theiconoclast.info

http://hplusbiopolitics.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/why-cant-i-have-wings/

“Would you rather be invisible or fly?” That question has become so ubiquitous that it has lost all of its originality. Here’s a better question: how could a person actually be given wings (so that they could fly)?

To come up with an answer to this, it is important to understand some background biology. There are certain genes, called Hox genes, that code for transcription factors, or proteins that turn on other genes. The transpcripton factors encoded by Hox genes turn on vast networks of genes responsible for limb and body segment growth. So basically, in order for a person to grow a leg during the course of their development, the right hox gene that says “build a leg here”, must get turned on.

Now here’s where things start to get interesting. Since hox genes have so much power, mutations in them have amazing effects. For instance, scientists have played around with hox genes in fruit flies and done the following:

1.       Grown legs where antenna should be

2.      Grown an eye on a fruit fly’s leg

3.      Grown extra wings

Did you notice example number 3? Growing wings… Of course, as people are not flies, the genetic modifications needed to grow wings on people would be more complex than those needed to grow extra wings on flies. And there are lots of ethical problems with manipulating human embryos (any wing growing genes would need to be added then) solely for the goal of producing a wing-endowed person. Still… the point is that with the existence of Hox genes, the problem of giving a person wings isn’t as complicated as one would initially expect.

Sources:

www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/03/4/pdf/l_034_06.pdf

www.coolsciencefacts.com/2007/homeobox_genes.html

http://hplusbiopolitics.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/why-cant-i-have-wings/

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/04/a_brief_overview_of_hox_genes.php

http://michaelscomments.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/bacon.jpg

Bacon is good. However, some people don’t like that you have to kill pigs for it. But what if you didn’t have to?

For the first time, scientists have grown bacon in a petri dish. Well… almost. Two Dutch scientists, Bernard Roelen and Henk Haagsman, at Utrecht University, have managed to grow small bits of pork in the lab. This lab grown pork still lacks the fat, blood vessels, and consistency (lab muscle is a lot weaker than muscle that has been exercised through movement) characteristic of normal pork; think mushy ground pork instead of a pork chop. But it is a step toward lab grown bacon nevertheless.

First, the researchers collected pig myoblasts, which are muscle stem cells. They then used a special nutrient broth (made from pig fetuses, but researchers think synthetic substitutes may one day be available) to stimulate the myoblasts to grow into large bits of pig muscle. This is essentially pork.

Besides the obvious application of allowing vegetarians to eat pork, scientists hope that this would be another way to feed the hungry. Also, since there is no reason this technique wouldn’t work on other animals, people may one day be able to go to the store and buy all kinds of exotic meat: lion, tiger, penguin, giraffe… Who knows?

Sources:

·         Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe

·         http://www.thestar.com/News/article/245446