Page 10 - Glowing Bunnies!? Why We're Making Hybrids, Chimeras, and Clones

Spider goats and glowing bunnies? Yep, they exist, and you’ll meet
them in these pages.
Mind-controlled rats, double-muscled dogs, de-extincted aurochs,
ligers, pizzlies, cloned cattle, super pigs? Come say hello.
Woolly mammoths and dinosaurs? Self-destructing mosquitoes?
Human-animal chimeras? Monkeys with humanized brains? Brand-
new organisms made from scratch?
All in the works.
Of course, this newfound ability freaks many people out. Wouldn’t
it be better if certain fictional creatures stayed fictional?
As a society, that’s what we need to talk about. Genetic engineering
is quickly becoming routine, an everyday fact of life. Scientists have
learned not only how to read the genetic book of life but how to write
and speak its language. If we use this power wisely—this incredible
ability to reshape animals, plants, and ourselves, remixing anything
with DNA—we might solve some of the biggest problems facing us,
other species, and the environment. Indeed, this powerful technology is
poised to transform our world . . .
In movies, when someone talks like this—we have the power to
transform the world!—you know some tagalong character, the film’s
plucky comic relief, is going to raise a trembling hand and ask, So, um,
is this really a good idea?
Does anyone ever listen?
This book is that character. This book raises a hand to ask, Given
what we can do, what should we do? This book presents some of the
genetically engineered animals scientists are making and asks you to
consider which of these projects seem like wise, practical, and safe ways
to use this technology to improve our world, and which might be, you
know, not so smart after all.
Each of us, individually and collectively, needs to raise a hand
and ask these questions because how we answer them will determine
our future.

8 GLOWING BUNNIES!?