I have a story on submission in which there are “gene Amish” who refuse genetic therapy. It’s a future that’s likely to arrive relatively soon.
Originally shared by ExtremeTech
Another big win for gene therapy.
I have a story on submission in which there are “gene Amish” who refuse genetic therapy.
Comments
5 responses to “I have a story on submission in which there are “gene Amish” who refuse genetic therapy.”
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The actual Amish don’t seem to object to modern medicine. That plus traditional birth rates give their population a doubling time of about twenty years.
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I think you’re absolutely right, and I think there’s some very intriguing story possibilities there.
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David Friedman, interesting that they retain traditional high birth rates when they’re (as far as I know) food-secure, and when there are (I assume) issues of land inheritance and splitting among multiple heirs. I don’t know a huge amount about the Amish, except that they’re not opposed to technology as such, just technology that they consider harmful to their way of life.
In my story, “gene Amish” is, of course, a nickname.
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Eric Bahle, I think there’s a lot to explore about people who don’t adopt technology in SF. We tend to assume that everyone will just take on a new technology, and there are plenty of stories to tell about that and the problems it leads to, but society is not unitary.
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Indeed, that assumption is key. It sets up all kinds of possibilities for dramatic conflict or simple ‘what if’ scenarios to explore the other side.
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