Eugenics

[Athlete{UK}]

You have to remember genetic desieses are mutations. As such they are random and part of an evolutionary cycle which doesn't really apply to humans that much anymore. We can prevent genetic mutations which we know about. In the future we might be able to stop genetic mutations we don't know about.

This opens up a whole new can of worms though. If we effectively stop mutation what about when one come along which is useful to us? It is eradicated by the gene treatment. It effectively puts man in a position where he no longer changes or advances.

These mutations could lead to us being stronger then any gene treatment could make us. Hell i wouldn't mind if we just mutated an imunity to the common cold (doubtful though it is.) But they are stopped and we eventually become stagnant for lack of a better word. The genepool could become extremely limited when you get down to the problem of "what is a desireable genetic trait and what isn't?"

On the flip side though like i said. Does many really conform to the idea of mutation and evolution anymore? Eh a bit i supose we do a tiny bit but nothing like the rest of the living creatures on Earth. And can we really justify letting a great number of people die because there may be a tiny chance in the future we will benifit on the whole? Or because it's natural?

Or am i just going way to far forward with this post? I dunno. One thing i do know is that the sky. Is blue.

[Woe Kitten]

No it isn't...

[zombie@computer]

You have to remember genetic desieses are mutations. As such they are random and part of an evolutionary cycle which doesn't really apply to humans that much anymore.

the line between evolution and a genetic desease is genetically unexistant

[slayera]

We will be are own godz, perfect in most every way.

except in our use of grammar and spelling hahahaha couldnt resist

Yeah, maybe one day they can cure my A.D.D.

[Woe Kitten]

Well I think the point is that you can't really freeze genetic evolution, rather you target particular errant genes through gene therapy. So you see that the problem isn't that we will slow down evolution, because the mutations we will be dealing with are those which we choose. However, what we will be doing is choosing which mutations survive and which do not. Although this in itself might prove dangerous, it is more likely to speed up evolution than slow it down.

[The Watcher]

Life is progressing, it's times like this when i'm glad i'm young 'cause i'll actually get to see a lot of the absolutely amazing progress made in the world.

Ditto,

I'm going for living til the dawn of the 22nd century, but I'd have to be really old for that...

IMO technology has been advancing alot lately, I read a special issue of TIME "The most amazing inventions of 2005". There is this device that you put on your shoulder (if after you have had a should-joint-replacement surgery) and you never, ever take it off, because cells will grow over it!
The magazine also had prototypes of other awesome stuff, like a door that takes the shape of your body when you walk through, a very futuristic-looking car like machine that can sense obstacles, and even ROBOTS!?!

Things are really looking up, if the apocalypse doesn't leave us in the stone age...

PS: I just recently heard about the genetically grown bladder, that is truly something.

[dragonfliet]

I think the question of evolution become really important when you start talking about gene therepy.

One theory is that humans have essentially put a kobash on our evolution anyways. In the last hundred years (more so even more recently) we've put up walls of sanitation and anti-biotics and vaccines that prevent the course of natural selection. Even farther than that, we've created wheelchairs so that infrmed people can get around and even have kids, we've invented eyeglasses so people with eyesight wouldn't get left behind, etc., etc.

I'm not saying these things are bad, but the idea of weeding out the genetically weak has become moot as far as human beings are concerned.

An interesting side effect of us increasing the lifespans of people, saving lives, allowing more people more opportunites etc, we've made ourselves vulnerable. For instance, I just read an article that says that kids (this was a US study, I don't know if it's applicable at all anywhere else or not) have almost twice the number of food allergies today than they did 8 years ago (when the study started). One of the reasons they're suggesting for this is the sterility we surround ourselves with. We spray our vegetables with chemicals to prevent them from rotting and to keep away bugs and diseases and we wash the chemicals (and any other possible diseases) off befor we consume them. We shower daily, we vacuum with vacuums designed to get up any remnents of dirt that once existed, we use sanitizing hand lotion, we use sanitizing sprays on the counters and the tables, etc. In short, we're not exposed to the tiny, inconsequential problems that build up natural resistances and simple foods are more likely to make us sick. (sorry long paragraph)

Anyways, back on point, this is where technology get's to step in. With gene therepy, we can CREATE immunites to colds, we can CREATE immunities to allergies, we can create cures for diseases. We are the agents of our own evolution. Some would argue that people with inferior genes should have died off, but think of all the scientists with glasses. Thank god for them. Think of the brilliant people who have been prone to debillitating diseases but have gone on to produce momumentally importatnt work (like steven hawking). Of We have enabled great minds to survive, and in the future we will have the means to make them thrive.

Of course, it will be a long road, not without incidents and problems and deaths, but I truly believe thatit will be a faster, safer and more beneficial kind of evolution than hoping that various diseases and various mutations happen to help us rather than hurt us (which is usually the case).

Besides, I want x-ray vision damnit.

~Jason

[Terminator]

Scientists arent actually that far off from finding a way to block meteors from attacking the earth, by altering the course.

Talking about Apophis are you? 2036, here it comes...

Happily, it is no extinction-level rock, but still big enough to wipe out Baghdad...
(Does anybody care about that?)


Anyway, I find it interesting that not a single person has even mentioned what eugenics really is. It is not overt genetic engineering, but the specific selection of "good" traits to match with other "good" traits, leading to a greater chance of an individual with desirable genes. By specific selection of mates based on their genetic makeup, you can guide your own evolution.

Say a mutation pop us that renders a few people immune to HIV (such a mutation does exist, believe it or not, and it has logically been found in Africa). Now, you breed these people with natural immunity to several others, test to figure out who carries the gene, and repeat for several generations. A bit slow, but now a much larger percentage of the population is naturally immune to HIV.

That is eugenics. It is just another one of those words that most people have mixed up with something else...