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Just curious of what everyone's opinions are on the subject. Will current human species develop new human species that will make us obsolete within next 100 to 200 years.
Will the current Homo Sapiens species go the way of the Neanderthal due to DNA engineering of the human species?
Curious of what everyone's opinions are on the subject of DNA engineering. Will current human species develop new human species that will make us obsolete within next 100 to 200 years.
Will the current Homo Sapiens species go the way of the Neanderthal due to DNA engineering of the human species?
Curious of what everyone's opinions are on the subject of DNA engineering. Will current human species develop new human species that will make us obsolete within next 100 to 200 years.
I think it is a possibility, but your timetable is probably premature. Not only must the technology be developed, but the moral objections would have to be overcome. I would anticipate organized religion, especially the fundamentalists, to fight all such attempts with great vigor. This would be understandable since the development you reference would doubtlessy make religion extinct. (I assume that the plan would not be to engineer superior humans but leave them saddled with superstition genes.)
We would also have to consider the possibility of grave calamity during the transition. Replacing an entire species would not be an instant process and at some point the world would be populated by a rising number of neokind and a shrinking number of humankind. Could these groups co exist peacefully? Would the old style humans fight to preserve the species? Would the engineered folk treat them with the contempt of the superior?
I think it is a possibility, but your timetable is probably premature. Not only must the technology be developed, but the moral objections would have to be overcome. I would anticipate organized religion, especially the fundamentalists, to fight all such attempts with great vigor. This would be understandable since the development you reference would doubtlessy make religion extinct. (I assume that the plan would not be to engineer superior humans but leave them saddled with superstition genes.)
We would also have to consider the possibility of grave calamity during the transition. Replacing an entire species would not be an instant process and at some point the world would be populated by a rising number of neokind and a shrinking number of humankind. Could these groups co exist peacefully? Would the old style humans fight to preserve the species? Would the engineered folk treat them with the contempt of the superior?
So you are saying it would happen in steps. First upgrades to certain functions of the mind, and the body itself. Over time these developments would lead to a more advanced form of what we are. Could that not happen because of reasons like medical advances and such?
It's possible, even probable that homo sapiens will eventually become extinct. As it is, we're at the end of the line. Keep in mind that neanderthal and homo sapiens are two different species. We evolved from homo erectus.
Exactly why neanderthal became extinct is still a matter of debate. Some think they simply couldn't compete for resources as well as homo erectus at the time of the ice age. Others think interbreeding may have been the cause. I wouldn't doubt that some interbreeding probably took place, but the offspring most likely would have been sterile and incapable of reproduction. Two different species.
We'll either continue to evolve into a new species, or we'll die out. If a new species comes along, it's likely we'd co-exist with them for a long time to come. In comparison to past species, we haven't been around all that long, so there's no reason to think we'd vanish from the planet in the next 100 to 200 years. I'd say add about three more zeros. Of course, that assumes we don't perish in the meantime. I suppose within the next couple hundred years, we may have a better understanding of genetic engineering to develop a version that's much more hardy than we are and have higher mental abilities than we do.
Regardless, if a new species does pop up in the future, it'll be the result of a long process of gradual change. If we genetically 'create' a new species, then we'd most likely co-exist together until we finally become museum exhibits.
We are evolving everyday. What you see now will not be the same in a thousand years. There are already people on the planet that are living in bodies that we will see in the future. They are upstepping our race as humans.
Just so I am clear on what is being asked, are you referring to the sort of 'bionic' prostheses and machine/computer aided artificiality we see becoming more prevalent in our society?
Or, are you asking what actual gene 'manipulation' and DNA mapping has to do with the future of our offspring?
Artificial implants of any sort have little to absolutely no effect on DNA(with the exception of perhaps a malignant chemical altering the sperm or egg cells of the host). I could have all my limbs replaced with prosthetic ones, my heart ripped out (gently, of course ) and replaced by an artificial one and it would have little to no effect on what my offspring looked like. This is why despite the large population of circumcised males, every male baby born is uncircumcised.
But, if you're asking what we might look like in the future due to the results of gene sequencing, DNA mapping, etc... then I think it's an interesting question. The biggest restraint is going to be whether or not it is ethical to even attempt to alter the offspring of a human being with some sort of artificial method of 'filtering' out bad genes.
The complexity involved in such things would be so tremendously difficult that I don't see us, as a race of human beings, allowing this kind of practice to be undertaken with much, if any, frequency at all. For example, I believe only an estimated 10% of the genes that cause breast cancer have been mapped. Were we, for example, to try and manipulate every breast cancer gene so that it was turned 'off,' I fear that the complexity involved would only lead to causing unforeseen disasters in the resultant offspring. Even if we were able to do such things with a modicum of relative safety, there would still be an enormous ethical dilemma from many sides that focused on whether or not we should be going in and manipulating such things. Already, there's an enormous outcry of people who believe that autism is caused by early childhood vaccinations. Time and again, there has been absolutely no evidence to support this idea. But, imagine the potential liability any organization would hold in having manipulated someone's genes so that they were born a certain way!?
Any notable defect could be construed as a potential liability against whatever organization performed the procedure. Don't like the way your hair rests atop your head? Sue the people who made you that way. Don't like the fact that you have a horrible case of halitosis? Blame the people who made you that way. Don't like the size, shape, or configuration of any part of your body? Guess what? Go blame the people who made you that way.
I truly don't believe that we will artificially eradicate our species in terms of DNA engineering or genetic altering. Will we evolve to the point where we present day humans could actually be considered the ancestors of a more 'advanced' human-esque race? Depending on what sort of things compel us to adapt and how strong those pressures are, I suppose that is a very likely possibility.
As to a new specie in the future, it doesn't have to be better.
For example, if the new specie is far too specialized, that specie will perish.
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Will the current Homo Sapiens species go the way of the Neanderthal due to DNA engineering of the human species?
) and replaced by an artificial one and it would have little to no effect on what my offspring looked like. This is why despite the large population of circumcised males, every male baby born is uncircumcised. 
