Studio 360

I caught the second half of the interview with Ms. Arnold, and I was struck by both her enthusiasm for her work and her total arrogance in attempting to control and direct natural processes. Her statement to the effect that she gets to decide who (presumably referring to the engineered bacteria) lives and who dies turned my stomach. It is this very attitude of superiority that has landed we humans in the mess we find ourselves today with everything from climate change to peak oil to extinct flora and fauna. Some humility is in order.

The missing dimension in all the discussions about how to get *more* energy from 'less' ... or from other sources such as bacteria ... seems to me to be the parameter of Heat Generation.

No matter if we could power *everything* by wind energy, for instance (and even exclude the death of bats and birds and whatever other environmental damage from the wind turbines), the *heat* generated by USE of that energy ... is unsustainable if India and China and all the others were to attempt USA/European living standard.

I have not yet heard this element of the discussion enter *any* of NPR's reports. Have I missed something?

All you talked about was that she uses selective breeding processes.

I would have liked to hear the answer to the question, "So have you made any progress in developing simple organisms that excrete fuel by metabolizing something readily abundant like cellulose?"

and

"Now are you referring to molecules or whole organisms here?"

and

"Now that you've been working with this for a while, Frances, do you think it is possible that in the near future, grass clippings will be converted into biofuels on a large enough scale that it can make an impact?"

"Why use cellulose?" was the only question pertinent I think to the world's energy problems and why this person might be part of the solution. Thank you.

Questions about speeding up the breeding, what microorganisms in petri dishes look like, whether Frances feels like she's designing, and what she will be doing in five years...meh.

Maybe I'm just not the typical member of your audience and that's why this interview really didn't hit the mark for me about this very interesting topic.

Thank you for the focus on these "green" issues. They are fascinating for all of us that look for real, sustainable, holistic ways of life that respect all the profundities of our beings and our planet.

Kevin