[extropy-chat] Dragons

Adrian Tymes wingcat at pacbell.net
Mon Dec 22 21:11:20 UTC 2003


--- "Robert J. Bradbury" <bradbury at aeiveos.com> wrote:
> On the other hand one of the reasons I went back and
> learned all about
> molecular biology was because I wanted a pet dragon
> (derived in part
> from my thinking dragons were cool from reading the
> Dragonriders of
> Pern series in my youth).  Once I learned enough
> about molecular
> biology I was convinced they were feasible (don't
> know about flying
> but there were some very big reptiles that flew) I
> started biotech
> companies doing aging research because I knew it was
> going to be
> a few decades until the technology developed
> sufficiently to do
> whole genome design (and I wanted to still be alive
> to take
> advantage of using it to design my dragon).
> 
> The other reason to have a pet dragon is because if
> I walk it
> around Greenlake its going to be a babe magnet big
> time. :-)

It would definitely be an artistic statement along the
lines of the glofish, but perhaps better received
given its existing wide precedent in fantasy.  So I
wonder...what all, exactly, would be necessary to
genetically engineer a fire-breathing, flying reptile?

I recall a description someone once worked up, of how
a dragon could have enzymes that digest certain rocks
(mainly limestone) to produce hydrogen gas, that was
stored in an internal bladder, allowing blimp-style
flight (with wings for horizontal propulsion).  This
gas could then be forcefully expelled by contracting
the bladder, either heating up a lot or going past
some kind of spark generator right at the edge of the
mouth (don't want to burn the tongue or gums).  The
description did not mention it, but if the bladder
could contract without expelling the gas, the dragon
could change its volume without changing its mass,
thus controlling the amount of lift its store of
hydrogen gave - and, most importantly, allowing the
dragon to land and take off without having to
sacrifice and regenerate hydrogen (which might limit
landing zones to spots with available limestone).

(The author then went on to speculate that in theory,
upon a dragon's death, the enzyme would eventually
dissolve the bones, leaving only soft tissues which
disentigrate normally.  The only "fossils" they would
leave behind would be pockets of natural gas and
perhaps a bit of oil.  But that is of little
importance to creating a new species.)

One could possibly start from an already existing
winged reptile.  Or perhaps take nature's cue for
optimized flight, and go for a feathered dragon: a
bird.  That way, most of the design needed for flight
is already done; we'd just need to add in the enzyme,
the bladder, and the heater/sparker.  Now, knowing
enough genetics to add in specific organs (rather than
an overall effect, as for the glofish) would be a
challenge...



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