According to "Home-brewed morphine", "Scientists have figured out how to brew morphine" at home only by using specific strain of yeast that was genetically modified to change sugar to morphine, basic skills in fermentation and the same kit as making beer. The purpose of this finding are to "allow scientists to tweak each of the steps to develop new types of painkiller" and to produce morphine easier, faster and more.
When I search for an article in BBC news, I try to find a article that different from my old ones that always about health, technology and science. However, I can't find any article that interests me much like this one so I still choose it from BBC Health. Next time, I promise myself not to choose article that relate to these categories again. But, I'm not sure whether I could.
As I'm reading this article, I suspect that what will happen if this strain of yeast was spread out from scientist to other people. It can causes serious problems if we don't have a good prevention. Although this method is only known among scientist, it is dangerous too because they might smuggle it to sell. Therefore, we need to have a good prevention and carefully check for producing this addictive drug.
While I'm read this article, I found some interesting information that I haven't known. It's what morphine is produced from in general way. This article tells that morphine is obtained from poppies, white flower that use to commemorate soldiers who have died in war. This is interesting that this beautiful flower has some addictive chemicals used to make addictive drug.
Now, we can see many cases assuring that technology is very useful and necessary for our world. This make me think about our world if we don't have any technology like ancient times, what our routine will be. And, if our technology still progress more and more like today, what will happen in the next 20 years or 30 years or 50 years. I couldn't imagine that but it must be very very convenient for people in that time.
Everything has its cons and pros, same as coins that have two sides. If you use something bad but use in proper way, it can cause pleasant result like this kind of drug.
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Knut got my interest as soon as I read about "a kind of illegal drug using in medical way as a painkiller" in his opening sentence.
ReplyDeleteSo, all those doctors prescribing this illegal drug are serious criminals who should be shot? Or will it be OK just to throw them into prison for life for dealing in illegal drugs?
But I like the timeliness of Knut's chosen article to blog on. It fits very well with the chapter in Quest that we have just started.
And immediately raises such interesting questions as what is a drug? And which drugs should and should not be illegal? Should, for example, heroin be illegal if alcohol is not? Should yaa baa be illegal? Why?
Now, I've edited some grammar mistake in opening sentence that caused you misunderstand what I really want to say.
DeleteIn my opinion, the standard that we use to classify drug to be legal or illegal is its effect that whether it causes serious problem to a person who addicts or harms other people or not.
As your example, I think alcohol is legal while heroin and amphetamine(yaa baa) not because heroin has much more serious effect than alcohol. But, how dangerous of the drug is to be classified as illegal, I think it's quite hard to tell for me and I haven't heard that there are exact standards to classify them.
Thank you Knut. I think that if a comment has already been made, it's better to leave the original and add a reply to explain the idea.
DeleteMy comment now looks silly because your blog post doesn't say what I say it says.
So, if the evidence showed alcohol to be as harmful as, say, yaa baa, or to be far more harmful than, say, marijuana, would that mean that the owners and executives of Beer Singha should be executed, along with all the 7Eleven shop managers selling that drug? Or would it mean that yaa baa and marijuana should both be made legal as alcohol is?
DeleteI've presented no evidence either way here. But I am wondering which option people think should be taken if the facts did support that alcohol was at least as harmful as some illegal drugs. Before we worry about what the evidence, the facts, are, I think it's useful to think about the principles that should be applied.
So, what do you think?
If alcohol is as harmful as yaa baa, what must we do? Execute the whisky producers and dealers, or stop locking up yaa baa dealers?
Or is there something I've missed or misunderstood?
I'm sorry for editing my blog post. Next time, I will do as you suggest.
DeleteIf alcohol is as harmful as yaa baa, I think we must prohibit everyone that associate with alcohol such as producers like Singha, dealers like 7Eleven and buyer. And, put it as illegal drug same as yaa baa.
DeleteWhen the law was changed to restrict the hours when alcohol could be sold, did that reduce the use of this drug? Did it reduce deaths from alcohol? Or any of the other harms that alcohol causes to users and society?
DeleteI hope that this yeast does not fall into the hands of those illegal drug makers. Or else they're going to mass-produce it. Then it will become widespread and easily obtainable. Maybe it is going to be very cheap that our children can buy with their pocket money.
ReplyDeleteGood point. I'm waiting to see the replies.
DeleteI hope too. We need a good prevention and checking to avoid this serious problem.
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