Landmark Map Reveals the Genetic Wiring of Cellular Life

[HardOCP News]

Researchers at the University of Toronto’s Donnelly Centre claim to have created the first map showing the global genetic interaction network of a cell. The research team says that this study took 15 years to complete.

“We’ve created a reference guide for how to chart genetic interactions in a cell," said Michael Costanzo, a research associate in the Boone lab and one of the researchers who spearheaded the study. "We can now tell what kind of properties to look for in searching for highly connected genes in human genetic networks with the potential to impact genetic diseases."

 

[alxlwson]

As much as I hate to say this, we really do need to stop this kind of research. People are already living too long as it is due to modern medicine. Lets figure out a way to stretch our resources before we start making people live even longer, while also adding to the population pool.
Death is pretty dang important

 

[dgz]

As much as I hate to say this, we really do need to stop this kind of research. People are already living too long as it is due to modern medicine. Lets figure out a way to stretch our resources before we start making people live even longer, while also adding to the population pool.
Death is pretty dang important

Yeah but it's inevitable, isn't it? Eventually the rich are going to live for hundreds of years.

Remember how the most valuable resource in Jupiter Ascending was this "essence" they were extracting out of humans? Rich people in that universe lived for millennia

 

[Twisted Kidney]

We really need to stop learning things and improving people's lives. Except me of course, other people though? Not worth it.

FIGHT THE KNOWLEDGE!

 

[Ur_Mom]

As much as I hate to say this, we really do need to stop this kind of research. People are already living too long as it is due to modern medicine. Lets figure out a way to stretch our resources before we start making people live even longer, while also adding to the population pool.
Death is pretty dang important

Pfft. I have a better plan - Logan's Run (1976) - IMDb

 

[dgz]

A thought occurred: how do you compel an old person with a healthy equivalent of a 20-something body to make room? I think you don't.

I've heard arguments how as you get old you get more and more bored of life, etc. It's bullshit imho. People say that because, as they age, they start to feel worse over time. It's a natural mechanism. It's a scary thought.

 

[Damar]

Whenever the whole topic of life/death/immortality comes up I always think of this....

Ivanova: Ok, let's assume that in all of the universe, you were the first living being to achieve sentience billions of years ago. Now at that point you'd be doing pretty good to invent fire or the wheel. You couldn't come up with science and technology find a serum for immortality all in one lifetime.

Lorien: It wasn't necessary. We were born, naturally immortal.

Ivanova: That's impossible. Everything dies.

Lorien: Yes. Now. At first we were kept in balance by birth rate. Few of us were ever born, less than a handful each year. Then I think the universe decided, that to appreciate life for there to be change and growth, life had to be short. So the generations that followed us grew old, infirmed, then died. But those of us who were first went on. We discovered the Vorlons and the shadows when they were infant races and nourished them -- helped them and all the other races you call the first ones. In time, most of them died. Or passed beyond the rim to whatever lies in the darkness between the galaxies. We've lived too long; seen too much. To live on as we have is to leave behind joy and love and companionship because we know it to be transitory; of the moment. We know it will turn to ash. Only those whose lives are brief can imagine that love is eternal. You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received.

 

[tybert7]

As much as I hate to say this, we really do need to stop this kind of research. People are already living too long as it is due to modern medicine. Lets figure out a way to stretch our resources before we start making people live even longer, while also adding to the population pool.
Death is pretty dang important

Wrong. We are not living too long and we are not in a short supply of resources and even if our population was double what it is now on earth we could still support that with room to spare.


ALL of your intuitions about this are wrong. Now stop. You won't believe a damn thing I just said, partly because you are likely invested in a sort of emotional nihilism about human influence. Pay attention to your own intuitions when I argue against them.

The earth is not a closed finite system. There is a massive energy source pouring light into the earth called the sun, we can tap into that EXTERNAL source of energy to do work such that we essentially have free energy, at least on the time scales I care about for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. There is no dearth of energy, and with energy, we can reshape the globe to our will. Genetically modified crops will allow us to create more drought resistant crops with more nutrients that grow in more diversified climates, we can increase yields while ALSO decreasing the are needed for a given yield. We have crispr now, it has never been easier to modify the genetic code of life to suit our needs for adaptation. So now, more people is not a bad thing, and resources are not scarce, because with that external energy source, we can convert matter into things we like.


Not finite, not closed, stop being a nihilist.

 

[tybert7]

Whenever the whole topic of life/death/immortality comes up I always think of this....

Ivanova: Ok, let's assume that in all of the universe, you were the first living being to achieve sentience billions of years ago. Now at that point you'd be doing pretty good to invent fire or the wheel. You couldn't come up with science and technology find a serum for immortality all in one lifetime.

Lorien: It wasn't necessary. We were born, naturally immortal.

Ivanova: That's impossible. Everything dies.

Lorien: Yes. Now. At first we were kept in balance by birth rate. Few of us were ever born, less than a handful each year. Then I think the universe decided, that to appreciate life for there to be change and growth, life had to be short. So the generations that followed us grew old, infirmed, then died. But those of us who were first went on. We discovered the Vorlons and the shadows when they were infant races and nourished them -- helped them and all the other races you call the first ones. In time, most of them died. Or passed beyond the rim to whatever lies in the darkness between the galaxies. We've lived too long; seen too much. To live on as we have is to leave behind joy and love and companionship because we know it to be transitory; of the moment. We know it will turn to ash. Only those whose lives are brief can imagine that love is eternal. You should embrace that remarkable illusion. It may be the greatest gift your race has ever received.

btw, lorien may be right after millions/billions of years of life, but I'm pretty damn sure I would be a lot happier with more than 70-100 years of existence before all that I am is snuffed out. This tiniest sliver of existence is something I'm both grateful for as an atheist, and saddened over.

 

[alxlwson]

Wrong. We are not living too long and we are not in a short supply of resources and even if our population was double what it is now on earth we could still support that with room to spare.


ALL of your intuitions about this are wrong. Now stop. You won't believe a damn thing I just said, partly because you are likely invested in a sort of emotional nihilism about human influence. Pay attention to your own intuitions when I argue against them.

The earth is not a closed finite system. There is a massive energy source pouring light into the earth called the sun, we can tap into that EXTERNAL source of energy to do work such that we essentially have free energy, at least on the time scales I care about for tens or hundreds of thousands of years. There is no dearth of energy, and with energy, we can reshape the globe to our will. Genetically modified crops will allow us to create more drought resistant crops with more nutrients that grow in more diversified climates, we can increase yields while ALSO decreasing the are needed for a given yield. We have crispr now, it has never been easier to modify the genetic code of life to suit our needs for adaptation. So now, more people is not a bad thing, and resources are not scarce, because with that external energy source, we can convert matter into things we like.


Not finite, not closed, stop being a nihilist.

You should take a closer look at nihilism, primarily because you apparently aren't familiar with it's definition. In fact, I'm pretty fucking opposite of being a nihilist.
Also, you should read what I said again. Reading comprehension is quite important.

 

[tybert7]

You should take a closer look at nihilism, primarily because you apparently aren't familiar with it's definition. In fact, I'm pretty fucking opposite of being a nihilist.
Also, you should read what I said again. Reading comprehension is quite important.

Nihilism is probably not the right word, I need to find a better one. But there is a kind of talk around things like overpopulation and resource scarcity that can tend towards a scale of pessimism over the capability of modern civilization to deal with where the term pessimism strikes me as too weak a word. Nihilism sounds much stronger with the right kind of sound, but it's not the exact target for what you espoused above. In any event, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Making people live longer is not taking away from others who don't have enough resources, the current issues revolve around distribution not scarcity of things like food and energy.

 

[Wiffle]

Nihilism is probably not the right word, I need to find a better one. But there is a kind of talk around things like overpopulation and resource scarcity that can tend towards a scale of pessimism over the capability of modern civilization to deal with where the term pessimism strikes me as too weak a word. Nihilism sounds much stronger with the right kind of sound, but it's not the exact target for what you espoused above. In any event, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. Making people live longer is not taking away from others who don't have enough resources, the current issues revolve around distribution not scarcity of things like food and energy.

People starve in this world not because their isn't enough food, its because the local warlords, dictators, corporations, bankers, politicions, and plain greedy bastards are hoarding it all to make people think there is a shortage, and then they charge a premium for something thats pretty much unlimited. I laugh when I read articles claiming there will be food shortages because there is no longer any fertile land to grow, its only meant to confuse uneducated people. Fact is, plants need very little to survive. Fertile soil isn't even a requirement for plant life. All those fertilizers you see these corporate farms dumping on their crops aren't so the plants grow, its only to accelerate the growth cycle and ensure all the plants produce quality fruits that look palatable. Many of these corporate farms are literally dumping good food on the ground because it won't fetch a premium price because of a slight blemish, or its misshapen, or it simply won't fit into their packaging. Much of the produce you see those roadside fruit stands selling is the unwanted. It makes you sick once you see it happening, like farmers dumping thousands of gallons of milk because the corporate buyers won't buy it because the price per gallon is too low.

The medical field is no different. Many diseases have been wiped off the face of the earth because of good medical advances that came about because of need not greed. Nowadays you have shit like the Epipen fiasco. They used to be cheap. A law was passed that requires children who are allergic to stings to have them at school. Now suddenly they cost 600$.

George Carlin put it the best: