Ethics of Transgenic Pets

[Mendel's Balls]

I should have said engineered bees. Sorry.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=engineered+bees

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/37759

Thanks was even having trouble finding info when I googled man-made bees. I'll check those out as well as Spaniard's link.

[Daemonicus]

I think I would own a transgenic pet as long as it wasn't mutated to the point of being harmful to the animal....if later on down their lineage it was going to be harmful for the animal, then it's not a good thing.

[Mendel's Balls]

I should have said engineered bees. Sorry.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=engineered+bees

http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/37759

I read the ENN article. I'm not sure "engineered" is the best word for the commercial bee populations they talk about.....they certainly don't seem transgenic or genetically modified using the newer techniques that frighten some people. The only "engineering" I can figure they had is domestication/selective breeding in a captive/agricultural setting. Not a very well-written science news article if you ask me.

[Mendel's Balls]

At this point I am surprised how many unsure/undecided there are in the poll and how there are no "Yes it is like playing God" votes.

Hopefully, the poll will get more votes soon.

[icygirl]

Funny how it is that many people so opposed to genetically modified food and animals despite undergoing numerous safety trails from governmental regulatory bodies think that they are unsafe and messing too much with mother nature. But soon as you talk about restricting their rights to import animals they say the government is stupid and has too many laws and regulations.

"Genetic engineering" just has a bad ring to it! They should call it "enhancement" or some other nice word, maybe throw in the word "natural", and people would be less opposed right off the bat. Besides, who can trust those crafty engineers?

[blackcrystal22]

Today I was at a Petco in downtown Chicago and was looking at some fish that I wouldn't see at my normal petco.

I saw some glofish, a good portion of which were dead and floating, extremely fast and full of energy, or hardly moving.
They were very bright and unnatural looking colors.. pretty.. but it's like eating an artificial fruit smoothie.. it tastes too fake.. and looks too fake.

And not natural. :]
Not mine:

[Mendel's Balls]

"Genetic engineering" just has a bad ring to it! They should call it "enhancement" or some other nice word, maybe throw in the word "natural", and people would be less opposed right off the bat. Besides, who can trust those crafty engineers?

Or maybe people should just become more cognizant that the definition of a word and the connotation of a word are two different things? Furthermore, only in a technologically advanced, yet scientifically illiterate society where people are so devoid of contact with wilderness, wild-life, and nature do people give "natural" such a good connotation! (There are other deeper philosophical reasons....people's preoccupation with "natural law" in the west due to the influence of the Catholic church using the term.)

But it really boils down to people looking at people looking at so much of our technology as magic. If a technology gets labeled "black magic", many people have trouble ever seeing it rationally.

However, your point about names does ring true somewhat. MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imagaing) machines are really NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Imaging) machines, but when NMR machines where applied to medical diagnosis a group of doctor clever about public relations realized the stigma behind the word "nuclear" and changed the name.

Though I don't think "enhancement" is much better. Sounds kind of tacky, like a bad boob job or some other plastic surgery. A never thought "engineering" was a bad word......since most people really on the work of civil and mechanical engineers everyday to get to work.

I saw some glofish, a good portion of which were dead and floating, extremely fast and full of energy, or hardly moving.
They were very bright and unnatural looking colors.. pretty.. but it's like eating an artificial fruit smoothie.. it tastes too fake.. and looks too fake.

1.) Just because they are transgenics doesn't mean they wont die if not properly taken care of. Your statement implied that because the fish where genetically modified they were unhealthy despite zero evidence of this. We have all seen everything from mice to ball pythons to ferrets not properly cared for at various Petcos.

2.) The color is produced by a gene product found in nature, GFP.

[Mendel's Balls]

I saw some glofish, a good portion of which were dead and floating, extremely fast and full of energy, or hardly moving.
They were very bright and unnatural looking colors.. pretty.. but it's like eating an artificial fruit smoothie.. it tastes too fake.. and looks too fake.

And not natural. :]

3.) Again natural doesn't necessarily mean good. And unatural doesn't mean bad....Many bp breeders cut eggs carefully to let the snake come come out. This is in no way bad if done properly.

4.) Do you eat tomatoes, corn, or yogurt? None of these are natural foods that ever existed in nature. In fact, the more we use up land for agriculture the less nature and wilderness we have. But maybe you do eat Teosinte instead of maize?

Many people think the lush vineyards of France are natural......but these are in no way "natural ecosystems"...they are unatural products of human engineering! They were created by man for man!

[littleindiangirl]

4.) Do you eat tomatoes, corn, or yogurt? None of these are natural foods that ever existed in nature.

I want a yogurt tree!

[ctrlfreq]

Do you think owning/making a transgenic or genetically engineered pet is wrong?

Man playing god has resulted in both modern corn, bananas, pure breed dogs and cats, and the entire ball python hobby.

I personally don't see any problem with our playing around with genetics to our heart's content. Sure we may stumble a few times, but invention is, and has never, been an exact science.