NephilimFree and genetic modifications

NephilimFree said in his video “The atheists have one thing half-right” the following on genetic modification:

We can’t take the genetics of two different kinds like, ape and human, and mix them together. Or a reptile and human, or an insect and a human, and mix them together and create a viable living creature. According to modern biology, that’s impossible.

But we can mix the genetics of different ‘kinds’ together and create viable living creatures. The most well known examples are plants that have been genetically modified to express certain characteristics they normally don’t have.

To just list the main agricultural crops that are being used in the United States, with the percentage of those crops that are genetic modified strains (mostly modified with genes from bacteria):

• Soybeans, 93%
• Corn, 86%
• Canola, 93%
• Hawaiian papaya, 80%
• Cotton, for cottonseed oil, 93%

And this are just the plants. Currently companies are testing animals that are genetically modified for producing medicine. Or, in the case of a modified salmon that is being tested by AquaBounty, grow faster.

This destroys Nephs argument that we cannot produce viable genetically modified crops or animals. Although currently animals haven’t really been modified and used for food production as there are public opinion and legislative hurdles they need to take before they can do this. he salmon I mentioned is the big test case.

Also the crops I mentioned represent a large portion of the average U.S citizens breakfast, lunch and dinner that’s based on, or derived from, plants genetically modified with genes from bacteria (there was even a tomato with a fish gene). So, how can he explain this in the context of the argument he presented that we cannot modify genes and produce a viable life form?

The following day I had the opportunity to ask NephilimFree this question on his BlogTalkRadioShow:

What happened when I asked him how he explains that in light of all the genetic modification we are currently doing and even are using to produce food he said the following:

Yeah well I said that man doesn’t have the technology to create a brand new life form from scratch. And we don’t have the technology to take the DNA from one creature and another and create a new one. And what I meant with that was create a new creature with a new morphology, I don’t mean taking a gene from one creature and putting it in the DNA of another viable, already viable, organism. I’m talking about mixing, taking two kinds of creatures, and creating a new kind from them. We don’t have that technology. … It would seem rational that’s what I meant.

In short he redefined his original argument that he meant the creation of an entire new species. Which was not part of his original statement. So in essence moving the goalpost on me when he realized he was in trouble.

But I had fun calling him on his show and asking him questions. I’ll be doing this more often.

Becoming active on YouTube

I’ve always been a casual user of YouTube, who isn’t with all the videos that are hosted on YouTube. However not to long ago I was introduced to the video’s made by Peter Sinclair who publishes video’s under the username Greenman3160. He has superb video’s debunking claims from climate change denialists.

His video’s are the reason I signed up for a user account on youtube so that I could subscribe to his channel. And from the suggestions YouTube gave on his channel I started subscribing to other channels.

Slowly I actually started commenting on videos and started following quite a number of channels (currently I’m subscribed to 142 channels on YouTube). Which is great fun, there a lot of intelligent people on YouTube with great videos on a plethora of subjects.

However due to the wide range of channels I’m subscribed to I also got introduced to the more ‘darker corners’ of YouTube, the fringe so to speak. And boy are there some strange people on YouTube: Creationists (Young Earth and Old Earth), Chemtrail conspiracies, New World Order, Holocaust deniers, 911 conspiracy proponents, etc.

Now the biggest group I got introduced to the most were the creationists, a lot of the channels I follow publish videos debunking creationists claims. And so I eventually stumbled on the user NephilimFree, and I just couldn’t resist commenting on his videos. Especially when he posted something on subjects I know something about.

This led eventually to me making my first video when he removed a video on which I was discussing errors in the video with NephilimFree (it was the presentation “The Fossil Record Speaks” from Walter J. Veith).

Eventually NephilimFree blocked me from his channel when I explained what our current understanding is and what the current definition for Junk DNA is (readers digest: It’s now called Non-Coding DNA and very little could be called Junk DNA, our understanding of DNA has grown considerable). Now if someone silences me for no apparent reason when I’m being civil and just discussing science and scientific papers I will speak out. So this led to me making two videos on this subject.

Currently I’m still experimenting with my video editing software iMovie. But I plan on making more videos on several subjects. I even invested in an upgrade from iLife ’08 to iLife ’09 to enable me to actually make the videos I want to make. What will they be about? Depends, some will be video replies to videos other YouTube users have made, some will be about climate change (made by me or interesting videos from NASA), and maybe even a series on X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy.

So the subjects of my videos will vary somewhat, but I hope the quality of my work will continue to improve and people will actually start to enjoy them. I already had some interesting discussions with other users in the comment sections of my videos and made some friends on YouTube.

So lets see where this will take me.