RayFish bespoke genetically-engineered shoes

[The_Hamster_King]

A company called RayFishis claiming that they can genetically engineer a stingray with specific pattern of customer-selected markings. When the ray grows to adulthood, they’ll kill it and turn it’s skin into a pair of shoes.

This is total bullshit, right?

[lazybratsche]

Total bullshit. If anybody could figure out genetic engineering that sophisticated, me and a whole lot of other biologists would be out of work…

[Shagnasty]

That is a really clever hoax.That reminds me of the Manmeat website of the 90’s. I am not sure there is any agenda behind it because I don’t see the point but it is still funny. There is no need for such a company. Leather dying and printing is really sophisticated these days. They can make any pattern you want much easier and vastly cheaper than doing it though genetic engineering and custom breeding of live animals.

[astro]

@lazybratsche

Total bullshit. If anybody could figure out genetic engineering that sophisticated, me and a whole lot of other biologists would be out of work…

I don’t know they’re using scientific sounding words and everything. Must be something to it.

Rayfish Footwear uses a patented process of bio-customization, which allows you to design your own living, transgenic stingray. Using the DNA on file in our genetic library, you can combine the skin patterns and coloration from dozens of different species. Access the richness of natural selection. Evolve an infinite variety of shoes.

At the Rayfish Footwear labs, nature has already done the design work for us. All we have to do is identify the genes responsible for color and pattern, and implant the synthetic ‘supergene’ cluster into fetal rays before they are born. As the ray grows and matures, it expresses the predetermined patterns on its skin.

[njtt]

Seems like the shoe event horizon is closer than we thought.

[John_Mace]

@astro

I don’t know they’re using scientific sounding words and everything. Must be something to it.

I wouldn’t call that genetic engineering. I’m guessing it can produce a series of pre-selected patterns, not any arbitrary pattern your fancy can come up with.

[levdrakon]

That was funny, and very well done. Did you watch the CEO’s video?

[astro]

@John_Mace

I wouldn’t call that genetic engineering. I’m guessing it can produce a series of pre-selected patterns, not any arbitrary pattern your fancy can come up with.

Yeah… that’s it. That’s the ticket!

[astro]

@levdrakon

That was funny, and very well done. Did you watch the CEO’s video?

Don’t see it. Where is that?

[levdrakon]

@astro

Don’t see it. Where is that?

I saw it under the blog section. There’s a picture of a horse/zebra, and you have to scroll that window down a little more.

[astro]

Some popular science journalists don’t realize it’s a joke

[awesomeworst]

The company has a new blog post up. I checked out some of the links, and they’re all legit scientific articles. It seems advanced, but possible. RayFish Footwear - Blog

[kayaker]

I’m still waiting for my Bonsai Kitten to arrive in the mail.

[coremelt]

Thats a pretty slick website. Either some big brand is behind it as a PR stunt or they are really trying to fool rich people into buying $1800 sneakers that they just screen print to match whatever pattern you design.

[lazybratsche]

@awesomeworst

The company has a new blog post up. I checked out some of the links, and they’re all legit scientific articles. It seems advanced, but possible. RayFish Footwear - Blog

Oh hey, a new member, showing up with a drive-by post with more links to some viral marketing hoax thing…

I do have to give the creators of this some credit – the pseudo-scientific bullshit is quite well done. The language is all based on real developmental biology principles, and there are links to the original science showing those principles.

But, here’s why I’m sure it’s not real. (Yet…)

1. Geneticists can’t add transgenes to any arbitrary species. There are a handful of species that can be easily genetically engineered, but that’s only after years or decades of hard work. A quick literature search reveals that nobody has done any genetic engineering with stingrays or anything remotely related.
2. While there’s a lot of remarkable conservation between developmental mechanisms, you can’t just drop in a pattern-forming module from one species to another. Context matters. The same genes that (in this supposed example) control snake pigmentation won’t make the same patterns on a stingray’s skin.
3. Developmental biology has come a long way in understanding the principles of pattern formation, but not far enough to create new patterns on top of whatever else the organism is doing. At best, currently we could manipulate the existing patterns.

Still, I wouldn’t bet against something like this being real twenty years from now, but it’s not a trivial problem now. My semi-WAG is that you could probably achieve a similar but less-sophisticated result with years of hard work, a lot of new science, all costing many millions of dollars. Twenty thousand per pair of shoes wouldn’t even begin to cover the development costs…

[astro]

@lazybratsche

Oh hey, a new member, showing up with a drive-by post with more links to some viral marketing hoax thing…

I do have to give the creators of this some credit – the pseudo-scientific bullshit is quite well done. The language is all based on real developmental biology principles, and there are links to the original science showing those principles.

But, here’s why I’m sure it’s not real. (Yet…)

1. Geneticists can’t add transgenes to any arbitrary species. There are a handful of species that can be easily genetically engineered, but that’s only after years or decades of hard work. A quick literature search reveals that nobody has done any genetic engineering with stingrays or anything remotely related.
2. While there’s a lot of remarkable conservation between developmental mechanisms, you can’t just drop in a pattern-forming module from one species to another. Context matters. The same genes that (in this supposed example) control snake pigmentation won’t make the same patterns on a stingray’s skin.
3. Developmental biology has come a long way in understanding the principles of pattern formation, but not far enough to create new patterns on top of whatever else the organism is doing. At best, currently we could manipulate the existing patterns.

Still, I wouldn’t bet against something like this being real twenty years from now, but it’s not a trivial problem now. My semi-WAG is that you could probably achieve a similar but less-sophisticated result with years of hard work, a lot of new science, all costing many millions of dollars. Twenty thousand per pair of shoes wouldn’t even begin to cover the development costs…

They went to the trouble of driving by to support their stunt and this is the thanks they get?! You are no fun mister.