Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called "wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk."
Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?
Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible.
from Woody Allen's Sleeper
Researchers for smoking giant Philip Morris are trying to genetically modify tobacco to be non-carcinogenic. See the paper here in the Plant Biotechnology Journal. Amazing what the profit motive can do. In a subtle change to Woody's nod to the capricious nature of knowledge, genetics could mean instead of avoiding the bad, the bad is just removed.
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