Capitalism always finds a way…
From all the uses one could find to CRISPR, this is probably one of the dumbest.
Making paper? Capitalizzum. Marx would have cried if he heard people equate economy and production with capitalism.
Here’s my point. We live under global capitalism. It’s just how things are, right?
And capitalism, just like, say, life, has its ways. It creates an environment where certain outcomes are more likely than others.
Making an observation about it does not make me partial to other systems. I have no such preference. What I observe is just that capitalism, just like life, always finds a way—its way.
I heard someone mentioned the danger of using CRISPR to make better soldiers. It’s crazy, right? But why isn’t crazy to tinker with a tree? Yes, it may make those trees a better product. And all seems good. But once you do that to the tree, and it becomes profitable, the incentive is there to make that true for everything else.
I think it’s dumb because such power (CRISPR) should be treated with great care. Curing a disease? Go for it. But be careful. Now, to make a better product? I dunno, it just rubs me the wrong way.
Perhaps I’m not seeing the whole picture. Or maybe I should take some bioethics class again.
But whatever may be the case, my point is not there all proletariat the world over should unite.
Mate, I don’t know or care about the other guy’s insults, but don’t you think unspecifically attributing the word to the US’s terribly managed economy is getting cringe and worse muddying the water. I’ve seen a super posh actress who’s famous for being posh (nobility on both sides of the family) complain (in character) about it on a trailer for a major movie coming out soon.
Not to say criticism is cringe, but while I might be wrong, something seems to be missing.
Did you read the article? They’re just reducing the lignin content in the wood so it’s easier to process cellulose. I don’t understand where you see the difference to let’s say selective breeding to produce bigger and sweeter fruits. CRISPR is just an optimised and probably better results promising alternative to the massive amounts of trial and error we had to go through to isolate promising genetic traits.
Thank you for engaging! This is what makes Lemmy such a great platform. It’s people like you who engage in a meaningful way.
Now, you raise a good point. Did I read the article? Well, I’ve cut the middleperson, and went straight to the paper. The Editor’s summary has this to say:
This work demonstrates that genome editing can be harnessed for breeding more efficient trees, which will provide timely opportunities for sustainable forestry and a more efficient bioeconomy.
Which means ‘more efficient’ to us. To our understanding of efficiency. At face-value, I’m sold to the benefits. Economy-wise, it looks great. But it still bothers me. Something something about ‘the greater picture’. That’s why I mentioned in another reply that I probably have to update my view on bioethics. It’s been a while since I gave it a careful consideration. I may be missing the the forest for the trees… (dad joke).
What’s not clear to me is whether these edits will be passed on to future generations of trees. I think that’s usually not the case with CRISPR, but this article is talking about “breeding”, so maybe it is the case here. The phrase “building a better forest” is particularly disturbing as well.
My concern here is basically that we don’t want to be replacing wild forests with genetically engineered monoculture. Replacing millions of years of evolution and biodiversity with 1 or 2 “optimal” genetic lines leaves the population vulnerable to things like disease and environmental changes. A diverse population is much more resilient against these dangers, since the differences in individuals may allow some to survive where others couldn’t.
So as long as the usage is limited to specific tree farms, it’s probably no worse than other modern agricultural practices. I just hope they don’t want to replace wild forests with CRISPR trees.
I see your concerns. I think we can’t avoid using our land. The alternative would be not existing. Also we have to agree that most people demand a degree of consumerism that puts a strain on the resources we have. That’s the reality we face. Paper is a very necessary good and probably will be forever. The production of paper is resource intensive. Removing lignin would reduce our demand of resources.
I don’t see big poplar forests with the whole purpose of harvesting cellulose as that problematic if we keep in mind that this also gives more space for habitats we have to protect.What this research promises is that we can make the best of what we have because that is all we have left after we ravaged the planet and are not willing to stop that.
