Solving Hunger: Synthetic Biology Points the Way, or Does It???

I just put down a small insert article from the January 12, 2013 edition of Science News. The writer asserts that Solving Hunger by increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis would produce much more “food” from the same plants and same space. And this would in turn relieve the world hunger problem. Really?

No, I don’t think so. Decades of research has shown that increased food production in places where starvation and poor nutrition is a way of life increases the population in proportion to the food produced. In other words: more food = more people. In these times of drought and weather crisis after weather crisis what the world does not need are more people. Let them starve? No, not a good idea either.

My solution is simple: Engineer into the new food supply a birth control mechanism that either reduces fertility in men and/or women or reduces libido in men. No fertility, no babies. No libido, no sex, no babies. Hell, if science can genetically engineer plants to do all they can now, it should be no real challenge to add a dose of something that would potentially save the world from additional overpopulation and self-destruction.

Oh. I forgot. Too Late.

Image: http://openwetware.org/images/thumb/7/74/RSSE2007_ImperialCollege_SyntheticBiology_Prism.jpg/350px-RSSE2007_ImperialCollege_SyntheticBiology_Prism.jpg

Genocide, Again.

 

The United Nations estimates that 60,000 men, women and children have been killed in Syria in the last 22 months. This civil war shows no sign of abating.

Remember when the world said “Never Again” after the Holocaust? And after the Cambodian genocide? And after the Bosnian genocide? And after the Rwanda genocide? And after Kaddafi threatened to exterminate his own people? And after Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of his own people in Kurdistan?

Yeah, I do to. “Never again” my ass. The Syrian government is systematically murdering their own citizens with the entire might of its military. Helicopter gunships; jet planes bombing and strafing; artillery shot into civilian enclaves; tanks rolling over everything in their path. The only thing missing is poison gas. And Syria has tons, yes tons, of the stuff. They have Saran, Mustard, Cyanide and probably a few others. They are reputedly holding stocks of biological agents. And they have shown a chilling willingness to murder their own people.

The rest of the world arms the rebels with guns and a few other tools. Not enough to take on a powerful army and air force. What is needed now, was needed a year ago and will be needed in the future is a total “no fly zone”. That would instantly take a major contributor to the genocide out of the equation. And it would be low cost. But the lack-guts spineless politicians of the free world would rather piss and moan about how bad it is in Syria than take a real stand and following through. Let me be the first to say “Once the genocide is over in Syria, NEVER AGAIN”. If you believe that, you really have your head somewhere the sun doesn’t shine.

(Note: In looking for an image for this article I googled “genocide”. The images are appalling. These along are reason enough to doubt the existence of “God” or any real goodness in mankind. If you don’t believe me, do it and look for your self.”

Image: http://c481901.r1.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/stop_genocide.jpg