 PM (#3848886)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Jack Campin

Bacteria that would turn the world's entire oil reserves to stone.


05 Apr 17 - 03:08 PM (#3848891)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mrrzy

Ooh, what was it called, AUM, that turned xenophobes into xenophiles? They put it in tomato juice and gave people free drinks?


05 Apr 17 - 04:09 PM (#3848908)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

Jack that's an instant novel. We have algae to make oil but the opposite is phenomenal,   na naa na nana, na na na na. na naa na nana, na na-na, na na-na na-na na na na na na na .
phenomena...na naa na nana, na na-na na. na naa na nana, na na-na, na na-na , na-na na na na na na na na
phenomena...

(muppet song)

sorry about the ear worm. It crept into my ear, crapped and crept out again.


05 Apr 17 - 04:53 PM (#3848913)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Bee-dubya-ell

Talking mutes.


05 Apr 17 - 05:11 PM (#3848916)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Steve Shaw

We used to say a dumb nymphomaniac with a pub, but I suppose the days when we can get away with that are long gone, and I won't argue...


05 Apr 17 - 07:01 PM (#3848931)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: gnu

An honest politician. Of course, we could just clone Warren and Sanders and Franken and some others. Or, just vote for them and what they stand for.


05 Apr 17 - 07:48 PM (#3848935)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

There are no walls that stop modified pollen from spreading death.
Monstanto made terminator seeds that do not grow viable seeds. This is a clear and present danger to spreading a die off of accidental hybrid nearby crops. Of course Monsanto claims this is a myth.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-seeds-of-suicide-how-monsanto-destroys-farming/5329947

https://actions.sumofus.org/a/brazil-terminator-seeds

In 1970 the UK made a movie of a global die off of all grains called no blade of grass. They had some technical plot problems but the dangers are greater today.

............

I have imagined giant fruit that was so good the dinosaurs made them go extinct. How about watermelon sized favorite fruits?


06 Apr 17 - 09:49 AM (#3849055)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mrrzy

My kid's suggestion is lots more leopards for Virginia. Likes what there is getting to be less of, rather than new things. Nice thought, that. Raised right.


06 Apr 17 - 11:29 AM (#3849075)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: olddude

A cure against all flavors of jello


06 Apr 17 - 02:19 PM (#3849110)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: gnu

Be honest olddude, you still wouldn't eat it.


06 Apr 17 - 05:53 PM (#3849138)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Joe_F

I used to know an experimenter who wished for a scaled-down hand on the end of his little finger, for delicate manipulations. There'd have to be some sort of protection, tho.

Another adaptation that would be useful in some occupations would be electrical voltage & current *senses*, so you wouldn't need meters. 4 voltage ranges between thumb & other fingers on one hand, and 4 current ranges on the other.


06 Apr 17 - 07:40 PM (#3849162)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Steve Shaw

"I used to know an experimenter who wished for a scaled-down hand on the end of his little finger, for delicate manipulations."

Hmm. He wasn't worried about getting the ladies then.


06 Apr 17 - 07:53 PM (#3849168)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

I can tell if there is voltage by just touching it with my tongue ZZZZZZZZZZZZZTT *

I would like 4 genetically engineered glands under conscious control that would produce Serotonin, norepinephrine, and PEA!
(these are better than testosterone by a mile).

To sleep I could produce GABA.


06 Apr 17 - 11:43 PM (#3849187)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mrrzy

Regrowing limbs, too.


07 Apr 17 - 01:08 AM (#3849191)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: mg

hmm..a handsome man who looked quite a lot like george clooney but only had eyes for me and was passably well to do.


07 Apr 17 - 01:11 AM (#3849192)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Big Al Whittle

Ken Dodd once pointed out that if you had a mouth on the top of your head, and you wore a hat - you could be eating a bacon sandwich and no one would know.

i think i'd like an English penguin
GSOH; more varied diet; decent conversationalist; into Monty Ptrgon and candid photography.


07 Apr 17 - 01:20 AM (#3849193)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mrrzy

An English penguin?


07 Apr 17 - 02:57 AM (#3849200)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Senoufou

How about a brain with the ability to speak and understand any language on Earth? I'd absolutely adore being able to converse with any human being anywhere.
And joints that regenerate after a certain time. And hearts. In fact, bionic bodies. I'd like that!


07 Apr 17 - 03:20 AM (#3849203)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: punkfolkrocker

21st Century... you'd think by now the human body would have evolved itself to dispense with the inelegant & problematic function of defecation...???

A more sophisticated waste disposal system,
like maybe converting bodily solids waste into harmless odourless gases that could be gradually released through the skin pores or lungs....

Genetic engineers, free the human race us from the tyranny of IBS, touching cloth, fissures and piles... 😬


07 Apr 17 - 03:26 AM (#3849204)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Will Fly

I'd genetically engineer humans so that death - whenever it comes - is instant.

We know we have to go, sooner or later, but let it be swift - no lingering, painful, messy descents into darkness.


07 Apr 17 - 06:59 AM (#3849235)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Senoufou

I've always thought teeth to be a major design fault. They decay, become loose, break off, and then you're left with mere gums, useless for chewing and unsightly. There must be a better substance with which to construct teeth. And a far better way than gums to secure them in place forever. They must first and foremost facilitate eating crusty toasted crumpets without difficulty. That's the test!

pfr, you're right. I think the entire alimentary canal is a bit of a nuisance. Far too long, complicated and prone to malfunction. Could it be arranged that we enjoy the actual eating part, then whoosh! the food is vaporised, absorbed and is never seen (or heard of) again. No intestines at all, no 'other end' and no indigestion.

As for lingering death, I entirely agree Will. If it's over, it's over, so as you say, let it be instant.


07 Apr 17 - 08:19 AM (#3849248)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

regrowing limbs and teeth has some advances. So far finger segments have had success. Were on the cusp of regrowing teeth http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/damaged-teeth-regrow-alzheimers-drug-naturally-dentist-kings-college-london-a7517366.h


07 Apr 17 - 08:42 AM (#3849250)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Steve Shaw

Actually, Senoufou, our teeth have evolved very well, but not necessarily to cope with a modern diet of soft food and lashings of sugar that turns to acid as soon as it hits your mouth. Can't blame our poor old gnashers if we abuse them so. Funny thing, though, evolution. We've got so good at making people live longer that bits of us that at one time might have done us proud for thirty or forty years now struggle to cope into our sixties, seventies and beyond, teeth, backs, eyes, ears. We've only achieved the spectacular increase in longevity over the last couple of hundred years or so, but, as generation spans are very long for humans, evolution hasn't kept up and it may never will. In the past, weak teeth, eyes or early-onset arthritis would have quickly seen you off and you wouldn't have had time to do much successful breeding (high child mortality rates wouldn't have helped). These days you can conceive even though you have a full set of dentures, you're stone deaf and can hardly find the bed. We're very good at keeping people alive, far less good at keeping them in MOT condition.


07 Apr 17 - 09:28 AM (#3849258)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Senoufou

You're quite right Steve. We've evolved admirably, but we now expect to eat rubbish and live sedentary lives, neither of which are included in the blueprint for our new, long-lived bodies.
Increased life-expectancy is great, but what state are we in to enjoy it eh?
Oddly enough, although the 'Third World' dwellers have had appalling conditions to endure, and their life-expectancy has been much shorter than ours, they seem to me to now be having a better chance. They don't eat junk food, walk everywhere and never over-eat or become obese. Those who survive the very high rate of infant mortality are actually (in my view) in better shape than us in many ways. My very ancient father-in-law (we think he's in his early nineties, but no-one knows when they were born over there!) is quite frail but has most of his teeth, still walks far and wide and can get down on the floor to pray and get up again (I can't do that!) He's never smoked or drunk alcohol, and his diet has been meagre but with no additives, sugar or animal fat. He's far from senile and I reckon at this rate he'll outlive me, if, touch wood, one of the many deadly diseases in W Africa doesn't carry him off.


07 Apr 17 - 09:58 AM (#3849270)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Big Al Whittle

quite right pfr! shitting...its a bit unegotiable.

if we developed a bum on the end of your finger, you could have a shit in an ashtray, just tapping your finger in polite society.


07 Apr 17 - 01:15 PM (#3849308)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: G-Force

Dandelions which were allergic to grass.


07 Apr 17 - 03:31 PM (#3849334)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

Al wash your hands.


08 Apr 17 - 02:51 AM (#3849388)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Mr Red

Pork Scratchings. Not the toasted pigskin they pass off these days - that is called crackling.


08 Apr 17 - 06:56 AM (#3849423)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Steve Shaw

Pork scratchings that have thick fat and which nearly break your teeth are sublime, unlike those silly puffed-up ones full of air. I've never encountered an anus in a bag as yet but my last bag contained an exceptionally fine nipple. Leave pork scratchings alone, say I! Lashings of salt and MSG! I'm so careful to eat healthy grub that just once in a while I'm going to "pig out" on something decidedly nasty, unsustainable, unhealthy and pure junk! And supremely delicious, especially with a pint!


08 Apr 17 - 10:25 AM (#3849459)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Donuel

Steve Wolf nipple chips are much healthier.


08 Apr 17 - 10:36 AM (#3849461)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: punkfolkrocker

Wolves.. just wondering if the genetic engineers of tens of thousands of years ago...

Our hunter gatherer ancestors..

If they took a look at wolf cubs and thought...

"One day we will make these fierce wild beasts poodles and chihuahuas..." ??? 🐩 🐶


08 Apr 17 - 01:58 PM (#3849496)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Thompson

Well, for me, telescopic legs, perfect sight, self-replacing teeth, perfectly-working lungs and sinuses, an end to all bone wear and skin degeneration.

For my bicycle, an ability to track itself and send me messages for no cost so it could say "Help! I have been stolen and am at 42 Primrose Gardens, Paris 19, France" and I could go and rescue it.

For drivers, a strong desire to cycle all journeys under 5km (3 miles).

For cats, a distaste for birds and frogs.

For dogs, a much longer healthy and happy life.

For racists, a "D'oh!" moment and continuing realisation.

For fascists - calm, meditative sweetness.


08 Apr 17 - 09:42 PM (#3849580)
Subject: RE: BS: What would you Genetically engineer?
From: Joe_F

Having to breathe in & out is absurdly inefficient. Why can't the lungs have a separate entrance & exit, and peristalsis, like the gut? You'd get more oxygen, and (obMudcat) you could sing continuously.