Report: First Genetically Altered Babies - ABC News

Are we browsing while Rome burns?

The latest outrage is the report that thirty (30!) children were recently born using a technique which involves 3 parents. The researchers call their experiment "the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children." Quoting the article: A number of scientists question the ethics of the experiment. For the first time, they say, it has been confirmed that children have been born with genetic alterations. Scary stuff.

"Scientists" have once again gotten so far into the trees that they entirely missed the forest, and have proved that they are not the appropriate gate-keepers for what is on- and off-limits.

Isolated in their labs, they continue to tinker with global-apocalyptic-capable technology with the reckless abandon of children with Lego.

"Let's try this!" "Let's try that!"

With so many hands at the work, how long can it be before we destroy ourselves?

Report: First Genetically Altered Babies - ABC News

The Actual (very technical) report from Human Reproduction/Oxford Journals

Termite-inspired robots can build structures unsupervised

Self-organizing, self-directed robots? Robots whose singular purpose is to take things around them and convert them into other things? Maybe that doesn't sound bad to you. But wait. Have you ever heard of the Paperclip Maximizer? It's a thought experiment, where an Artificial Intelligence is given an instruction, a purpose. Collect paperclips.

That one little spark leads to the development of a passion, an obsession, with paperclips...and an outburst of ability on the part of the AI, leading ultimately to the entire universe being converted into paperclips. It's a thought experiment. So think about it.

Read more about it here and here.

I don't want to be an alarmist or anything, but do scientists view all experiments as benign? Doesn't there come a time when they should examine the potential for harm in an exploratory direction and question how much progress should be made?

I'm not saying this one is it, but once the cat's out of the bag, it's hard to contain. What I AM saying is, let's think things through. There are already several (30?) genetically modified human children out there. Just because we CAN do something doesn't address whether we SHOULD.

I refer you to this link, and a quote from it:

...the AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made out of atoms which it can use for something else.
-Eliezer Yudkowsky

Termite-inspired robots can build structures unsupervised