In a message dated 7/23/2002 6:02:27 PM, dl@silcom.com writes:
>If we're willing to count artificial
>selection as genetic engineering,
Of course was genetic engineering. It used the fundamental mechanism of
genetics (inheritance of traits), and not randomly, but
intentionally--breeding for long fur, fat hams, whatever. The degree to which
the engineers--farmers, breeders--understood exactly how the mehcanism works
is only marginally relevant to the question of whether it was engineering.
Science progresses. Over the years, centuries, their, our, knowledge
increased, and domestication became more effective. Bit by bit the mechanisms
became known--Mendel making a major breakthrough. The first hybrid grains
(which date from the 1920s) represent another step. Watson and Crick another,
etc. But it's engineering--just as Roman architecture was civil engineering,
even if they knew less about the mathematics behind it than we do today, just
as Galen was a physician, though laughably ignorant by our standards.
T
Tom
http://xent.com/mailman/listinfo/fork

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From fork-admin@xent.com  Wed Jul 24 14:25:09 2002

> it's engineering that uses the general mechanism of genetics (inheritance of
> traits) without understanding the specific mechanisms (genes, DNA, etc.).
Ah, like the way we used to make babies.  And wine.  And war.