Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
So there's an incredible story I've been checking out, Louis, which is not really that incredible,
but some people are a little bit disturbed by it, which is that 150 human-animal hybrids
have been grown in UK labs, and embryos have been produced secretly for the past three
years.
These hybrids have been produced secretively by researchers looking into possible cures
for a wide range of diseases, and the revelation came just a day after scientists warned of
a nightmare "Planet of the Apes" type of scenario where work on human-animal creations goes
too far. What did you think when you saw this?
Louis: I didn't know what to think. I mean, was this done illegally? If it was done secretly,
you have to assume it was done illegally.
David: It... my understanding is that... well, so here's what it says: figures seen by the
"Daily Mail" show that 155 "admixed" embryos containing both human and animal genetic material
had been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilization Embryology Act.
So I believe that it is legal. And the creation of these hybrids, including an animal egg
fertilized by human ***, "cybrids", in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal
cell, and "chimeras", in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos, are all...
all three are legal currently.
Louis: So they were just doing it in secret because of the taboo attached to it.
David: Yeah, I mean, that's my understanding. And you have to assume, also, you know, this
brings up an interesting topic, because just yesterday I was talking to someone about,
there are theories about artificial intelligence, and there's this kind of nightmare scenario
where artificial intelligence turns against humans, it's evil, so on and so forth, but
why? Why is that? Why would that be the default, and why is... is it really a realistic concern?
And it's the same thing with something like this, do we actually have reasons to think
that the "Planet of the Apes" scenario is the most likely in the event that this research
goes, quote, "wrong", or is that... is that kind of silly? I don't know. Neither one of
us are scientists.
Louis: Right.
David: Some people, I know, think Louis is a scientist, but he's actually not.
Louis: I'm not, no.
David: And I don't know. I'm actually hoping to have an expert on AI on the show and we're
going to talk about that, whether the-- this fear of the "I, Robot" kind of scenario, if
artificial intelligence could be... have free will, so to speak, why are we to assume that
it would be bad, or why is that the obvious fear?
Louis: Yeah, I mean, I'm fascinated by this, and I'd love to learn more about what they're
doing and what they hope to cure or solve by doing it. But when I first read it, I just
kind of had this weird feeling like whoa, this is kind of creepy.
David: So I think it's because what you're visualizing is that a sheep gives birth to
some kind of thing that is half-sheep, half-person, right? I mean, that's what you're envisioning.
Louis: Well, I... I mean, they didn't really let these embryos develop, right?
David: Right.
Louis: But what if they had?
David: I don't know. I don't know, actually, what would happen. It's very possible that
some of these wouldn't actually... they couldn't possibly develop as an actual viable human
being, I don't know.
Louis: Right. Maybe they just want to see what happens to the cells when they're put
in a situation like this.
David: And we also don't know that these are 50/50 mixes. In other words, we could be talking
about something that is 99.9% whatever and .1% something else, and the only differences
would be at the genetic level. That's also possible.
The issue is, you know that we're going to see... in the U.S. we have so much opposition
to any of this type of research. And, I mean, then there's the whole other aspect, we even
see opposition to, well, if you could decide the gender of your kid, would you want to
do that? Well, what if you could decide the eye color of your kid? Well, how far would
it be acceptable before it goes beyond any kind of ethical boundary? Some people would
say any involvement goes beyond ethical boundaries.
Louis: Have you seen the movie "Gattica"?
David: I haven't.
Louis: Oh, you gotta see that. It touches on what you just said. Really good stuff,
I highly recommend it.
David: Louis, if you were to decide to have a kid, or maybe not even decide but have one
anyway without wanting one, would you want to be able to pick certain characteristics?
Louis: Yeah, I think I would.
David: Really?
Louis: Yeah.
David: What would you want to be able to pick?
Louis: I would want a boy.
David: You would go in and say I want a male child?
Louis: I would say hey, if possible, yeah, I would like a male child.
David: What else? I mean, eye color, hair color, height, propensity to play Warcraft
or lift weights, anything like that?
Louis: I wouldn't care about things like eye color or hair color. I mean, if you could...
if you could prevent, you know, diseases or make the child less likely to get them, things
like that, of course I'd be all for that.
David: Right. Interesting. Well, but would God want that?
Louis: I don't really care.
David: Right.
Louis: Yeah.
David: Very good. Well, there's Louis. Kind of a... a little bit of insight into Louis
as a dad. A scary thought for many, but also for many young women, a very exciting possibility,
I think.
Louis: I don't know. Maybe.
David: No women I know, but certainly they must be out there.
Louis: Well...
David: Right?
Louis: Sure.
Transcript provided by Subscriptorium Multimedia Linguistic Services. For transcripts, translations,
captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or write us
at subscriptorium@gmail.com.