Genetically Modified Animals

[cristobela]

Quote:

Things like glow-in-the-dark cats may seem to be the stuff of science fiction, but they were actually created several years ago. You can find genetically modified animals today who have had their DNA combined with that of other animals or altered in order to create a new group of genes. Here are some of the most interesting examples of genetically modified animals, some of which you may have already heard of, and others you probably haven't.

Link for a list of animals (with some pics): Genetically Modified Animals

• Leviticus 19:19 (NIV)
  
  19 “‘Keep my decrees.
  
  “‘Do not mate different kinds of animals.
  
  “‘Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.
  
  “‘Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material.

Of the examples on the list, they're mixing genetic material from mice with pigs (#1), spiders with goats (#2), jellyfish with seahorse (#7)... ಠ_ಠ  

[cristobela]

Number 8 on the list, though not an example of mixing two different kinds of animals together, is just heart-breaking to me. Not just because of what they did to the protective features God designed on the chicken, but because Israel is the one responsible for that one. gonk  

[King Shining Heaven]

Technically, that's not mating two animals; it's simply mixing their genetics. Also, what about things like mules, zorses, ligers, and turkins? Are they not supposed to exist, since they come from mating two animals?  

[cristobela]

Young King under Heaven

Technically, that's not mating two animals; it's simply mixing their genetics. Also, what about things like mules, zorses, ligers, and turkins? Are they not supposed to exist, since they come from mating two animals?

Question: what happens when you mate two different kinds of animals? You mix their genetics. In spirit, it does violate the command. How else would you mix genetic information from a mouse into a pig? a jellyfish into a seahorse? a spider into a goat...? naturally-speaking. That is unnatural. What they're doing is mixing two different kinds of animals together, overriding the natural systems set in place for sexual reproduction.

► Ligers shouldn't exist. Ligers don't exist in the wild because lions and tigers live in different areas. Ligers (and tigons) are born with birth defects because of this mixing. And these mixed genetics pose a threat to the mother carrying the cub: the cub that results out of this unnatural mixing is bigger than a normal cub, so humans have to carry out C-sections on the mother (not to mention, when it grows to full adult size, it's even bigger than what God designed both a lion and tiger to be; thus it eats more. Do you really think this doesn't affect creation and the balance of the ecosystem?)

https://bigcatrescue.org/liger-facts/

► Mules are sterile. And the problem I see in the mixing of these two animals on purpose, is that you don't know what you're going to get, temperment-wise. Can you count on a mule in times of danger? Always? It's mixed, not wholeheartedly the temperment of one or the other.

• Donkeys and mules are often said to be stubborn. This is not true. Donkeys and mules are very smart and cautious and like to be safe. They will often freeze and refuse to move when they sense danger. This is in contrast to the horse, whose first reflex is to flee from danger. Instead of bolting or running away, a donkey or mule will often stop and think about what is scaring them, trying to figure out the safest way to handle the situation.
  
  www.saveyourassrescue.org/donkey.htm
  
  
• The mule has inherited both fight and flight and can flip between these behaviours rapidly; the mule may choose to deal with a problem by fighting (a natural behaviour) or if this does not seem appropriate by fleeing. Such changeable behaviour can often be interpreted by inexperienced mule handlers as the animal being untrustworthy, unhandled or dangerous, to understand mule behaviour it is essential to learn about the natural behaviour of both horses and donkeys - mules are just more of both.
  
  www.muleteers.com/p/all-about-mules.htm

Since it is included in the midst of other do-not-mix commands (to not plant two different kinds of seed together, nor weave two different kinds of fabric into one garment), the problems lies in the integrity of the hybrid fruit / product. What function / purpose will it carry out? is it reliable? No. Because it is neither one nor the other. It is mixed. Unstable. Not wholeheartedly one or the other. And it can lead to unforeseen circumstances: with plants, there is the risk of decreased nutritional value of the fruit (thus disease in whomever eats it because they're not getting sufficient vitamins/vital minerals); famine because the hybrid seeds don't bear fruit reliably (and they cause disease in the soil as well);

[...] But the reason of the prohibition was probably deeper: for those who have studied the diseases of land and vegetables tell us, that the practice of mingling seeds is injurious both to flowers and to grains. "If the various genera of the natural order Gramineæ, which includes the grains and the grasses, should be sown in the same field, and flower at the same time, so that the pollen of the two flowers mix, a spurious seed will be the consequence, called by the farmers chess. It is always inferior and unlike either of the two grains that produced it, in size, flavor, and nutritious principles. Independently of contributing to disease the soil, they never fail to produce the same in animals and men that feed on them" [Whitlaw].

biblehub.com/leviticus/19-19.htm

...with the garment interwoven of two different kinds of fabric, you will not be protected sufficiently in both kinds of weather (hot or cold); and with animals, not only is their fruitfulness/sterility a problem, but so is their temperment and the function they carry out; they also are not reliable. All three kinds of hybrids—plant, animal and fabric—are not reliable to carry out a function. Only God knows all the ways hybrid animals affect womb health [the way hybrid seed affects soil; womb or soil, it is where the seed grows] and how the integrity of the genetic information that is passed on in the hybrid animals, in immediate generations and subsequent generations, will affect us and the ecosystem.

► Most zorses are sterile too. And like the ligers, they only exist because of human intervention. You don't find them in nature.

Quote:

Zorse Distribution and Habitat

Unlike the case with the Zonkey where there have been a number of wild Zonkey sightings reported, it is almost impossible for a fully wild Zorse to occur without Human intervention of some kind. There are three different sub-species of Zebra that are found in eastern and southern Africa on the vast open grasslands and savannah, but the incredibly rare wild Horse is historically native to parts of Europe and Asia meaning that the two species would not come together naturally in the wild. In parts of Africa though where Human settlements are either close to or intrude on the Zebra's natural habitat, it is possible for a semi-wild Zorse to occur with the mating of a wild Zebra with a domestic Horse. Nearly all of the world's Zorses however, are found either in zoos or animal institutes around the world, with a number also being used as work horses particularly in parts of North America.

[...]
Zorses are produced when a male Zebra mates with a female Horse. After a gestation period that usually lasts for around 11 months, the female Horse gives birth to a single Zorse foal. Like the offspring of numerous other hoofed-herbivores, the Zorse is able stand up within an hour after birth and begins to canter a few hours after that. Although they are much smaller in size than their parents, the Zorse is born with incredibly long legs that are actually nearly their adult length already. As with other hybrid animal including both Zonkeys and Mules, the Zorse is sterile meaning that although they still display normal breeding behaviour they are unable to produce offspring of their own. Zorses tend to be very healthy and hardy animals that can live to be more than 30 years old.

a-z-animals.com/animals/zorse/

► The "turkin" is not a cross between a turkey and a chicken contrary to popular belief: it's 100% chicken, a breed of chicken that has no feathers on its neck.

hubpages.com/animals/What-is-a-Turkin

What it appears like is that the turkin is an example of creation under decay—the losing of genetic integrity; thus, losing the feathers on the neck, though it should have feathers there.

In short, no: we should not purposefully breed combinations like ligers and zorses. Our Heavenly Father said no. Their seed is unstable with no guarantee to reproduce—if not, they're outright guaranteed to be sterile (just like hybrid plants; whatever immediate benefit that first generation of hybrid seed produces does not help to secure genetic integrity in the next generation. That, or it causes immediate problems in the one delivering that seed and in that first hybrid generation creature/fruit itself). God knows how genetic integrity and soil-health / womb-health gets affected over the generations or even in the immediate. So we should follow his commands and not purposefully do such things.

Mixing genetic information from e.coli and from mice and putting that into a pig...? That is not a good idea. I foresee a lot of disease in mankind's future. After all, it's what God promised would happen if we forsook his laws. And God stays faithful to what he promises.

• Deuteronomy 28:58-61 (NIV)
  
  58 If you do not carefully follow all the words of this law, which are written in this book, and do not revere this glorious and awesome name—the Lord your God— 59 the Lord will send fearful plagues on you and your descendants, harsh and prolonged disasters, and severe and lingering illnesses. 60 He will bring on you all the diseases of Egypt that you dreaded, and they will cling to you. 61 The Lord will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.