Bay Area DNA start-up wants to assist customers with designing their own creatures

[RandySF]

A Bay Area synthetic biology company has drawn interest– and $10 million in funding from investors– to help them fulfill their dream to “democratize creation” by providing DNA-mapping for future customers interested in tinkering with genetics or creating their own creatures if they so choose, reports the San Francisco Gate.

“Anyone in the world that has a few dollars can make a creature, and that changes the game,” Cambrian Genomics founder Austen Heinz said. “And that creates a whole new world.”

Heinz’s company currently uses lasers to create custom DNA for major pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, GlaxoSmithKline and Thermo Fisher Scientific. He would like to open up his services to customers interested in altering the genetic codes of plants and animals, and even new creatures designed on their computers.

Scientists already modify the DNA of living organisms for many reasons: to make plants resistant to herbicides and pests, or to make research animals mimic human conditions and diseases.



http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/bay-area-dna-start-up-wants-to-assist-customers-with-designing-their-own-creatures/

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. what can go wrong?

[AngryAmish]

2. shoggoths

Have we learned nothing from The Elder Gods?



Shumothic, mustaugh di frooggonth.

[Mz Pip]

3. Interesting

Decades ago I read a Sci-Fi novel by Larry Niven, I think. Someone had a pet that had the head of a cat and the body of a python all covered in fur. That's the only thing I remember about the book.

I guess if you can imagine it eventually it might happen. I don't thin it's a good idea though. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

[Katashi_itto]

8. It was "A World Out of Time" One of my favorites. "Cat Snakes"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_World_Out_of_Time

[Mz Pip]

12. Thank you!

I'll read it again. I just lived Larry Niven way back when.

[Katashi_itto]

13. :)

[Mnemosyne]

4. CatDog lives! nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

10. I went through that hybrid once....

It goes something like this:

What'zat?

Dat.

Yeah, dat.

Dat's a dat.

No, dat.

Yes.

No, WHAT IS THAT?

Dat.

Yes That!

Dat.



Okay,...maybe we'll call it a cog.

[Katashi_itto]

5. I want to create intelligent Raptors that can use weapons. Breed like rabbits.

And have laser beams on their friggin heads. And like the taste of Conservatives.

[JaneyVee]

6. I'll take the baby from Eraserhead please!

[Electric Monk]

7. Can I haz a badgewolverinoslothomonkey plz?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=624815

A-Schwarzenegger
Original message

I inherited a mixed animal from Uncle living in woods.

Can animals have sex with different animals?
My Uncle Leonard was a hermit that lived alone
in the woods in the mountains for many years. He
had a little money that he left to my sister and
left me a bicycle and drums and this animal that is
part wild and looks and acts like several type
of animals. I would say part dog, part cat and
the way it climbs part monkey. There is some kind
of wolverine or that kind of animal too in my opinion.
I am afraid to take it to the pound if it is illegal
and they take it. Leonard was a scary man to me and
I just don't want to immediately let it go even
though he is dead I just have this funny feeling
I would be in for bad things if I got rid of it.
I don't know why he left me it except that one time
I listened to him tell me the story of his life.
My sister and I were his only relatives. He didn't
have a will but told a neighbor what he wanted
left to who. I don't want to keep it in the house. I am
afraid if I left it outside it would climb over
this big wall we have around the house and hurt
somebody or even eat something. It weighs about
25 or 30 pounds, has stiff fur that is different
colors and lengths, makes sounds kind of like a
digging badger and if you pulled a rope or something
through a cardboard box. It has claws more like a
rodent. The tail is short and furry, but it could
have been broken off or cut off, it doesn't look right.
It doesn't really play, but it looks at you and then
looks awy when you look at it. It likes to root around
in the garden but it is winter and there's not too much
damage it can do out there.

(reposted)

[Recursion]

9. I'll make a Sterrance

Much better than a Huuuuuuuuudge.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

11. I hope this is virtual....

Otherwise, I picture a virus.

One so basic it does something unexpected like wiping out all life on the planet.