Scientists Attach Bar Codes To Embryos 69
Zothecula writes "Fans of the film Blade Runner may remember a scene in which the maker of an artificial snake is identified by a microscopic serial number on one of its scales. Well, in a rare case of present-day technology actually surpassing that predicted in a movie, we've now gone one better — bar codes on embryos. Scientists from Spain's Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), along with colleagues from the Spanish National Research Council, have successfully developed an identification system in which mouse embryos and oocytes (egg cells) are physically tagged with microscopic silicon bar code labels. They expect to try it out on human embryos and oocytes soon."
Re:Is this where... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The End Times and Christian eschatology (Score:5, Interesting)
Everytime you put a barcode on a living thing, you stir up that pot of crazy.
The summary really should have pointed out that THE TAGS DON'T STAY ON. Hopefully we can nip this in the bud.
And try not to forget that just because science is great, it doesn't mean that the Christian retards have any less power.
What power in this context? The power to foam at the mouth about this fairly boring bit of research from Spain? The ability to pass laws stipulating that human embryos should not be marked with barcodes?
Don't get me wrong, any power is more power than those nuts -should- have, and this could get them new recruits which would also be bad, but this is not a serious issue otherwise.
Not that new (Score:4, Interesting)
Salmon otoliths were barcoded in the early 80's (I think) to distinguish between different hatcheries. Coding was achieved by varying the water temperature during development, thus affecting the rate of growth, and hence colour of the bone in bands. The code stayed with the fish for life.