In article <tnb1-1408961359310001 at 132.236.10.69>,
Thomas Bjorkman <tnb1 at cornell.edu> wrote:
>> |schauf at iastate.edu (Brian J Schaufenbuel) writes:
>> |>What I'm getting at is: couldn't we add DNA to simple bacteria (maybe
>> |>cyanobacteria) to produce all the proteins that humans need to be
>> |>healthy? Supplement that with mineral-enriched water, and wouldn't it
>> |>be easy to feed billions and billions of people? Why not engineer
>> |>bacteria to utilize the sun's energy to transform earth's nitrogen,
>> |>carbon, etc. to food for people as efficiently as possible?
>[big chunk deleted]
>> To which ttha at uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Tom Thatcher) wrote:
>> |The most practical use for your suggestion would be to feed inhabitants
>> |of space colonies or long-haul spaceships, as a way to convert available
>> |ship's energy into digestible calories as efficiently as possible.
>In other words, if you are given the same thing to eat all the time you
>get sick of seeing it and can't bring yourself to eat enough of it to
>remain healthy.
I'm not suggesting that mono-goo is the only thing people eat. It could
be used as a substrate for more traditional cooking (similar to the use of
rice or potatoes) or the goo itself could be made in a variety of flavors
and textures. Use some imagination! That said, I think attitudes about
eating healthy-goo would change as more people (especially poor people)
see eating goo as a necessity (like going to the bathroom) and see eating
McDonalds as a luxury. Healthy-goo = human-fuel, McDonalds = treat.
People do change, especially out of necessity. "Eat your goo Johny, so
you'll grow up to be healthy like Micheal Jordan"
- Brian J Schaufenbuel
schauf at iastate.edu
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Brian J Schaufenbuel Computer Engineering + Biology
schauf at iastate.edu
