human cannonball

I've been reading some about the first human cannonball, a fourteen-year-old girl who performed under the name "Zazel." Which got me thinking about the daredevilry of our youth and how that often carries with us into realms that perhaps are best left slower.

For instance: there's a blurb in this month's issue of Wired that interviews a man who is in the process of trying to access and flip the genes in chicken embyos to enact the resurrection of the dinosaurs. Now, we're not talking about Jurassic Park-style monsters roam the earth armageddon style resurrection. I think this is much more innocuos and at the same time more reason to worry.

This doctor is working on research that will allow scientists to access the genetic material of chicken embyos and essentially flip the switch on certain characteristics. Basically, chickens retain the DNA of the dinosaurs. Certain genes are turned on in order to block those traits. The two mentioned are the trait of the long tail and that of fusing three finger/claws into wings. By turning those traits off while still in a formative stage, the result will allow, for instance the long tail and three fingers rather than wings to manifest.

I now have an image of tiny, feathered dinosaurs which frankly scares me. Big dinosaurs are destruction incarnate, agreed. However, if I was a dinosaur, I think I'd be more than a little pissed that I was A) tiny, B) feathered and C) ridiculous looking. I'm sorry but the lifeform they're talking about here sounds like a gremlin covered in featherbed innards. Why? How is this a good idea?

According to the article, the goal here is to allow a gateway byu which to jump to working with spinal regeneration and other life-altering bio-technologies. It is, regretably, largely beyond my grasp, but sure, I can see the benefit in theory. I just wonder if sometimes we experiment a little too freely with our knowledge. What I'm thinking of here is the argument looking at science: "Just because we can doesn't mean we should."

I think it should be noted that the scientist that is doing this work, was a consultant on Jurassic Park. Things that make you go "hmmmm..."