I don't know if it is happening, but we might make it happen. We have 
some ideas here in Aleph to have a little genetics course for our 
members, and I think quite a few of them would like to do their own 
experiments... 
Still, take a look at Charles Stross' "Dechlorinating the moderator" at
http://www.antipope.demon.co.uk/charlie/fiction/moderator.html
for a (humorous) similar scenario in a different field :-)
> >        "The Killing Star" Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski - 
> >in which (at the end,in a info. section)
> >,they write quote: 
> >     "According to the latest laboratory experiments, 1 or 2 simple brain 
> >      proteins seem to determine the efficiency with which nerves fire and
> >      thoughts are connected." etc....  "brain boosting drugs could become
> >      available in as few as 5 years" 
> >Unfortunately they don't give any hard particulars about the research, 
Huh? This sounds unlikely, I haven't seen anything like it in my 
neuroscience readings. 
> >     Also simmilarly if anyone knows about something called NSC "Natal 
> >Stimulant
> >compound"? or something called "Beta-metalethetigine" ?
Hmm, the first sounds like a neurotrophic factor. I found no references 
to them in the medical parts of the WWW, but several in a roleplaying 
supplement on the net, suggesting that they might be fiction.
Of course, there are NGFs that act on the young brain, but I doubt they 
are that useful in adults. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg                                      Towards Ascension!
nv91-asa@nada.kth.se         http://www.nada.kth.se/~nv91-asa/main.html
GCS/M/S/O d++ -p+ c++++ !l u+ e++ m++ s+/+ n--- h+/* f+ g+ w++ t+ r+ !y