• Question: Could you genetically modify a human to become a 'Superhuman"? I.e Having special powers such as super strength. In biology we saw a cow that had been given a double muscling gene that allowed there to be more muscle on the cow. So would something like this be possible in a human?????

    Asked by jarsden to Meeks, Pete, Stephen, Steve, Tom on 16 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Tom Hartley

      Tom Hartley answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      *I* could not, but I imagine that this type of modification is not beyond the realms of possibility. I don’t think it would be a good idea to genetically modify humans unless there is a clear health benefit in doing so, and I would be pretty strict about what I meant by health. I think we should be pretty cautious about genetic manipulations of other species too, especially if there’s any chance the manipulated genes could get out of the lab and into breeding populations. I am not convinced people can out-think evolution.

    • Photo: Marieke Navin

      Marieke Navin answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      I think technically it *would* be possible – we obviously posses the capability – we can do it to a cow, right? but morally I think we are A LONG way off being able to do this. It doesn’t seem right to change us in that way somehow. What do you think?

    • Photo: Stephen Curry

      Stephen Curry answered on 15 Jun 2010:

      You could certainly enhance the existing powers of a human by genetic engineering , for example to make them grow bigger muscles to be stronger. But there is a limit to this since bigger muscles make you heavier and the benefit will top out at some point.

      You might eventually even be able to add capabilities that we don’t have (e.g. like the ability of pigeons to navigate by magnetic fields).

      Whether you could add *real* superpowers, I don’t know. I can imagine that it might one day be possible to integrate humans with computer technology and machines to greatly enhance their capabilities. But would you want to do this, even it if were possible?

      Personally speaking, I could do with a superpower that allowed me to fly – would save me having to get the bus in the mornings!

    • Photo: Steve Roser

      Steve Roser answered on 16 Jun 2010:

      There is always the “law of unintended consequences”. We all do a bit of genetic modification on the quiet when we choose our potential breeding partners – I didn’t look at my missus and go ‘Oh she has a fine set of teeth that she could pass on to our offspring even though mine are rubbish’ (she does and did by the way) but we can’t help but make selections unconsciously.
      So we already do this, but we almost certainly will be able to do it in the testtube in the future, as we understand how genes work better and better, and there will be big moral choices to be made by us all, probably more so by your generation than ours.

Comments

  • Photo: jarsden

    jarsden commented on :

    I think it would be really good if you could photosynthesis. That way we could create our own food, and there would be no need for TV programmes such as Bear Grylls!!!!

  • Photo: Tom

    Tom commented on :

    Great idea for a superpower jarsden. It would also help reduce CO2. I seem to remember that one idea is that chloroplasts (the photosynthetic parts of a plant cell) are thought to have evolved from separate organisms that became symbiotically incorporated into plants (I am not sure if anyone believes this any more), so perhaps it’s not so far-fetched to imagine animals or people engineered for photosynthesis. But I agree with Steve’s point about unintended consequences when it comes to genetic engineering.

  • Photo: bangersmash

    bangersmash commented on :

    that would be AMAZNIG

  • Photo: smokeyjoe

    smokeyjoe commented on :

    i think it would be really awsome if you could get gene therapy to grow whole new limbs e.g. wings