Stephen E. Jones wrote:
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_597000/597540.stm BBC
>... Monday, 10 January, 2000 ... Human gene race nears end ... By BBC
>News Online Science Editor Dr David Whitehouse ... The private gene-
>hunting company Celera Genomics have announced that they have 97% of
>all human genes in their grasp ... [The article discusses concerns that the
>company, Craig Venter's Celera Genomics will try to patent the genes,
>restricting research. Venter claims he only will patent a few hundred, and
>the rest will be on his web database and CD, but he will charge a fee for
>accessing it. He isn't called `the Bill Gates of genetics' for nothing!]
Is it possible to patent existing genes? I knew you could patent newly
developed varieties.
>http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/01/10/primates.peril/index.html
>CNN ... Report: After century of survival, many primates face extinction
>The golden bamboo lemur tops the list of endangered primates ... January
>10, 2000 ... WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After surviving the 20th century
>with no extinctions, dozens of primate species face the threat of
>disappearing forever, according to a report released Monday by
>Conservation International. ... [Included in this group are gorillas and
>orangutans. Now if they are among man's closest living relatives, with such
>high IQs (for non-human animals) that they can even be taught (at least in
>the case of gorillas), to use sign language, why are the apes now on the
>verge of extinction? If high intelligence has such a powerful selective
>advantage, then why have the apes not gone further with it? I will ask
>Elaine Morgan's question again: "If we are so closely related to them [the
>apes] ... then why are we not more like them?" (Morgan E., "The Scars of
>Evolution", 1990, p1)].
So many human tribes have gone extinct, even before industrialization,
one can hardly marvel about rifles and bulldozers wiping out the innocent
apes. I do wonder if apes suffer from a prejudice against them, due to their
seeming like bestial versions of humans, and reminders of evolutionary
theory. Are there any creationists among ape researchers?
[... Galapagos iguanas]
>The comment
>about data that does not fit the prevailing values being ignored is
>noteworthy from an ID perspective. If materialistic-naturalistic science
>does not value ID then presumably they will not notice any evidence for
>ID?]
Surely they will not. But their collections and their data are available to
ID researchers.
>[It's interesting how once a population learns about
>what UFOs look like, they start seeing them!
It'll be fun to read of the Chinese versions of things. For example, the
abductees will probably be treated more politely. I've seen aliens on TV;
they look a bit asian to me. Perhaps their aliens will have round eyes.
>http://www.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/01/03/threadsnakes.enn/index.html
>CNN ... Snakes hold thread of evolution evidence ... January 3, 2000 ... By
>Environmental News Network staff. Only six to eight inches long, the
>diminutive threadsnake boasts a unique feeding system that may have great
>evolutionary and ecological importance, according to a recent study. [The
>article goes on to say that "The evolutionary origin of snakes has been
>contentious," Kley [Nate Kley, evolutionary biologist and herpetologist at
>the University of Massachusetts at Amherst] said, ... "people do not know
>from which lizards snakes evolved."]
If the principle of reduction and specialization among skeletal parts is
valid, the thread snakes could not possibly have evolved from anything
with the jaws of a conventional lizard.
--Cliff Lundberg ~ San Francisco ~ cliff@noe.com
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