[quote]swoleupinya wrote:
[quote]SkyzykS wrote:
Gene expression is not guaranteed is it? I mean, just because a characteristic is present in dna does not mean it will manifest in the organism, does it?
Without absolute knowledge of exactly what the product of combining two different genetic codes would be, you can’t really predict what the outcome will be, can you? Aside from a basic schematic terms, I mean, like dog + dog = dog.
So, say you want a brown haired, blue eyed, genius. Geneticist does his thing, and out comes a brown haired, blue eyed, genius that sprouts tumors like a field of daisies at the age of 40.
You got what you wanted though, right?
Disclaimer- I don’t know shit about genetic science or the current state of it.
[/quote]
[quote]
In some instances, phenotype is guaranteed in the 90th percentile. In some cases it is lower. For instance, effectively all viable humans are born with at least one lung.[/quote]
Sure, viable humans are born with at least one lung. But many non viable humans are born with a plethora of defects.
[quote]
What you state above is the obvious potential downside. It’s obvious… got it? I don’t suspect that geneticists have overlooked this possibility. Nor do I suspect that trials that cannot overcome these types of possibilities would get very far in the world.[/quote]
Thats why I wasn’t talking about possibilities, or what one suspects, but facts and having a guaranteed predictable outcome. Otherwise you are setting a ticking time bomb to go off at an unknown time and with unknown effect at some point in another persons life.
Ask Dolly the sheep and her predecessors, but sure, there is Also good reason to be concerned about environmental exposure.
My understanding of it as a natural occurrance is that it is a product of tissue turn over. Of the billions of cells that are created to replace existing tissues, some are mutated and not perfect replica of the intended cell. Tumors and growths occur when the immune system do not remove the anomalous cells and they are able to replicate. With higher incidence of tissue damage due to environmental/chemical exposure and replication of damaged cells comes higher risks of cancer.
Even an enhanced immune system would be an interesting effect, but then there is a problem with it attacking healthy viable tissues, a condition that occurs naturally in some viable humans.