Wednesday 18 November 2009

Bio-engineering

I read so much crap about the horrors of bio-engineering. You'd swear they're breeding fucking triffids to eat us all, or something, rather than finding ways of feeding more of us than ever before, for less money.

But here's something I don't think anyone can disagree with:

Land mines are currently strewn throughout 87 of the world’s countries, and each year they cause 15,000-20,000 new casualties, the vast majority of which are inflicted upon civilians. Sifting through minefields to remove these hidden threats is currently a dangerous, tedious, and expensive process, however scientists at the University of Edinburgh recently announced that they have engineered a strain of bacteria that glows green in the presence of explosives, making mine detection a snap.


Oh, those evil, deranged bio-engineering lunatics...

6 comments:

Dr Evil said...

Just thought of an acual use for al those oxygen thieves in our jails. Line em up and set them walking. 10 successful walks and you are free.

Joe Public said...

The only teensy-weensy drawback is that it contaminates agricultural land for years to come.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

@Joe public: and the mines didn't? :o)

Leg-iron said...

It depends which bacteria they use. Most are harmless. If they're using anthrax then they might as well wait for the mines to rust away because the anthrax will last longer.

I doubt it though. Most likely a general-purpose soil bacterium.

Spraying bacteria around does not amount to any form of bacteriological warfare unless the bacteria have a harmful effect.

Otherwise, you could sue Yakult under the Geneva Convention.

Call me Infidel said...

"The only teensy-weensy drawback is that it contaminates agricultural land for years to come."

Ignorance is bliss they say so you must be constantly ecstatic. As Leg-Iron points out they are hardly like to genetically engineer anthrax for this job. Besides what good is agricultural land if it's strewn with mines? While we are pondering soil bacteria it might be useful to contemplate that there are on average I believe 1x10^9 bacteria in a kilo of soil.

Leg-iron said...

...and around a hundred times as many in a gram of faeces.

There's a lot of them about.