Get Custom Shoes Made From Genetically-Engineered Stingrays

[Terratina.]

Snip

This is why I didn't like Movie Bob's Big Picture Episode on the subject: "Herp derp genetic engineering is just like artifical selection but faster."

No, just no. Genetic engineering is is the 'direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest.' The main problem with it is genes from different species are inserted to the organisms, genes affect genes (Epistasis.) and we don't even know whether one gene will cause other genes to change and result in a harmful mutation. I mean, genetic engineering is good and all, but a little caution wouldn't hurt anybody.

OT: I can't believe how people can buy this, way too much for a pair of shoes. Just. Wow.

 

[Findlebob]

But are they waterproof?

 

[ace_of_something]

This kind of putting me off abit. I don't like the idea of some Stingray get some pattern I wanted on it, killed and parts or most of it will become footwear for my feet. No I ain't a peachy animal right activists but I don't personally want an animal to be killed to become my clothing.

Do you wear or use leather in any form? Or any other clothing made from animal products?

Not quite the same. If I buy a leather jacket, that cow is dead. Not buying the jacket will not resurrect it. These shoes result in a unique species being bred, raised and killed because I want to make shoes out of its skin. On a related note, while the concept of custom leather is cool, the means seem...disturbing.

This. Leather for the most part is a byproduct of a cow, most of the time after it has already been killed for the meat, the skin is then sold to various leather working places who then actually turn it into leather.


That is completely different than messing with genetic code for an animal, and harvesting it directly just for its skin because some dick with money wanted some expensive shoes.

Speaking as a person who grew up raising leather cattle. The cows that your shoes, belts, and jackets are made of are bred, raised and killed to make leather. Their meat is very incredibly tough and not really well graded for consumption. (though we did sell the meat for dogfood/catfood/other farmers for pig feed etc) Cows that make food are different breeds and carving the cow for the meat ruins the leather and vise-versa.
The only difference here is that they use genetic engineering rather than selective breeding.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

This kind of putting me off abit. I don't like the idea of some Stingray get some pattern I wanted on it, killed and parts or most of it will become footwear for my feet. No I ain't a peachy animal right activists but I don't personally want an animal to be killed to become my clothing.

Do you wear or use leather in any form? Or any other clothing made from animal products?

Not quite the same. If I buy a leather jacket, that cow is dead. Not buying the jacket will not resurrect it. These shoes result in a unique species being bred, raised and killed because I want to make shoes out of its skin. On a related note, while the concept of custom leather is cool, the means seem...disturbing.

Very true, although it could be argued that the cow was bred, raised and killed because someone wanted to make a jacket out of it's skin and you bought it.

However, I was looking more for clarity out of Scarim Coral. Saying "I don't personally want an animal to be killed to become my clothing" implies more then saying "I don't personally want an animal to be customized, raised and kill just be my footwear".

It has to do with the intent. Take, for example, Buddhists. They're allowed to eat meat, but not if the animal was killed specifically for them. It seems like a weird difference, but when you think about it, there is a bit of a difference between ordering a pig from a farmer, who then slaughters and prepares the pig for you, and going down to the grocery store to pick-up some ham.

It's the same difference for Scarim. It's one thing to go out and buy a leather jacket, but it's another entirely to order a pair of shoes where the animals are killed to order.

 

[teebeeohh]

while not something i would personally need it's damn cool that we can do something like this. however what's the time frame on this? and i would like to know how long it takes for a stingray to grow big enough to supply enough leather for a pair of shoes

 

[Buizel91]

Is it wrong that I'm thinking of a cruel joke wherein someone sends a pair of these to the estate of Steve Irwin?

With these his sole could rest in piece.

His poor children are old enough that they could potentially read your hurtful, insensitive jokes at their father's tragic death.

You should feel ashamed of yourselves, and immediately openly apologise and in doing so you might take the sting out of it.

What's the manta with the two of you? Get out of this thread. Shoe, the pair of you!

Possibly the best conversation i have read on this site in days :')

 

[Wintermoot]

hmm so plasmids/gene tonics are starting to get real
OT those things look really cool

 

[TheBlueRabbit]

Or you know they use pleather/normal leather/ray leather and just DYE it afterwords. My guess either:
a. Unscrupulous merchant
b. PR stunt
c. Another "inspired and meaningful" art project/hoax

Pretty much this. I read an article the other day where a few genetics experts were interviewed about this specific product. (Sorry. Don't have a link to the article, but it was on Yahoo) The consensus was pretty much that the claims the company is making aren't possible through the type of genetic manipulation they're claiming.

 

[The Lugz]

This kind of putting me off abit. I don't like the idea of some Stingray get some pattern I wanted on it, killed and parts or most of it will become footwear for my feet. No I ain't a peachy animal right activists but I don't personally want an animal to be killed to become my clothing.

Do you wear or use leather in any form? Or any other clothing made from animal products?

Not quite the same. If I buy a leather jacket, that cow is dead. Not buying the jacket will not resurrect it. These shoes result in a unique species being bred, raised and killed because I want to make shoes out of its skin. On a related note, while the concept of custom leather is cool, the means seem...disturbing.

Very true, although it could be argued that the cow was bred, raised and killed because someone wanted to make a jacket out of it's skin and you bought it.

However, I was looking more for clarity out of Scarim Coral. Saying "I don't personally want an animal to be killed to become my clothing" implies more then saying "I don't personally want an animal to be customized, raised and kill just be my footwear".

I think the main difference is the cow would have existed in the first place, and not had it's genes messed with lived it's life then been harvested

we ( as in us, the escapists ) have no idea of knowing if there are secondary effects to the stingray from changing it's coloring
how are they kept? treated? do you have to wait 15 years for your shoes so it can have a nice long life? does it have to swim in a tank of chemically polluted water to maintain it's 'leather' ect.
does it enjoy being half luminous pink and half chocolate sprinkle?
i'm betting no.

that's the difference

now, if you could genetically engineer the patterns of 'pet' stingrays that would be both cool, and benign
if you grow stingray skin in a lab, without the rest of the animal then it is by definition not an animal to begin with
i don't see how anyone could have a problem with that

and i'm not one of these preachy animal activists either i know that everything is stardust no-matter how you spin it but i also know where this is going, the devil is in the details

 

[s_h_a_d_o]

Ooh! - retractable "sting" built into the toe?
SUATMM!!!

 

[phantom495]

why would anyone want shoes made from genetically engineered stingrays i mean there must be somthing better to make shoes from, right?

 

[NightHawk21]

So basically, within the next 10 years i'll be able to buy a cow with all it's spot patterns being in the shape of dicks?

I'm totally ok with this, science.

A cow might be a little tricky, but there are rabbits, which while not genetically engineered, can be with a bit of luck spotted to look a certain way.

 

[zehydra]

I refuse to pay anything more than $40 for clothes.

 

[NightHawk21]

This is interesting, but it smells fishy (I'm sorry I had to). I can see how they would do this theoretically (at least I can see how I would go about doing something like this theoretically), but I highly doubt they can get the level of specificity that is present in their design app. Also the first stingray I looked up had a growth cycle of 31 months (so almost 3 years), and the second had a growth cycle of 7-10 years (but apparently that was a slow growing one). Lets say for the sake of argument that these fish reach sexual maturity in 1 year (I would think its longer). Tack on a couple days to do the lab work, and you're shoes aren't getting delivered any time soon, so I don't see how they plan on doing this.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

No different than growing and harvesting mammals for food and clothing.

But I'm still not interested. Get back to me when they can create a human being to my exact specifications from start to finish in a test tube. Good slave material.

 

[Me55enger]

So?







I wear condoms of rubberised tree sap.

 

[jecht35]

I draw the line right here. I am all for killing animals out of necessity. but to geneticly modify and raise an animal just to be an expensive piece of future footware, no not happening. I'm sorry science on this I don't agree with you.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Can I buy a suit of stingwray armour and become a supervillain?

 

[Emiscary]

Some day soon they will have genetically modified furs to go with the leathers, and on that day I will buy the most expensive set of boots known to man.

 

[mlooshka]

Ethics aside (and honestly, I think the more interesting discussion here is the examination of how we define when something crosses an ethical line), this is outside the realm of reality. See here for some geneticists' thoughts on the story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/04/stingray-shows-transgenic-footwear_n_1567500.html