The future of humankind lies within genetic engineering.

It's not QUITE that simple......

etc

Yes :p obviously theres waaayyyy more to it than in my explanation. i was just laying it out simplistically.

Originally posted by sardion2000
Remind me again what cloning has to offer us again? And I mean cloning full people not tissue/organ cloning which can be done completely seperately from cloning a full human being.

The biggest thing would be resistance to viral-diseases. Pump your body full of virions which change a gene in your cells which encode a surface protein. In this way, the relevant protein will be slightly changed, maybe giving 100% resistance to whateverdisease.

What does that have to do with cloning full human beings?

Okay, I LIKE this thread! I've said for years that the only way for man to get where he wants on the evolutionary scale is to do it himself. Man hasn't changed much since he inherited the power to recognize recurring patterns in nature, and recognized that one-plus-one equals two.

This tells me the place where man REALLY needs evolutionary motivation is within his brain! You want to see Warp Drive become reality before your preschoolers hit college? You want to see REAL immortality before your Sixties?

How about something as simple as the ability to see IR and UV rays, or visualize five+ dimensional objects? This alone will thrill me! I've often wondered how the human brain would operate if those neurons responsible for higher functions had two (or more) axons instead of one.

In other areas, let's see zero tooth decay and zero bone loss by this time next year. That's a good start.



[edit on 19-10-2005 by Toelint]

How about something as simple as the ability to see IR and UV rays,[edit on 19-10-2005 by Toelint]

there is a guy on ebay who sells glasses that actually enable you to see infrared and UV light. I have some and they really knock your socks off
cgi.ebay.com...

All you have to do is click other sellers other items under the feedback rating

I wouldnt have beleived it coming from ebay.....but it is entirely possible to do that i guess. Of course it would only refract the IR, UV light into normal visible light, we wouldnt actually see those colours as they actually are

Shadow88, I'm not sure I even agree withthe title of this thread. I think it is far more likely in the near term that electronics implants will become more and more widespread. Both implants and genetic modifications are certain to happen just as fast as the technology is developed--and it doesn't matter one whit whether the Prsident, or Congress, or AMA, or whatever other group says its bad, it will happen anyway. The real question is whether the changes will be legal or illegal. That may sound like a frivilous matter, but it will become tremendously important in time. The types and extent of human modifications could be more or less synchronized throughout the human population if they are legal, but if they are deemed to be illegal then there will essentially be no controls on what directions such modifications take and that would be bad. We could end up changing ourselves into multiple different species if we are not careful.

We have met the Borg and they are us!!!

[edit on 19-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

Originally posted by Astronomer68
Shadow88, I'm not sure I even agree withthe title of this thread. I think it is far more likely in the near term that electronics implants will become more and more widespread. Both implants and genetic modifications are certain to happen just as fast as the technology is developed--and it doesn't matter one whit whether the Prsident, or Congress, or AMA, or whatever other group says its bad, it will happen anyway. The real question is whether the changes will be legal or illegal. That may sound like a frivilous matter, but it will become tremendously important in time. The types and extent of human modifications could be more or less synchronized throughout the human population if they are legal, but if they are deemed to be illegal then there will essentially be no controls on what directions such modifications take and that would be bad. We could end up changing ourselves into multiple different species if we are not careful.

We have met the Borg and they are us!!!

[edit on 19-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

LOL Astronomer, you bring up some very good points, although becoming "borglike" is a bit farther down the road than we give the notion credit for. I'm a bit more concerned about the driving force for all this change being M-O-N-E-Y!! As long as people STAY normal, and continue to age and degrade, the market for such "borg" implants will grow as the gadgets develop.

One point you missed though, is that HEALTHY people tend to shy away from going under the knife for such things. Sure-sure, you'll always have advancments in such areas as Cosmetic Surgery...but when it comes to implants that actually improve your life, it's usually to replace parts that are worn out, in the autumn of the patient's life.

With genetics though, these changes take place in the womb and not only last a life time...but are inhereted in the offspring! As much as it pains me to say it, I think this IS a gvernment and/or Big Business project waiting to happen, legalities be damned!

Imagine banks of Scientists with I.Q.s of 250 (And this is only the first generation.) Also, to heck with designing a drone work force...now we can design the CEOs...who will pass the corporate reins on...to their kids! And to keep the DNA pool fresh, one simply introduces"common DNA" into the pool from time to time.

You see? The call for better people in business is far more profitable (not to mention honorable) to flooding the market with gadgets.





[edit on 23-10-2005 by Toelint]

[edit on 23-10-2005 by Toelint]

Originally posted by Toelint
One point you missed though, is that HEALTHY people tend to shy away from going under the knife for such things.

Well work is underway to eliminate the "under the knife" stigma primarily by removing the knife Think Nano.

Sure-sure, you'll always have advancments in such areas as Cosmetic Surgery...but when it comes to implants that actually improve your life, it's usually to replace parts that are worn out, in the autumn of the patient's life.

There was a show on PBS a while back that was talking about this very subject(cybernetics) and one of the people they were talking to was a supposedly prominent cosmetic surgeon from Hollywood, and he was saying that this is the area he see as the biggest growth opportunity for cosmetic surgeons in the 21st century. You could see the greed in his eyes so he'll probably charge an arm and a leg (hopefully not literally Offtopic Anyone play Quake IV yet? hehehehe ) anyway, he went on to say that some of the mods that HE would want to get to help him do his job is something to imrpove his eyesight and his fine motor skills as well as reflexes. It might have even been a NOVA program so I'll try to go hunt for it online.

Both Genetics and Cybernetics will be huge in this century. IT growth will start to max out around 2050-2060 and Nanotech will just be getting started as there is just so much in that realm of technology.

On a slightly related note what do you all think of NBIC Convergence(The convergence of nanoscience, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science).

Originally posted by sardion2000

On a slightly related note what do you all think of NBIC Convergence(The convergence of nanoscience, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science).

I don't think full convergence is possible anymore because of the sheer magnitude of the knowledge & training required to be completely proficient in a merged discipline. I see closely coordinated teams working together to realize the benefits of all the separate disciplines. Tools to enable the type of close coordination I envision are already being developed.

Further to the previous discussion:

I agree that at first implants & genetic modifications will primarily be to correct human system malfunctions and breakdowns due to accidents, age, illness and congenital defects, but that stage will not prevail once the benefits and safety of such modifications become widely accepted. Besides, there are those who seem to have a compulsion to live on the bleeding edge of advancements and they will willingly & actively seek any modifications they feel may confer some advantage to themselves and/or their descendents.

If mankind's future lies within genetic engineering, it must lie within physics first. Quantum engneering and the infinitely smaller in order to achieve immortality must come from research. But who other than a university is going to fund any of this?

No one really wants to waste their time with science. Mankind's future lies really with creating a new stock and new commercial to advertise your brokerage agency. Like the one with TD Waterhouse and the guy from L&O. Worst commercials on the planet, but they seem to work.

You don't see a whole lot of commercials putting an emphasis on science, maybe a few, but none that encourage anyone to go out an start reasearching or get a degree.

I don't think this thread made too much sense in the begining. Does the OP mean to state that the future only relies on genetic manipulation or that this is one aspect. Why not label this thread 'A look into the future of genetic engineering'?

Originally posted by Frosty
If mankind's future lies within genetic engineering, it must lie within physics first. Quantum engneering and the infinitely smaller in order to achieve immortality must come from research. But who other than a university is going to fund any of this?

Why would Quantum engineering be needed for immortality? We seem very close as it is, maybe we might need some knowledge of this field for regenerating the brain but if you check out a link(click on the photo) i posted above you'll see regeneration is already possible in mammals. Not much of a leap towards extreme logevity drugs.

No one really wants to waste their time with science. Mankind's future lies really with creating a new stock and new commercial to advertise your brokerage agency. Like the one with TD Waterhouse and the guy from L&O. Worst commercials on the planet, but they seem to work.

Two fallacies here. First is that companies and university would advertise what they are doing, to them that would be a waste of precious funding(a press release is all they need and the Science news industry will run with it for no cost) and Two America has lost it's love for the sciences along time ago, so looking at this through an Americentric lense only gives you a partial picture at best (and a distorted picture it is)

You don't see a whole lot of commercials putting an emphasis on science, maybe a few, but none that encourage anyone to go out an start reasearching or get a degree.

Another point I'd like to add is that TV appeals to those who do not like to think, which is why it's going the way of the Dodo. TV Ratings have been falling since '85. My point is? I dunno what is your point?

You want to help fund this type of research? Find a good prize foundation like www.methuselahmouse.org... which has a current pot of 1.9 million. (That is not the total prize just the total pot)

Other prize foundations are being setup in the same spirit of the X-Prize(same foundation as well)

www.wired.com...

Open source Biotechnology and Genetics is also another rout for which this technology will be developed.

www.wired.com...

www.worldchanging.com...

www.abc.net.au...

Funding is still the issue and that was a major knock against the X-Prize competitors so the Naysayers would have had you believe, but we know how that all went

One Last rout is the law of unintended consequences where a treatment for say Muscle Dystrophy is created and works on both MD patients and Healthy patients, after the initial success happened (eg Growing muslce without exersize) a whole new class of performance enhancing drugs was created. That's how genetic doping was born and analyst's expect them to have a HUGE initial showing at the Beijing Games because they are undetecable.

How much would you pay for a pill that allows you to build muscle while channel surfing?

www.abc.net.au...

www.genome.gov...

[edit on 24-10-2005 by sardion2000]

Going back over this thread I see we all seem to be in complete agreement on one thing: Mankind is rapidly taking control of his own evolution/destiny. I really hope we don't screw up.

[edit on 24-10-2005 by Astronomer68]

One Last rout is the law of unintended consequences where a treatment for say Muscle Dystrophy is created and works on both MD patients and Healthy patients, after the initial success happened (eg Growing muslce without exersize) a whole new class of performance enhancing drugs was created. That's how genetic doping was born and analyst's expect them to have a HUGE initial showing at the Beijing Games because they are undetecable.

Kind'a makes you wonder why we insist on making companies like BALCO the bad guys!



If I could find a pill that repaired my wife's Congenital Heart Failure or actually increased her bone density, I'd surely be there!

www.physorg.com...

Very interesting interview with Martin Rees. Some very comments related to this subject matter.

Complexity is another question. If there is simple life, is the emergence of complex life likely or unlikely? Also, for post-human evolution; if humans ever head beyond the Earth and establish independent communities, how quickly will those communities diverge so that they're no longer human? I think it wouldn't take very long, using modern genetics, and they would be likely to adapt themselves to the alien and hostile environment.

A far off avenue for this technology to develop.