Hey, first it was mice producing monkey sperm, and now, thanks to Justin Case, I find that scientists have engineered mice that produce fish oil -- and we could too:

Genetic engineering has turned mice into a source of healthy omega-3 fat and could let humans produce it themselves.

Investigating a novel way to increase omega-3 fatty acid consumption, researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston have developed a strain of mice that can convert omega-6 fatty acids into omega-3s.

Usually mammals cannot produce omega-3s from the more abundant omega-6 fatty acids, which do not have the health benefits of omega-3s.

Seeing that there's no apparent limit to what could theoretically produce what, I want to return to a favorite theme: the damned Drug War.

What fuels the Drug War, in my opinion, are the absurd prices people are willing to pay for otherwise worthless, commonly available substances -- simply because they are illegal in this country, and have to be imported at great risk from the Third World. (Or, like OxyContin, manufactured for pennies, then resold on the blackmarket for small fortunes.)

Anyone ever heard of a real grow-your-own campaign? While it is no more in the interest of drug cartels than it is the DEA to do such a thing, I see no reason why some anonymous visionary somewhere might not be able to graft the morphine-producing gene from Papaver somniferum into, say E. coli.

Or even common yeast! (Or the whatever-producing-gene into whatever....)

That way, the addict could brew up his own fix in a pitcher of sugar water in the kitchen, leaving a little bit of the Morph-a-Yeast at the bottom, so that he can add a little more sugar and water (nutrient agar or other medium in the case of E. coli), and have tomorrow's batch ready overnight.

I can't think of a better way to take the money out of the drug market.

No money for criminals.

An impossible situation for law enforcement.

In short, a utopia!

And, because the genes only involve plants (and possibly the lowest forms of animal life), no mice need be killed.

UPDATE: Albert Einstein observed (speaking of Prohibition in 1921) that

The prestige of government has undoubtedly been lowered considerably by the prohibition law. For nothing is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase of crime in this country is closely connected with this.

No money for anyone!

Why fight a "war" over a worthless substance?

MORE: The creation of an unlimited free supply of drugs would also have the beneficial side effect of fighting terrorism. As this report shows, illegal drugs are a major source of funding for groups like the Taliban and al Qaida.

What galled me in the above report was this Orwellian statement:

"Fighting drug trafficking equals fighting terrorism."

One could say, more truthfully, "Fighting drug laws equals fighting terrorism!" Were drugs rendered worthless by the simple strategy I suggest, terrorists would have to find other sources of funds. (As it is, more of their money comes from Saudi oil than anywhere else. If American drug addicts are "guilty" of funding terrorism, then American drivers are the guiltiest of all!)