Should you have the right to edit your own DNA?

I've been watching this series on Netflix called Unnatural Selection.

It is all about CRISPR and editing DNA.

Forget about Halloween, this is the real horror show.

Is this how it all goes down? Not a nuclear weapons, not WWIII, not being poisoned by foods, or climate change...

Nope, but by too many people doing some weird gene editing and we end up with some kind of freak disease or side effect that is unknown.

This is one of the most thought provoking series I've ever seen.

The show has a lot of "good guy" bio hackers, but we all know not all people are good, some are downright sick... This is scary stuff.
Right now some of these bio hackers are doing experiments on themselves and animals. They are gene editing dogs and results can be seen in two generations. The argument they use is that gene editing is an "easy" way to cure horrible diseases and that the government (and Pharma) shouldn't get to regulate that.

I imagine some of this stuff is already being used by the government. Imagine a crop of people with super features, they can the best eyesight, the best hearing, taste, they are muscular without working out, they have perfect teeth and bones, they are free from disease, they are smarter and also learn quicker than most.

I think this needs to be regulated of course.

I once posted several years ago about a good friend I know in the upper throngs of the HealthCare industry, a real world suit, and he told me the next biggest thing will be gene manipulation.

Personally, this is kinda scary, but the maybe needed to advance the next generation of Human Evolution.

a reply to: Arnie123

The series I'm watching does a really good job at showing both the pros & cons. The only thing it can't show us
is long term issues that might come up. That is the scary part.

a reply to: JAGStorm

Yeah I think thats with anything that could bring some sort of monumental change to the species.

You know who else feared for the future when an application created held tremendous power over Man?

Oppenheimer.

a reply to: Arnie123

I think this needs to be regulated of course.

I agree... And if you have Netflix, this was a seriously good watch. I went through it pretty quick and was enthralled the whole way through.

The only problem is, the show does a really good job of showing it's pretty much impossible to regulate. We passed the threshold where giant labs are needed, and people basically are already at the point of home brew.

It looks as if Pandora's box has been opened.

a reply to: JAGStorm

so our unalienable rights endowed by our creator should include changing what the creator created... i don't think so.

I imagine some of this stuff is already being used by the government.

imagine making a virus that only kills [insert race here] people... or only religious people... or anyone that hasn't gotten gene therapy to make them immune. that's the real consequence of letting this genie out of the bottle...

a reply to: CriticalStinker

Want perfect eyesight, we'll c'mon over to my garage!

a reply to: CriticalStinker

That ain't good, so what? In the future, we'll have "Pure Bloods" untouched by gene manuipulation, "Fabricants" which are clones because I see that happening and "Gene Maps" or Gene Manipulators, or whatever term, lable is created for them because they inject and manipulate.

a reply to: smkymcnugget420

so our unalienable rights endowed by our creator should include changing what the creator created... i don't think so.

That is the million dollar question. If the creator gives humans the ability to discover these things, doesn't that mean it is OK to use it for good? If not, what makes it OK for us to live with all other technology, including vaccines, healthcare, etc etc.. What if God wants us at our full potential and this is part of it?

a reply to: JAGStorm

Aside from the religious aspect the User is postulating, he does make an important point, Economic Stratification.

Assuming this all comes to market, would it be affordable and who will be the initial customers? Well the peasentry be in a position of wishful thinking or hands on applications with the rest of Humanity?

originally posted by: Arnie123
a reply to: JAGStorm

Aside from the religious aspect the User is postulating, he does make an important point, Economic Stratification.

Assuming this all comes to market, would it be affordable and who will be the initial customers? Well the peasentry be in a position of wishful thinking or hands on applications with the rest of Humanity?

So in the series, the bio hackers says it is very cheap and VERY easy (too easy). It also shows that big Pharma want to dominate this field and charge millions to cure some diseases.

a reply to: JAGStorm

well nothing on this earth is ever used just for good, and the realm of scientific discoveries is mostly based on making God obsolete. so wold venture that God isn't super thrilled about our scientific advances as it drives many away. science is material:

19: Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

God doesn't want us at our "full potential" he wants us to obey him and love each other. if he did he never would have confounded the language... not that i'm a person that doesn't fully enjoy the comforts of modern life BUT to get right down to it: science and technology is the devils realm, he runs the material world.

I see:

Cat’s eyes, whiskers and tails
Elf ears and fairy wings
Angel/devil wings

Mostly cosmetic changes, pay the big bucks and get some functions. But I doubt anyone will fly with the wings as there is damage potential just like arms and fingers today.

originally posted by: Arnie123
a reply to: CriticalStinker

That ain't good, so what? In the future, we'll have "Pure Bloods" untouched by gene manuipulation, "Fabricants" which are clones because I see that happening and "Gene Maps" or Gene Manipulators, or whatever term, lable is created for them because they inject and manipulate.

I don't think you're far off.

Mix in a little singularity where human and the technology we create meld with gene editing. In a more broad sense, I think it will be the (two types of people) organics, and the modified. The latter could be a mixture or one of the other (gene edited, technologically modified).

There is CRISPR, and currently someone perfecting a 3D printer with four printer heads each containing building block amino acids able to print strands of DNA. We're approaching a horizon where DNA that never existed will be created by man. This opens the door to designer organisms, reprinted organs, anything the mind can imagine once it matures.

Now think of a virus that has CRISPR tied in... A self replicating organism capable of doing editing on the fly and autonomously.


Talking with someone the other day who believed this is all good, and will help with many things that ails man... I asked the simple question "Will this benefit us more than it will deliver negative consequences?".

originally posted by: Ahabstar
I see:

Cat’s eyes, whiskers and tails
Elf ears and fairy wings
Angel/devil wings

Mostly cosmetic changes, pay the big bucks and get some functions. But I doubt anyone will fly with the wings as there is damage potential just like arms and fingers today.

I originally assumed cosmetic changes, but I think that was naive thinking.

It appears that people want much more. To be muscular without working out, to have a super memory, to be a world class singer (they are collecting singers bloods now), to be more intelligent,............. to be superhuman.

a reply to: JAGStorm

to be superhuman.

This will be an interesting outcome for me.

Is cheating the way to become superhuman, or is by identifying and transcending your flaws you become enlightened?

Will someone's mind truly be better because it was wired to be? Or does one become better after answering some of life hardest questions, and going through the trials and tribulations of the human experience while coming out on top?

I guess it will come down to genetics (modified) vs traditional wisdom.

a reply to: CriticalStinker

I guess it will come down to genetics (modified) vs traditional wisdom.

My brother is a natural mathematician, truly gifted. I could study all I want and would never catch up in all my life.
If gene editing could give me the same "gift" is that cheating, is it better or worse?

Could that type of editing help the world? One of the experiments a man does on the series is trying to breed big dogs that can withstand hot temperatures. I imagine at some point humans might need this, it might not be a want but maybe a need in the near future?

Even if they could regulate it here what about in third world countries? Jump over to Mexico to alter your lifespan or bone density or or or.

Cats out of the bag and it isn't going back in. A law will be as effective as gun bans in Detroit.


I think when SpaceX starts making mars colonization and space stations a reality there will be people altering themselves to adapt to their environments and who will be able to regulate what goes on out there.

a reply to: Grimpachi

I think when SpaceX starts making mars colonization and space stations a reality there will be people altering themselves to adapt to their environments and who will be able to regulate what goes on out there.

That was one of the scarier parts of the series for me. Editing our genes for survival on other planets...

a reply to: JAGStorm

Oh? I am going to download and watch it now.

I write scifi fantasy books and have been thinking about the subject for a new story.