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27.11.12

Custom-Fit Genes

For eons, humans have eaten the plants and animals that inhabit our surroundings.  At the molecular level, we are bound to our environment in a way few of us really think about.

When we eat something, we are ingesting everything that meal consumed, plus its DNA.  As our bodies digest the meal, its molecules are either directly used by our bodies, or are rendered into a form which can be used.  Everything about that meal becomes us in a most intimate and fundamental way.

UPDATE: How about custom assassinations using bioweapons tuned to individual DNA?

 Within the past 20 years or more, humans have learned how to manipulate the very structure of life.  We have cataloged its structure and begun rearranging it to suit our whims.  We are changing the very fabric of the reality into which we have spent millions of years assimilating, with little concern on the part of the masses for the long-term effects.  This is in spite of the fact that we are all aware on some level that every action has a consequence, good, bad or indifferent.  And it's usually the bad we don't prepare for that bites us in the tail.

Back in the 90s, I was witness to a series of experiments injecting the P53 Wild gene into tumor cells.  The gene was attached to the protein coat of a certain virus and then injected directly into the tumor.  The protein coat acted as a key to allow the gene inside the cell wall, where it was incorporated into the cell's DNA.  The tests were reasonably successful with the P53 Wild gene acting as a switch to turn off the run-away growth of cancer cells.

In those experiments, the P53 gene was 'wild', meaning it was a naturally occuring, though unmutated, gene found in all of our cells.

Today we have companies such as Monsanto and DuPont liberally mixing and matching genes of different species, turning them on and off, and even creating wholly new ones from the basic building blocks of DNA.  The chimeras created in this fashion are liberally sprinkled in the environment in the form of GMOs for the stated purpose of increasing food crop yields, or producing natural substances on a mass scalle, or even to provide antibiotics and antivirals within in the foods we eat.

There is no concern for consent or even basic information.  There have been no life-long controlled trials to see what the outcomes will be.  If anything, there is callous disregard for how these modifications will affect not only individual humans, but the global environment.  Some would suggest that this cynical disregard for consequences is motivated merely by profit, but I believe there is a far more sinister agenda at play.

There are numerous examples of companies such as Monsanto suing farmers for possession of their crops for the simple reason that the farmer's crops were cross-pollenated by neighboring GMO fields.  The pollen carried patented genes into the farmer's crops, thus allowing the mega-corp to claim ownership on the basis that the natural crop now contained their intellectual property.  Governments have issued patents and courts have upheld claims, so there's no reason to think things will change soon or easily.

Monsanto and others have also gone on pogroms to destroy 'heirloom' seed banks that preserve generational seeds that can be reseeded.  The GMO seeds switch off after one generation so that the crop cannot be reseeded without buying fresh stock from the corporation that owns the patents.

Some might see these actions as strictly profit motivated, others see an agenda to take control of food sources, and these are likely correct.  But I submit there is a much more nefarious agenda at work.

If it is conceivable that our bodies ingest the DNA of foods we eat, and that DNA can be manipulated to produce, say, viral protein coats.  Then it is easily within the realm of possibility that GMO foods could insert patented genes into the human genome.  If this is possible, then any number of outcomes can be realized.

For one, if a human is found to have patented genes in his or her genome, then legal precedent states that the owner of the patent can claim ownership of that person.  If that's the case, then the owner can claim royalty rights for the life of that human, as well as any offspring they have (presuming the gene is passed on).  In time, the mega-corps could legally claim ownership of the human race, forcing us to pay annual royalties simply to be alive.

If we take that scenario as a given, it is entirely possible for the inserted gene to cause things such as vastly shortened lifespans.  Presumably, the patent owner would have a remedy that could be sold to turn off the gene or forestall its expression for another year until the next payment.

Genes could also be inserted into our DNA making us susceptible to various diseases.  This would create a rather lucrative licensing opportunity with Big Pharma for cures or treatments.

At the highest level of the agenda, this kind of ability would grant certain mega-corps absolute authority over humankind.  They would have the ability to 'tax' us and the enforcement would be certain death or disability.  We would be utterly dependent on the patent owners for every aspect of our lives.  And the worst part is that all of this could be achieved before any of us is even aware that it was happening.

It seems rather apparent that the world is moving towards a global government and that the form of that government would be corporatocracy.  A select few mega-corps, which already operate above all laws, could congeal their iron-handed control within a couple of generations, depending on how fast they can infect the human genome.  And who could argue with their taxing scheme?

While this may seem like wild speculation, there are plenty of reasons to think this is quite plausible.  The P53 Wild experiments show that gene 'seeding' is doable.  There is a lot of research hinting that the HIV virus and others were manufactured to affect certain genetic haplogroups.  Courts have upheld patent ownership even in cases of 'accidental' cross-pollenation.  And even proposed laws, such as California's doomed Prop37, to label GMO foods have failed to protect humans from this insidious attack.

There is also sufficient reason to believe that at least some mega-corps are acting in such a way as to belie an egenda of global domination.  This has been visible for at least the past century or so.

From the standpoint of increased crop yields, GMO technology holds little promise of greater harvests.  There are plenty of failures to point to.  Here in Indonesia, cocoa growers were sold a bill of goods that promised trees with larger canopies, and more and bigger pod production.  However, the larger canopy came at the cost of an equal root ball and the trees have literally fallen out of the ground.  On top of that, the pods are hopelessly withered and undersized, though there are more of them per tree.  As a consequence, Indonesia's cocoa crop, one of the largest in the world, has suffered quite a bit this past season.

We already know that the use of antibiotics in livestock have spurred the growth of more virulent disease-causing bacteria.  The use of antibiotics can also be blamed for weakening our natural immune systems, making us even more susceptible to disease.

How much does any one of us know about what we put into our bodies?  How many folks read the fine print on vaccines before we allow them to be pumped into our bodies, much less those of our children?  And those are voluntary actions.  What about the foods we eat?  How much do you know about the corporate-farm grown meats and vegetables on your plate?

Worse still, how many of us consider the consequences of allowing corporations so much power over our lives?  Worse still, how many of us close our eyes to these possibilities because they seem too far-fetched and beyond consideration?

Finally, if we know mice can grow human ears, pigs generate human blood and goats produce spider silk, what sorts of things don't we know about?  And how far has this permeated our daily lives before any admission is made?  Furthermore, by actual consent, or consent by lack of action, how much have we allowed this to be done to us without our knowledge?

The time for discussion is passing quickly.  By the time we know the full implications of this technology, we may be in mortal danger with all-powerful corporations holding the key to our survival.  The most dangerous part is the unintended consequences, which always appear because every single variable can never be fully accounted.  For such deep and lasting effects, we are asking far too few questions and allowing far too much free rein.

Are you willing to take these risks with the next 20 generations of your family?  Where's your line in the strand?