Human Gene Splicing An aspect of the future I chose was human gene splicing. I got the idea while watching reruns of Batman Beyond with my daughter. In my future scenario, human beings would be able to directly manipulate their genomes through biotechnology, and combine them with other species of animals to alter, enhance and add abilities and traits they do not currently have. In this scenario, human beings would have greater strength and vastly superior senses through the combination of their genes with those of animals like the great apes and dogs, and the ability for humans to not just survive but thrive in climates where we are currently unable by endowing ourselves with some of the physical invulnerabilities of lower animal species specific to environs we want to be better able to inhabit. There would also be greater resistance to disease and increased life expectancy by combing our genes with those of animals with low incidents of disease. For instance, Carl Luer of the MOTE Marine Laboratory’s Center for Shark Research says, “Immune cells already in the shark's blood may be available to respond without a lag period, resulting in a more efficient immune response." (Handwerk, 2003) Perhaps by genetically modifying our genomes with that of sharks we could be free of cancers. The impacts from these changes would be vast, as well as the drawbacks and moral conundrums they could possibly create. For example, I envision a whole new industry of biotechnology firms providing these services like the modern-day cosmetic surgeon, new types of criminals enabled by enhanced strength and senses from manipulated genes, and perhaps a host of new psychological disorders stemming from those who choose gene splicing and have to deal with undesired and crippling mutations, because human beings are fallible and inevitably mistakes will occur.
I also envision further divisions along class lines as those who could afford to undergo the procedures would likely be at both a physical and mental advantage over those who couldn’t. This idea goes into the larger questions that humankind would have to answer. Is it morally right to tinker with that which we are conceived? If we decide it is not morally objectionable, then are only those with the means privy to its benefits? And if these human beings are physically stronger, more sensory acute, more durable, far longer-lived, are they still human beings or something else, another rung up the ladder from homo sapiens on the evolutionary scale?
And if so, where do we go from there?