A Challenge to Genetic Engineers

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I just thought of this brilliant idea while in the shower... transparent skin.

When genetic engineers identify the gene which puts the pigment in our skin, they can figure out how to disable it. Since humans already have a variety of different colors of skin pigment, there is no reason to believe that there will be any disadvantage to making it transparent.

Think of the advantages:

1. No more racial profiling or prejudice in our society, everyone will look the same.

2. Doctors will be able to easily view your internal organs without using X-rays or MRI scanners.

3. It will be easy to see areas where fatty deposits are building up, so you'll know which areas to workout.

4. Women will be able to see if they are pregnant without getting tested.

5. Dentists will be able to work on your teeth without using mirrors.

6. You'll be able to see when your stomach is full so you know when to stop eating.

People will look a lot different, but we will get used to it very quickly. Instead of thinking of beauty as "skin deep", we will be able to see people for their "inner" beauty.

Who wants to volunteer to go first?

-- (Eddie @ the. Egghead), November 04, 2001

Answers

Eddie, go look at a human anatomy book. Right under skin and fat you would typically find muscle. Muscle isn't transparent, so internal organs wouldn't be visible.

But you still get a piece of pecan pie with home made icecream,

-- helen (give@that.boy.some.pie), November 04, 2001.


You mean you're supposed to stop eating when you're full??

-- (hmm@interesting.), November 04, 2001.

WOW! Helen, that's fantastic!

Of course you are correct, but that will be even better! The scientists can make ALL of our organs transparent, that way they'll be able to see everything working, just like jellyfish!

Doctors will be able to see if you have cancer, clogged arteries, brain tumors, etc., and we will be able to tell when we need to go to the bathroom.

Thanks for another brilliant idea!

-- (Eddie @ the. Egghead), November 04, 2001.


Eddie, have a bit of pie and follow me here...making internal organs won't work either, because you still have muscle encasing everything.

-- helen (hand@that.boy.a.beer), November 04, 2001.

Eddie, have a bit of pie and follow me here...making internal organs transparent won't work either, because you still have muscle encasing everything.

(this may be a double post, dunno)

-- helen (hand@that.boy.a.beer), November 04, 2001.



Duuuh, Helen. Now you are proving to be not as smart as I thought you were. When I said make ALL the organs transparent I meant EVERYTHING, including the muscles. Come on, get it together girl.

-- (Eddie @ the. Egghead), November 04, 2001.

Muscles aren't organs, but you can still have a beer.

-- helen (assholes@not.organs.either), November 05, 2001.

Ok, Eddie...I've seen something like what you're describing. It was a human fetus about 5 - 6 months along that had been miscarried naturally and not aborted -- so the sign on the jar said, although I would have given a baby that big a funeral had it been mine -- and this fetus had been "cleared".

I'm not sure how the fetus was "cleared", but the effect was sort of like a jellyfish. You could see the fetus, but everything was transparent. A dye that adhered to bone material had been injected into the arms and legs to show the bone development at that stage of life.

It was fascinating. There were other jars with fetuses at different stages, including one that was far enough along to have been viable, only for some reason it hadn't been. It looked normal. The prof was careful to emphasize that no deliberate abortions had taken place, and yet the conditions and ages of fetuses made me wonder if they had been taken whole from cadavers instead of miscarried from living mothers.

So you're right in that it can be done, although it was done on the dead and not the living when I saw it. And I don't think I want to see it in the living. I'd forgotten all about it until now.

Somebody feed that boy some chili pie...

-- helen (with@beer.in.each.hand), November 05, 2001.


Yeah, now you got the idea Helen! Wouldn't that be cool if we were like jellyfish? You could still see the bones, but the rest would be see-through. I think there are tremendous medical advantages. Doctors would be able to see all foreign substances like viruses, cancer, brain tumors, and arteriosclerosis. They have dyes they can put in your blood if they need to see what is going on in the bloodstream and the muscles. I think it is going to happen soon. Remember it was MY idea, so I get a percentage on the patent profits.

Thanks for the beer.

-- (Eddie @ the. Egghead), November 05, 2001.


Eddie, a "cleared" man will never get a date.

But you can always have another and another and another beer, so who cares?

-- helen (solid@as.a.rock.shaped.pillow), November 05, 2001.



Helen,

I don't know about that, I think many women would find it very exciting. Especially if they are transparent too.

Don't worry, we'll get used to looking differently and I'm sure we will like it. In the future, you probably won't have much choice in the matter. The government will eventually require that all humans be made transparent since it will be better for security checks and it will save them a lot of money for health insurance.

It may not happen to you or your children, but I think within 10 years or so most new children will be engineered to be transparent. Just you watch, there's no way they could ignore the potential of such a great idea.

-- (Eddie @ the. Egghead), November 05, 2001.


Eddie, Eddie...remember individualism? All these "cleared" people will be hard to distinguish among. Imagine trying to find your kid in the pool, or sneaking up behind your spouse for a quick squeeze. I tell you I've seen it, and it wasn't the way to go. Nobody wants to kiss a jellyfish.

You need some chips and dip?

-- helen (bleh@mule.lips.are.enough), November 06, 2001.


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