Limit Stem Cells cure blindness (if you have one working eye or some surviving st
Would a future application of this technology be to restore 20/20 vision in people with conditions like myopia and astigmatism?
In future, I think it is possible with my very limited understanding. I mean the stem cell taken from the good eye essentially regenerate cornea. I'm sure when the "raw form" of stem cell (like the one from embryo or something similar that can be manipulate to anything) could regenerate a whole eye combine with the other thread of Dr. Venture's research of reprogramming/artificial DNA instruction could possibly do it. It would be basically writing your own code (DNA) and then compile into a limp, eye, ears, even skin color right? (stem cells)
again, this is what I can see the possibility.[/QUOTE]
Nope. If your eyes are terribad, taking your own stem cells and creating a new eye will not fix the problem. Your eyes being terribad have to do with their shape, which is a genetic trait.[/QUOTE]
even if that trait is remove and "reprogram"?
Because about a million to 500,000 years ago, if you had bad vision, you were dead. If you're dead, you can't pass on offspring with bad vision. There are lots of theories out there on how the development of society and culture caused a wave of dysgenics. I happen to agree with a lot of these theories especially when it comes to cancer, immune disorders, autism, and retardation. There are other factors too like the fact that we have such a huge population leading to simple probability that bad genes get passed along at a much more pronounced rate.
well also today people are allow to have children regardless of traits. So I can agree that issues are being pass down to newer generation.
I can totally see Gattaca style where you can take all the "bad stuff" out of your children and maybe the future will have less genetic issue (but that is a whole different debate on morals and society changes)[/QUOTE]
Finding genes and identifying what they do is essentially what some people spend their entire careers doing. Furthermore, you're suggesting that there's a "normal" trait for something like eye shape that one can go in and simply replace. This isn't the case. Messing with morphology traits of an individual can have drastic effects on how the rest of things work down the line. It's pretty amazing how many downstream effects altering a few basepairs can have. You're right it opens a whole can of worms actually reaching beyond the typical eugenics debate. Essentially, you're starting to fuck with the very fabric that makes humans human. Say in 500 to a thousand years if we have the technology to manipulate genomes to the extent of making whatever we want out of them, are heavily modified people going to be even considered human?
Sounds like a bad sci-fi novel... (hint: this issue was touched on in Jurassic Park)
