[benjikan]

Interesting Reading None the Less....

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/01/12/scientists-find-extraterrestria...tml&frame=true

[jfdavis58]

Interesting Reading None the Less....

http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2007/01/12/scientists-find-extraterrestria...tml&frame=true

I am one-sixtyfourth Klingon.

Where is my free land and government subsidy?

[Richard3550]

Netscape - now there's something I haven't seen for a long time.

[Photo Tramp]

weird! very weird.

[Rak]

That's pretty funny! I hope those scientists aren't taking that seriously...

I searched on Google and some people have published books on the subject. I think, though, that the article (and the books) are poking fun on intelligent design.

[bdavis]

Wow, that's quality, academic research. really.

Growing up in Alien-central as I have (really, NM is the best place in the universe!), and with the opinion that the genome project has, to date, been a fabulous waste of time and resources, I can recognize the entertainment value in such an article.

But, oh, the pseudoscience! It hurts my head! (&it's hard to believe it, but this article has already been debunked! ..score one for the ivory tower?)

[benjikan]

Wow, that's quality, academic research. really.

Growing up in Alien-central as I have (really, NM is the best place in the universe!), and with the opinion that the genome project has, to date, been a fabulous waste of time and resources, I can recognize the entertainment value in such an article.

But, oh, the pseudoscience! It hurts my head! (&it's hard to believe it, but this article has already been debunked! ..score one for the ivory tower?)

Ah yes..I see the pattern here. I am quite sure that when Mr. Galileo of the lovely city of Pisa presented his hypothesis that the planets were Sun centric to the Vatican in Rome in 1612, he didn't expect to receive the wonderful and hospitable reaction he did. He was denounced officially by Rome to cease all discussion regarding Copernican astronomy.

None the less the rest is history. Oh, and the article that was shown to debunk this theory, would you site your source?

[Asad_Masede]

and with the opinion that the genome project has, to date, been a fabulous waste of time and resources

Why do you think so?

[bdavis]

Asad,
There is a tremendous amount of genetic variation between individuals, and its unlikely that there will ever be a definitive human sequence. (The same goes for all other organisms (chimps, etc.).) The work done on the project, then, doesn't really apply to the human population as a whole. Some critics have also pointed out that the population sample the researchers have drawn from is very euro-centric. A joke I like: once they complete the project "they'll tell us everything there is to know about one French farmer and a lady from Philadelphia."

Further, even if a definitive sequence was discovered, there are wide ranging and very far reaching implications for ethical, philosophical, and governmental institutions and more. Who defines normal? What is normal? And so on. [There is no normal! Life is VARIATION!]

Also, only about 5 percent of the genome is an actual coding region. We've spent how much money and time on non-coding material? For what? For the pseudoscientists who search for any opportunity to interject "it must be the aliens"?

Asad, I must admit that I'm also wary, (and this is a bit of an understatement) of mega-collaboratives, and mega-projects. As far as I can see, they make money, but they are also very skilled at spending it*. There is a point at which group size obeys the law of diminishing returns, as well.

I don't feel the genome project is a good use of resources. Yes, it's neat, it's very public, but there is probably more to be accomplished on a smaller scale. The field of genetics is absolutely mind blowing in it's scope.



*As a tangent, ask me about college football (american) and $1 million dollar basketball coaches sometime.

[Asad_Masede]

Asad,
There is a tremendous amount of genetic variation between individuals, and its unlikely that there will ever be a definitive human sequence. (The same goes for all other organisms (chimps, etc.).) The work done on the project, then, doesn't really apply to the human population as a whole. Some critics have also pointed out that the population sample the researchers have drawn from is very euro-centric. A joke I like: once they complete the project "they'll tell us everything there is to know about one French farmer and a lady from Philadelphia."

Further, even if a definitive sequence was discovered, there are wide ranging and very far reaching implications for ethical, philosophical, and governmental institutions and more. Who defines normal? What is normal? And so on. [There is no normal! Life is VARIATION!]

Also, only about 5 percent of the genome is an actual coding region. We've spent how much money and time on non-coding material? For what? For the pseudoscientists who search for any opportunity to interject "it must be the aliens"?

Asad, I must admit that I'm also wary, (and this is a bit of an understatement) of mega-collaboratives, and mega-projects. As far as I can see, they make money, but they are also very skilled at spending it*. There is a point at which group size obeys the law of diminishing returns, as well.

I don't feel the genome project is a good use of resources. Yes, it's neat, it's very public, but there is probably more to be accomplished on a smaller scale. The field of genetics is absolutely mind blowing in it's scope.



*As a tangent, ask me about college football (american) and $1 million dollar basketball coaches sometime.

OK, I agree 100%, Beth. Been reading up on the project ever since I checked this thread since I knew next to nothing about it and after going through, your opinion matches mine. Mega collaborative projects often times end up being influenced by the other thing that's also "mega" -- corps et al and all the (not so) nice things they bring with them.

Heh, I will take you up on the tangent question sometime when the season is at it's peak. ;-)

Cheers!
-Asad