I lay with my arms wide, my hands open, light powdering my skin, pooling in my palms. I had a gift. It was my birthday, and everybody was celebrating with me. Whistling stars sand me a song all across the sky, and I danced.
- "A Splatter of Later Stars" by Nina Kiriki Hoffman from "Spell Fantastic"

Hello everybody, Im back! U must be wondering why in the world I keep quoting stuff from books but I think this paragraph is beautiful, abt a gal whose bday is on the 4th of July. Anyway, let me tell u abt my day... ...

Today I stayed home. Yaay! Cos I had no exam for chinese as Ive already dropped the subject. It was pretty boring today though, and I read a lot, did some hw and basically just lazed ard. Come on, Im trying to make up for my lost june holiday, which was so screwed cos I had to study for my common tests. Ive finished my fantasty storybk, and am now basically gearing up to start on my sci fi one. Actually, I haf hw to do, but u know...

Today I heard on the news that there gonna be some sorta online competition for hackers this weekend, especially Sun. The object of the game is to deface as many websites as possible. Sheesh, dun these ppl have anything better to do. I just hope that they generally leave blogs alone in favour of more juicy prey, I dun wanta haf my blog ruined.

I also watched an absolutely fascinating documentary today by the BBC, called HOW TO MAKE A HUMAN. Its generally abt genetic engineering and its impact on on our lives. Some ppl fear it, while others commend it cos of all the medical breakthroughs it cld bring abt. I think using stem cells to grow a piece of tissue or organ for transplants is perfectly all right, as well as the ability to treat illnesses wif gene therapy. However, the idea of prolonging human life or cloning, even genetically engineering ur own children is kinda freaky.

Imagine living forever. I mean, living for a normal lifespan is abt good enough, like 70-100 years. Let alone, some ppl cant take it, preferring to jump off a bridge or pop pills. Life and time wld become meaningless. U wont strive to do the things u wanna fo cos u feel that theres time to do it later. In the end, u cld end up achieving much less. U wld also take time for granted.

As for cloning, well, ever wanted to know what a clone might feel, being a copy of someone else. He cld feel inferior cos hes not original. Then theres a problem of ppl abusing clones. What do u think of a superarmy of clones, that cld be replaced wif frightening speed. Wldnt that be a nightmare? Also, what if ppl brought back ppl like Hitler. resulting in mass genocide, a second holocaust. Our world wld be thrown into chaos.

Then theres the ethical problem of making the perfect children. Wldnt they be totally arificial. Like,say, u wanted a son or daughter to have blue eyes and blond hair, and that was a trend. Wld mothers all start having babies wif the same features. What if ur childrens destinies were predetermined by their parents, like for example musical talent. Wldnt there be no such thing as a protege any longer. Its freaky, these thoughts. These were some issues adressed in a novel called STAR SPLIT I read years before. In it, cloning is legal, but only to those wif talents. Genetically engineering ur children to have superior qualites was also the norm, though I doubt anybody noted the dangers of inbreeding or lack of biodiversity.

Ah Well... all these r heavy issues, and cloning for the most part is outlawed in certain countries. However, playing God is not good. What if we genetically engineered ourselves to extinction, by toying wif genes that rapidly shortened our lifespans. What wld we do then, when its too late?

Only the future will tell. Hopefully, Humanity wld understand by then that, though science makes things possible, some thing shld best be left alone to Mother Nature to decide.

So ends my thesis on Genetic Engineering. What a great mental workout. Gotta go. Syonara!