Originally posted by dadudemon
This is something I tell people all the time, more or less.A lot of people around me at work would not be alive without modern medicine.
I would be deaf without modern medicine.
We are actually weakening our species because the weak live and reproduce when they shouldn't even be alive...by nature’s standards.
However, gene manipulation is right on the horizon and this will negate all of modern medicine does/can do. As soon as the human genome is known inside and out, hyper-perfect humans will be created. There will also be "underground" inferior humans whose parents could not afford gene manipulation and it will not longer be "minorities" that are discriminated against, but it will be the genetic inferiors. Also, cybernetic enhancements will also be a major player and this will also contribute to the future human social system and its discrimination element. Hyper-perfect humans is a phrase/term I came up with to describe humans that have been manipulated beyond the necessary means to perfectly survive in their natural environment. (Yes, I am a nerd and I think about things that serve no purpose currently.)
Gattaca
Khan Noonien Singh (Star Trek orginal series & Wrath of Khan)
There's more movies/books, with related stories, I just can't think of them right now.
Originally posted by Mindship
A question for those into genetic engineering: just how "super" do you think a person could be, using only this approach (eg, no tech enhancements)? Could a person, say, be enabled to press 100 tons, or shoot energy from their eyes? What would be the limits of genetic engineering alone?
I do not think genetics will be the choice for superhuman traits. It will be cybernetics. Hot laser vision? We are close right now to be able to do things like that. (You know like Cyclops.)
However, gene manipulation will produce awesome abilities or enhancements. Like super vision, super senses like a dog and a tiger shark put together. Super strength is possible but not under current understanding. The human body is just too frail. We would have to replace all of our osseous tissue with something a whole hell of a lot sturdier. (Not that bones are not strong, in equivalent mass, bones are 10 times stronger than steel...awesome isn't it?) Basically, our support system and connective tissues are not nearly strong enough for super human strength.
Also, I do not think that the current muscle structure (where the muscles are attached and how they contract...basically all of current human kinesthesiology 😄 ) is perfect either. We are very very inefficient at "getting about". I do not know the statistic but it's like 98% of the energy we make in our mitochondria is wasted or cannot be harnessed. Our bodies are very very very inefficient at making energy.
Also, just think of designing a body that can hold it's fluids much much more efficiently without overheating? (Relative to that human’s theoretical tolerance levels, etc.) If you combine those two types of previous enhancements, you could cure world hunger!!!! No such thing as dehydration or starvation anymore because you would only have to drink limited amounts of fluids and the energy production in the body would be so efficient that you would hardly have to eat!!!! SUPER AWESOME!!!
There are tons of other ideas that I have such as enhancing reflexes and movement speed for military personnel, or sexual enhancements like a better orgasmic response, breasts, etc, etc.
Originally posted by dadudemon
No, that is receptor manipulation, not gene manipulation. Pretty much all pharmaceuticals are just chemicals that attach themselves to a receptor in the body...same goes for steroids. (Androgen receptor I believe.)
most steroids are nothing but amino acids anyway.
any advancement in the human machine would happen on the dna level, as the little that i know about it, it has a read-write program (what we call chemicals on that level are really advanced in a particular function and built only for that function, and react very dynamically to chemicals (too much potassium, not enough magnessium, toxic stuff like mercury in the blood)...all of this can augment any cell reproduction or dna copy production (as if it miscopies in the negative way, it's a problem).
Originally posted by Crimson Phoenix
Actually its a hydrocarbon skeleton with rings. but i'm just being picky, sorry
ok. anything that has life is carbon based, any LIVING "matter" at all is from carbon. so, the carbon part is fine. the particular shape has to do with its character (hole structure with rings), and the "hydro" aspect just means hydrogen (maybe with oxygen) ratio. no troubles with you being picky! picky can be a good thing.
Originally posted by Czarina_Czarina
ok. anything that has life is carbon based, any LIVING "matter" at all is from carbon. so, the carbon part is fine. the particular shape as to do with it's character (hole structure with rings), and the "hydro" aspect just means hydrogen (maybe with oxygen) ratio. no troubles with you being picky! picky can be a good thing.
Actually, the hydro bit is more to do with the hydrogen, sorry being picky again 😛
And about the topic, genetic manipulation, then eventually cybergenetics is probably the closest humans can get to superpowers. naturally, mutations that occur are usually disadvantageous, or have no affect on us at all. A positive mutation is extrememlyu rare, (let alone one that could give us superpwers). but its nice to dream
Originally posted by Crimson Phoenix
Actually, the hydro bit is more to do with the hydrogen, sorry being picky again 😛And about the topic, genetic manipulation, then eventually cybergenetics is probably the closest humans can get to superpowers. naturally, mutations that occur are usually disadvantageous, or have no affect on us at all. A positive mutation is extrememlyu rare, (let alone one that could give us superpwers). but its nice to dream
Oh goodness Crimson, now I have no options but to read a bit about cybergenetics.
Your view of the positive aspect of mutation paints the picture of any ideas on the subject as illusions, but I would disagree. Until we have all the data about positive mutation, we can call it brainstorming. 😎
btw, I knew the hydro part had to do with hydrogen, but as with the other post with regard to the long stringed name (testosterone-17beta-hydroxy-4-androsten-3-one), it does hav oxygen in it. I don't know what the beta stands for, if it means something about the amount of energy transfer that it's giving off...
Originally posted by Czarina_Czarina
Oh goodness Crimson, now I have no options but to read a bit about cybergenetics.Your view of the positive aspect of mutation paints the picture of any ideas on the subject as illusions, but I would disagree. Until we have all the data about positive mutation, we can call it brainstorming. 😎
btw, I knew the hydro part had to do with hydrogen, but as with the other post with regard to the long stringed name, it does hav oxygen in it. I don't know what the beta stands for, if it means something about the amount of energy transfer that it's giving off...
Beleive me, positive mutations are rare. the thing with mutation is they can affect lots of things at the same time. so if you have a positive mutation, it would affect other things in a disadvantageous way, like a mutation that gives you high intelligence is also likely to give you autism.
Oh, and the beta bit is the oreintation of that bit of the molecule
Originally posted by Crimson Phoenix
Beleive me, positive mutations are rare. the thing with mutation is they can affect lots of things at the same time. so if you have a positive mutation, it would affect other things in a disadvantageous way, like a mutation that gives you high intelligence is also likely to give you autism.Oh, and the beta bit is the oreintation of that bit of the molecule
Genes work in an extremely complicated, synergistic way. One gene does not say that you have funky eyebrows, it is multiple genes.
Some attributes/traits may directly and indirectly involve millions of genes. That is what I meant earlier when I said "As soon as the human genome is known inside and out..". Mapping the human genome is one thing, knowing the intricacies is another. I am talking about building your own human in a computer just like it was a "sim" except you can go as detailed as you want with it. Eventually, we will have software like that.
Alzheimer’s? One gene or many? I think it is more than one but "they" think they have narrowed it down.
The beta means that it is a slot on carbon atom or organic molecule where another atom or radical (like an enzyme) can attach to modify the functioning properties of the carbon atom or organic molecule. If I am not mistaken, testosterone can be made inert by sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) to reduce the bioavailability of testosterone in the blood and it attaches at the beta position 😄.
Crimson Phoeonix, you're pretty smart. Where did you learn about all that chemistry?
Originally posted by dadudemon
Genes work in an extremely complicated, synergistic way. One gene does not say that you have funky eyebrows, it is multiple genes.Some attributes/traits may directly and indirectly involve millions of genes. That is what I meant earlier when I said "As soon as the human genome is known inside and out..". Mapping the human genome is one thing, knowing the intricacies is another. I am talking about building your own human in a computer just like it was a "sim" except you can go as detailed as you want with it. Eventually, we will have software like that.
Alzheimer’s? One gene or many? I think it is more than one but "they" think they have narrowed it down.
The beta means that it is a slot on carbon atom or organic molecule where another atom or radical (like an enzyme) can attach to modify the functioning properties of the carbon atom or organic molecule. If I am not mistaken, testosterone can be made inert by sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) to reduce the bioavailability of testosterone in the blood and it attaches at the beta position 😄.
Crimson Phoeonix, you're pretty smart. Where did you learn about all that chemistry?
Thanks, you're really smart yourself. I had to learn all this stuff for my degree. I dont remember it all in too much detail, but i can recall the general stuff. I actually had to do my exam on the alzheimer's gene (theres quite a fair few mutations, depending on the type of alzeimers)
Originally posted by Crimson Phoenix
Thanks, you're really smart yourself. I had to learn all this stuff for my degree. I dont remember it all in too much detail, but i can recall the general stuff. I actually had to do my exam on the alzheimer's gene (theres quite a fair few mutations, depending on the type of alzeimers)
I was watching this thing on Discovery health and they were going on, on how they created a pharmaceutical that targets the Alzheimer’s gene and that they are close to "curing" Alzheimer’s. Then they basically made fun of this one doctor who thought that all the other doctors were close minded and that it is not just one gene. This so called "quack" went on to explain that there are more factors than just one gene. It really pisses me off when people do stuff like that to doctors. Just because he disagrees and what he says could detriment future sales of an experimental drug, doesn't mean you have to make fun of him!!!
Well, from what you say, it looks like the "quack" was right.
Originally posted by dadudemon
I was watching this thing on Discovery health and they were going on, on how they created a pharmaceutical that targets the Alzheimer’s gene and that they are close to "curing" Alzheimer’s. Then they basically made fun of this one doctor who thought that all the other doctors were close minded and that it is not just one gene. This so called "quack" went on to explain that there are more factors than just one gene. It really pisses me off when people do stuff like that to doctors. Just because he disagrees and what he says could detriment future sales of an experimental drug, doesn't mean you have to make fun of him!!!Well, from what you say, it looks like the "quack" was right.
Really? how long ago was this? the different alzheimer genes are pretty recent discoveries, also, mutations in these specific genes doesnt always mean you will get alzhiemers, its just an increased risk (cant remember exactly how much though). Genes can be very funny things. people discover new genes then find that its completely useless, then they find it isnt.....