World Hunger Solved

Today I heard from a freind of mine who is a biology teacher. He had just heard from a coleague of his in a University in the U.S. That colleague is working on a project that involves lice that have been genetically engineered to eat human excretions(the stuff you flush in the toilet) instead of human skin. These lice grow to the size of a fingernail, and are edible! Let's recap. They live soley of of human poo, multiply rapidly, and are edible! These lice could feed nations. They are very easy to raise and anyone without constpation can do it. I think that these lice could really solve world hunger. :win:

BTW, It's still pretty hush hush, so I had to be pretty vague on some points.

Probably just trying to make fun of you, your friend.

bossel said:

Probably just trying to make fun of you, your friend.

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Maybe not.

I wouldn't be surprised if such lices could be bred. Human poo is actually not all useless in biological terms (remember poo is manure used in agriculture)

Thing is: would you be eating these lices??

Is it not an insult to famine-striken regions to ultimately serve them lices as solution to their problem? If lices can be dispatched to them, then why not proper food or education?

masayoshi said:

Human poo is actually not all useless in biological terms (remember poo is manure used in agriculture)

Thing is: would you be eating these lices??

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We are eating stuff nourished on feces on an everyday basis (vegetables, usually). That's actually not such a big deal. The thing is why would anyone try to breed lice which feed on poo, if there are already edible animals which feed on it? Eg. fly larvae would make a quite nutritious food for humans.

Is it not an insult to famine-striken regions to ultimately serve them lices as solution to their problem? If lices can be dispatched to them, then why not proper food or education?

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I don't see why lice wouldn't count as proper food. If caviar is, if shrimps are, why not lice? Well, whether it would have to be "poo lice" (if something like that exists) is another question.

Hmm im wondering how beneficial it would be, sure if I was guaranteed that the lice were only eating my feaces maybe I would get them. However chances are that in a third world, poverty stricken, food lacking country that the people residing there are quite possibly constipated. What are you going to do then? Breed them up their rectum? I sure as hell wouldnt want to be eating lice that had been bred from someone elses poo. Mushrooms and other vegetables are different, they can be washed. I think that the lice would drown should we try to wash them, not only that but they would be washed away as they are only very small. I will pass on this tasty sounding delicacy thanks.

I was tricked!!

I am deeply sorry to anyone who might have gotten their hopes up due to this thread, but, It WAS A PRACTICAL JOKE that was played on my friend and I. :sorry: :sorry: :sorry: Please do not take anything I posted in this thread seriously!!! It is false! :sorry:

Not to worry, Clawn. I don't think anyone is going to blame you for being gullible; yet I'm sure everyone got a good laugh.
That kind of thing would be more feasible with certain beetles that feed on horse's or bulls', but some scientists have wasted their good talent on some pretty dumb inventions. Dumb, useless, BUT harmless is forgivable while dumb, questionable, AND destructive is NOT forgivable. One ugly example would be methamphetamine, a synthetic drug from early 20th century. Just like the scientists who pushed for using the atomic bomb primarily to see that their calculations were right, the chemist must have been thrilled to see his concoction serving his country by boosting morale for the kamiakze fighters' last flight. How many more trusting soldiers were to take the drug before going on a butchering campaign. Those inventions were evil; and so could have been the rumoured 'thumb-sized lice' eventually because living species always mutate and evolve. Just imagine a blood-sucking thumb-sized louse !

Newsweek said:

Methamphetamine isn't a new drug, though it has become more powerful as the ingredients and the cooking techniques have evolved. It was first synthesized by a Japanese chemist in 1919, and was used by both Axis and Allied troops in World War II to keep them alert and motivated; kamikaze pilots were said to have taken high doses of the stuff before their missions. In the 1950s, it was commonly prescribed as a diet aid, to fight depression and give housewives a boost. The federal government criminalized the drug in 1970 for most uses.

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America's Most Dangerous Drug
David J. Jefferson, Hilary Shenfeld, Andrew Murr, Arian Campo-Flores, Sarah Childress, Catharine Skipp, Susannah Meadows, Dirk Johnson, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Anne Underwood; Newsweek
(c) 2005 Newsweek, Inc. / (c) 2005 MSNBC.com