Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

Hey has any one heard about Genetic enhancements? I was reading this article about how it can decrease fat and increase you muscles and how you muscles get bigger faster last longer and are stronger... Has any one hear about this?

That's very unethical

is it really enhancing your genes or just changing your genetic traits?

i'm really not sure... i was reading it on a maxim magize one day and i did some research on it and it said something about how in 2008's olympics are going to be the last non-genetically enhanced olympics and how it's completely undectable...

it's also called "Genetic Doping"

http://www.betterhumans.com/Features/Reports/report.aspx?articleID=2004-08-09-1 hey hears the link if you guys want to read up on it....it's really interesting

also theres something called " Gene Therapy"

I look forward to the day when we can safely have genetic enhancements, I think it is the next logical step on advancing humanity. Fixing problems, enhancing whats there, its an exciting field of study and science.

It has side efforts no doubt since everything else does.I would not touch that stuff with a twenty and a half pole!LOL!JM

as you could see in Die Another Day

Thats why it is important to do a lot more research into so it can be safely used to benefit humanity.

I don' t pursue perfection nor immortality.

I dont seek anything, f**k it, Im happy as I am.

Who knows, in the future, will there be anything aside from old age or accidents to die from?

I don't think its about perfection, or immortality, though I guess it could get there, but it seems like a logical progression. After all, a great deal of science has gone towards stopping disease, improving our lives, letting us live longer, in healthier, fitter ways, why not take it to the next logical step and get down to genetics where it all happens? While there may seem to be a vast difference between, say, taking vitamins and improving genes, is there really? Isn't it about making the most out of our lives, insuring health, pushing the boundaries as it were?

I think it very cool hell if they sold the stuff I might consider getting stronger

I agree 100 % with what Friedmann states in the article. Instead of a feat of athleticism being the result of skill, training and dedication, in the future people will wonder if it's a simple product of bioengineering.
Those victories would mean nothing to me, worthless...

The consequences are incalculable when abused.

True, but that could be said for for basically anything. The splitting of the atom, understanding of diseases and so forth...

And I doubt it would render all training obsolete. One imagines that it is a long way off before we have bio-engineered Olympics, and if that day does come, and all competitors are bioengineered, well, the is still the need for skill and training and dedication. And besides, athleticism has come a long way since, say, 50 years ago, or 100, or a couple of thousand, new technology, new techniques, new knowledge, allowing people to run faster, for longer distances. After all, look at state of the art track clothing made to cut down wind resistance. Or in the pool, the controversy over the "shark suit", as it was new, and designed to allow the swimmer to move faster due to reduced resistance from the water.

So in the big scheme of things I doubt genetic enhancement would be the death of sport, but merely open up whole new avenues, and permit even more amazing tests of skill, endurance and feats. It is the way of people, pushing the boundaries. It is possible if one of the original Greek athletes could see the future he would scoff at protein drinks, diets and advanced track suits, but the fact is that sport progresses.

(Although I am looking at it from other angles, not just sport)

Gene enhancement is a waste of money.

I'm all for gen therapy but to cure diseases NOT to enhance a perfectly normal body

I kind of agree. Genetic enhancement could be of major benefit to humanity, thats what interests me, not its applications in sport, but rather to bigger things.

Although I think if it gets to that stage in the future, I still don't have a problem with people eventually using it to be faster or stronger.

It's a waste of specialists their valuable time, and maybe even resources, who could be put to much better use

True, but it is still probably quite a way of. If it ever gets to the point where it is the norm for sportsmen to have genetic enhancements the world would probably be at least a bit different, and not be a hindrance to more worthy applications. As always I think Governments and scientists would dedicate themselves more to curing diseases then helping Jimmy the Sprinter run faster.

Those are external factors, independent from skill (training and dedication).

WADA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have conservatively guessed that some athletes may use gene therapy at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Whether it' s a reality in the real world of athletics no one knows yet but we all think it will be a reality in the reasonably near future.

I thought the article articulated both sides of the argument very well, including why genetic engineering should be legalised. As pointed out it IS inevitable. And nearly undetectable. The logical thing to do if it begins flooding is to try to insure the playing field is even, if it can't be stopped let everyone have access then.

And those external factors are independent from skill. But that is the point of arguing against genetic enhancements, that they to are independent from skill. Both improve the performance of the athlete however.

Also it would be a shame if all the benefits of genetic enhancements were lost due to the fact it could change the face of sport, although I am inclined to agree with Miah, the one who supports gene doctoring. He makes very good points.

I see my misconception. I' ve always linked skill partially to genes.

I think it would make the sport a little more interesting...

It would only make the rich teams (in team sports) richer and in individual sports it would KILL sports great ability as way of social mobility.

This discovery could help the human race and help old people... i mean think of the possiblities! after the side affects are removed just think of what can be achieved.....

Thats the hole point I think. The benefits out weigh the risks. However genetic enhancements in sport are something sports bodies need to look into and take a stance on, or risk being left behind.

definetly... i mean it's kinda like a fountain of youth really..... i mean if your muscles last longer than what it would normally last then i mean why not take it into good use...and i mean there would be no one who would be made fun of because he/she's to skinny or to fat because you could work out for a less amount of time and get just as good or better results....I'm all for it......

If you can afford it.

In about 20-40 years i think it will be available to the every day civilian

. Immortality can never be reached unless god wills it.

Not exactly. The money is in the treatment, not the cure, and we all know that money is the answer to 99 out of 100 questions.

Many, many people will be out of jobs if we cure the "incurable" diseases of today.

y do u say that sexy king, is it purely based on ur belief in god or do u have another reason.

It's already possible to create a "perfect being"
Just through everyday genetics, you can change eye colour, hair colour, hair line, nose shape, height, etc etc

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20041030/bob9.asp

check this link out....
So much for natural Talents....

That is so disgusting, that's just being greedy.

i know! finally a post on my thread!

not a great deal more controvertial than some of the tactics used by athletes in the past

getting blood taken and the plasma filtered out and the red blood cells stored and then reinjected into the body in the days before an event (higher red blood cells mean more oxygen can be carried around the body)

i even personally know people who have injected human growth hormone into themselves to increase muscle mass

crazy and pointless

precisely why i dont give a shit about sports anymore.
f*** em. i dont care. let them all get good and jacked up till their balls fall right off. we place far too much priority on games.

Originally posted by PVS
precisely why i dont give a shit about sports anymore.
f*** em. i dont care. let them all get good and jacked up till their balls fall right off. we place far too much priority on games.

gotta agree with you there.

Changed your mind AdventChild?

Gene doping?

I know many people who happen to be dopes due to their genes anyway.

-AC

Originally posted by Storm
Changed your mind AdventChild?

nope...still interested as ever!...although it does worry me....

Originally posted by Storm
I agree 100 % with what Friedmann states in the article. Instead of a feat of athleticism being the result of skill, training and dedication, in the future people will wonder if it's a simple product of bioengineering.
Those victories would mean nothing to me, worthless...

The consequences are incalculable when abused.

There's only a certain extent to which genes can be messed with. They only give us the potential to be fast, strong, or what have you. We'd still have to exercise and eat well and such to get there, no matter how much genetic potential we had.