Can vanishing diversity be rebuilt through genetic engineering?
My sense is that there is a great capacity for good to come of genetic engineering. I think we can look forward to more nutritious crops and to more effective ways of producing pharmaceuticals. In general, I think the promise of genetic engineering outweighs the perils. “I think as a species we are responsible for the welfare of the planet as a whole.” -Andrew Knoll Image Credit: querysoft.es Now, there are some people who think that if diversity declines, we can rebuild it through genetic engineering. I don’t think we understand the relationship between genes and biology well enough to even contemplate that. I can see plenty of peril in trying to engineer diversity in a way that exceeds the knowledge that we have. The potential for producing some genetic Frankenstein, which is what everyone worries about, is small in the kinds of crop enhancement and other genetic engineering applications we see today, but I think it becomes much larger if we attempt to reengineer the diversity of an
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