[ExI] CRISPR and Gene Drives

[Ben]

BillK <pharos at gmail.com> wrote:

"The engineered organisms could upset the delicate balance of an ecosystem"

Of course. This is why we need to learn to engineer not only genomes, 
but entire ecosystems and meta-ecosystems.

At some point, we'll have to recognise the fact that ecosystems, just 
like genomes, are not sacrosanct, that they evolved in the usual 
haphazard way that everything does, and that we have already been 
mucking about with them for ages, and can potentially do a much better 
job of it. The very phrase 'delicate balance' is telling (although I 
suspect that natural ecosystems are not anywhere near as delicate as 
many people would have us think).

Just as we need more robust, adaptable and controllable bodies and 
genomes, we need more robust, adaptable and controllable ecosystems. 
We'd better get cracking and start learning how to design them.

I expect though, that by the time we can do that we'll also be 
engineering many millions of virtual ecosystems too (and bodies, and 
minds), and most people will be inhabiting them, leaving biology behind 
as a niche occupation of a few enthusiasts. But you never know, we might 
need biology for a lot longer than many of us expect, so it would be 
prudent not to leave it to chance.

Ben Zaiboc