Saturday, August 7, 2004

And while we're on the topic of 'What if...?' 'Biopolicy Seminar': Internet Dialogue on 'What if...?' September 1st - October 31st 2004. The Internet Dialogue on 'What If...?' is a web-forum and has 3 main activities: (a) Discussion of 'What If..?' questions and statements (Sept to Oct 2004) (b) Discussion of abstracts relevant to the 'What If---?' theme from the 3rd Science Generation Symposium 'Biotechnology: Possibilities, Risks, Ethics, and Society (Sept 2004) '. (c) Discussion of abstracts relevant to the 'What If---?' theme from the Biopolicy Seminar on 'Social Innovations for Development : A case for Biopolicy' http://www.biofocus.org/inpipeline.htm (Oct 2004) 10:40:02 PM    comment []  trackback []

Are you my mother? [Grist]: Are you my mother? Scientists Enable Salmon to Birth Trout Scientists in Japan have succeeded in causing salmon to give birth to trout. Yep, you read that correctly: By transplanting the 'primordial germ cells' -- specialized tissue in embryonic fish that will eventually develop into sexual organs -- of a North American rainbow trout into the embryos of young masu salmon, researchers at the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology produced baby trout and, presumably, some extremely alarmed salmon mothers. The scientists say that the technique could be used to boost populations of endangered or commercially valuable fish. Enviros stressed that the procedure is no substitute for habitat protection. No one, strangely, seemed to have anything to say about the mind-farking, galactic weirdness of the whole thing. straight to the source: BBC News, Richard Black, 05 Aug 2004 straight to the source: The Independent, Steve Connor, 05 Aug 2004 Yoicks, yet again. Will blunders - I mean wonders - never cease? ('Mind-farking, galactic weirdness' seems to about sum it up just right to me.) 10:36:00 PM    comment []  trackback []