Evolution and Red Tape in the 3rd Millenium

1
Evolution and Red Tape in the 3rd Millenium

• When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said ...
  It means just what I choose it to mean neither
  more nor less.
• The question is, said Alice, whether you can
  make words mean so many different things.
• The question is, said Humpty Dumpty, which is
  to be master that's all.
• Lewis Carrol (1832-1898)

2
A Small Quandary

• Who is in control? Our genes or us?
• Apples, Tulips, Marijuana, and Potato's seem to
  know

3
Evolution in the Past

• Slow and tedious
• Tools Recombination, mutations, transpositions
• Painstaking error and success methodology

4
Analogy The Halting Problem

• Can an algorithm determine whether any given
  program and data run to completion?
• Nope. But what if it could?

5
The New Face of Evolution

• Homo sapiens The first species to be able to
  modify its genome in a directly concerted effort
• Powerful new tools Molecular and Genetic
  Techniques
• Bioinformatics solving an evolutionary 'halting'
  problem
• Epigenesis also possible

6
A Genes New Enemies

• Politics, Ethics, Greed
• Race and other prejudices
• Linebreeding
• HapMap Project
• Legislative Measures
• Bans on human cloning
• Restrictions on GMOs

• Control of Technology
• Costly endeavors
• Abuses of the patent system
• CIMMYT, apomixis technologies

7
The Future

• Conflict We don't want things to change, but our
  physical structure does.
• Ethical Pursuit v.s. Relentless pursuit of
  Perfection

8
The End Game

• Timeline still long, but only a fraction of time
  using previous methods
• A lot of interesting things may be accomplished
  before the next mass extinction