the_susan•1mo agoMost Upvoted

That viral glow-in-the-dark rabbit video has me in an ethical tailspin over gene-edited pets.

Trying to tell my kid why we can't make pets glow without getting into the morals of it is both funny and HARD.

4 comments

4 Comments

Honestly, "ethical tailspin" is the perfect way to put it. Trying to explain that stuff to a kid is a whole other level of hard. Tbh, I end up saying things like "because it might not be fair to the animal" and just hope that's enough for now. It feels like you're walking a tightrope between being honest and keeping it simple for them. Ngl, I've totally been in that exact spot and it's frustrating. You just want a straight answer to give them, but there isn't one.

jamesf291mo ago

The simplest answers feel like lies sometimes.

caleb271mo ago

Wait, they actually made a rabbit that glows in the dark? What's even the point of that besides making a weird party trick? Next they'll be selling neon fish that blink to the beat of your music. It just feels like messing with an animal for a dumb reason, you know? I can't imagine that's comfortable for the rabbit, having its whole body chemistry changed to amuse people. Where does it stop, glow-in-the-dark cats to save on night lights?

ryanc571mo ago

Honestly the part that bugs me most is nobody talks about the long term health stuff. Like okay fine the rabbit glows, but what if messing with its genes makes it feel sick or act weird in five years? These are brand new changes we can't even predict. Feels like treating a living thing like some app you can just update without caring about the bugs.