Dr. Jim Watson (along with Francis Crick) discovered the structure of the DNA double helix. However, they was lazy and didn't do all of the work, and Jim was especially sneaky, zipping off to snoop at the university where Rosalind Franklin, the REAL hero of the DNA story, was showing her chemical and mathematical findings to her colleagues. Somehow, he did this without being noticed... almost as if he were actually a fly on the wall. Their first attempt was wrong, but their second attempt (after Maurice Wilkins, one of the major inventors of the atom bomb, showed Jim Rosalind's photos of an x...) was right and they got the Nobel 
Prize, but Rosalind Franklin (the real genius behind it all) died before the world found out. Jim Watson also predicted that fertility treatments and test tube babies would become common practice by the 90's.... which it certainly did. So-- either Jim Watson can see the future or he is a genie.
Prize, but Rosalind Franklin (the real genius behind it all) died before the world found out. Jim Watson also predicted that fertility treatments and test tube babies would become common practice by the 90's.... which it certainly did. So-- either Jim Watson can see the future or he is a genie.Aside from being a total jerk, this guy is a racist, and a proponent of a modern version of Eugenics where, and I quote "all girls would be pretty." His continued existence drives me crazy. He can't keep his mouth shut... Someone should really help him with that.
It wouldn't be hard-- if the muppets could restrain John Cleese, scientists should be able to put a collective hand over Jim Watson's mouth.
It wouldn't be hard-- if the muppets could restrain John Cleese, scientists should be able to put a collective hand over Jim Watson's mouth.But I'm not just mad a Jim-- I'm nervous about messing with the genome. We're not quite there yet, scientifically, but we're close-- and as I said in a discussion board posting to my fellow classmates, though I think people are smart enough to take steps toward genetic perfection-- we're simply not moral enough. If you've read Brave New World this won't seem bizarre to you, but here's my fear:
Humans start playing with genes, but only the rich can afford genetic manipulation of their children-- so the rich become beautiful, super intelligent, and no longer susceptible to disease. 
Sounds great, right? But what about the rest of us? And if our country continues to refuse to change over to socialized medicine, won't it just be that much harder to get health insurance? Think about it. It would create a new race-- homo sapiens would become the slaves of the over-race simply because we would have to work so hard to produce what they could do without thinking. It would be the end of the world as we know it-- and what a terrible world it would be.
Sounds great, right? But what about the rest of us? And if our country continues to refuse to change over to socialized medicine, won't it just be that much harder to get health insurance? Think about it. It would create a new race-- homo sapiens would become the slaves of the over-race simply because we would have to work so hard to produce what they could do without thinking. It would be the end of the world as we know it-- and what a terrible world it would be.What are you afraid of?
No comments:
Post a Comment