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From: inc@tc.fluke.COM (Gary Benson)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre,misc.legal,talk.politics.misc,misc.jobs.misc,sci.bio
Subject: Re: Are Animals Patentable?
Message-ID: <3585@fluke.COM>
Date: 28 Apr 88 17:17:38 GMT
References: <11285@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <473@goofy.megatest.UUCP> <2354@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
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In Article 5767 of misc.legal, dlleigh@media-lab.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Darren L.
Leigh) writes:

>In article <473@goofy.megatest.UUCP> djones@megatest.UUCP (Dave Jones) writes:
>>in article <11285@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>, lum@brachiosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Lum Johnson) says:
>>> I suggest that those who didn't take Mary Shelley's _Frankenstein_
>>> seriously reconsider the lesson hidden under the story.
>>> 
>>Ditto for _Bladerunner_.  Get the movie on video tape.  Great flick.

>No, Bladerunner doesn't cut it unless you see it in 70mm.  It loses
>so much on video.  Well, if you're going to see it for the plot and
>not the special effects, the video might be OK, but that's probably
>a waste of time.

>I say, patent the mouse and don't get ulcers until our friends
>the genetic engineers can actually *do* something scary.
>Let's burn that bridge when we come to it.


Darren, that reaction is just plain irresponsible and short-sighted. We are
confronted today by the toughest moral issues in history as the result of
the miracles of science, and you say we should wait to think about them
until the bio-engineers actually *do* something? Look at what is happening,
man! Every day we read about children being fought over by two "mothers" who
both seem to have valid claims. But what about the child's welfare? The
issues surrounding euthanasia and abortion are becoming incredibly complex.
Now this mouse patenting thing may seem minor to you, but it is the
beginning of what I think will be the ultimate test of humanity's ability to
solve problems! If you think about it, we now must define human life, and in
my opinion your posting is flippant and adds nothing to the discussion.

Perhaps our lives today would be a bit more secure and peaceful if the
scientists who developed the first nuclear weapons had been asking some of
these questions. Once Pandora's box is opened, it is very tough to get it
closed again. Wait until they *do* something? Get real. They *have* done
something, and we had better start thinking ahead about *what* they have
done, and what direction it is taking us. You know, the long view.


-- 
Gary Benson		   -_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-inc@tc.fluke.com_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
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