Genetically Engineering Ponies?

[Poly Lingua 37]

Do you think it could ever be possible to genetically engineer intelligent, talking ponies, pegasi, unicorns, and alicorns as we see in the show? And let's say it happens, how would you feel about it? How would it change the world? Would we see the formation of an actual Equestria take place? And would the unicorns have something comparable to magic, maybe telepathy of some sort?

[Soaring Symphony 372]

No.  That sounds dumb.  It'll never happen.

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Humanity has played God with a lot of things over time, I think creating artificial sentient life would definitely be a step too far.  Some things just shouldn't be meddled with.  I don't think calling it a crime against nature would be an exaggeration.

[Renzie 100]

This would just interfere with things that SHOULDN'T be interfered with.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

We could theoretically, but I'm struggling to justify why would we restrain it to Equestria-esque ponies. Certainly if we could genetically engineer actually intelligent beings, catering to the fantasies of bronies would be pretty low on the to-do list. I mean with the mind uploading version of this thread, that at least I could see because no doubt recreation would be a function of such a device.

 

Creating life though? Sentient life? That's not something you do for frivolous fantasies. Cloning replacement organs that the receiver would not reject, THAT is where this technology should be first used. Then possibly recovering endangered or extinct species from the planet. THEN maybe making some kind of airborne jellyfish that lives off fossil fuel emissions. THEN pack animals that can replace heavy machinery. AND THEN, finally, then one could start making life forms for fun or social experimentation. You know, if you don't mind ignoring the ethical ramifications of creating an intelligent person in a world they weren't made for and a society that may welcome them but to which they will never truly belong.

 

I'm not %100 against the idea itself, just that it's not something that could or should be done on a whim, for ultimately shallow reasons, or without consideration of "why" beyond "it would be cool."

 

In fact, you know what this reminds me of?

 

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Really think about it, they could just as easily be talking about a theme park "Equestria" as Jurassic Park.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Steel Accord

[Celtore 2,769]

Technically, yes, but that would take a very long time and be pretty darn cruel. It would take millions of generations of selective breeding with at least between 20 to 100 samples per generation and even then, how would we be able to pick out the horse that has the biggest brain? Then you have to deal with the physical mutations as well, and health issues... it's just not feasible

[Alphys Hedge 671]

If we could have talking animals, that would be pretty amazing.

If we're talking about specifically making MLP ponies, haaaaaaaaail naw.

Edited June 2, 2016 by Alpha Hedge

[Concerned Bystander 2,901]

Technically, yes, but that would take a very long time and be pretty darn cruel. It would take millions of generations of selective breeding with at least between 20 to 100 samples per generation and even then, how would we be able to pick out the horse that has the biggest brain? Then you have to deal with the physical mutations as well, and health issues... it's just not feasible

 

Selective breeding, such as you are describing, is not the same thing as genetic engineering.  Selective breeding, as the name suggests, is breeding animals in carefully selected pairings in order to emphasise the desired traits over a number of generations.

 

Genetic engineering, as posited by Poly Lingua, is a very different process, involving directly manipulating the genome of the organism in question in order to create the desired traits immediately.

 

The ponies that Poly Lingua is describing would not be descendants of existing ponies, but would rather be an entirely new, custom designed and created life form.

[cmarston1 5,952]

No.  Just No.

This would be taking love for the show way too far in my honest opinion.

Some things should not be made and these are one of them.

[Dreambiscuit 8,024]

It would never happen, even if it were possible. There's been talk now for decades of bringing back the Woolly Mammoth from remains found in Siberia, "Oh within the next ten years this will be a reality..." and then you never hear about it again. Humans are more skilled at procrastination than in technology, so it's a moot issue. 

However, on just a philosophical level, sure, it would be great to have pastel ponies galloping around and spreading friendship. It would certainly brighten up the world. And who knows? Maybe they could even use their magic to create an intelligent human!   

[ChikaChan 7,320]

I was just thinking on a pony clone army just now xD

[Luminance 2,181]

As much as I love MLP, some things are better if left alone IRL.