Crispr Prologue: Untitled (Fiction)
A few years ago I had more time on my hands. I’d always been a fan of writing, computers, and technology — then one day I had a bright idea for a fiction series related to genetic engineering and the vast implications that could cause for humanity, told in my own way…a novel idea (;D)…I went with it (I was ~22).
This is the prologue to an untitled piece that I’d begun, but due to life I got side-tracked. I only ever made it as far as this, which I wrote in one evening in about an hour, with 0 peer review. This has not been proofread, and is a rough draft of course.
In light of the first Crispr embryo editing being done in the U.S., now felt like the right time to unbury this:
Prologue:
Following the brink of an economic collapse the world was in shambles of sorts; Earth was finally prospering again. Ever since the previous generations genetic inadequacies caused a downward spiral in the world’s economy, things were finally looking up. The world was waiting off the last of the “original” generation to pass-on. The originals were the last of non-biologically enhanced humans. They weren’t anything like the humans that existed in the new generation of human improvement.
The world economy was in disarray and everyone was pointing fingers. In a democracy ridden modern world, no one wanted to admit whose fault it really was. Time and technology had transformed Earth into a semi-utopian hive mind. Everyone knew that in order to fix mankind’s really big problems, they needed more really big thinkers. Technology had caused mankind to rely more on systems and big data than actually trying to solve problems on their own. They knew technology had actually started to limit them and their ability to try and balance the economic needs of an ever growing planet filled with first world countries — seemingly fighting over every last resource they could stake their claim to. They needed the help of machines, but they didn’t exist yet in the capacity to solve mankind’s biggest problems. But, what their machines could do was aid them in was creating a better mankind; the start of a new generation of thinkers that would save humans in the long run. Every resource from that point on was purposed to aiding mankind solve its big problems.
That beginning of this renaissance started in a laboratory. Genetic scientists had finally cracked the human genome. The world of genetics from that point on grew exponentially. As the world was spiraling each year closer and closer to a global depression, bio-technology grew in the background — fueled by socialized healthcare, everyone wanted to live better and longer in the new modern day world. Why spend potentially trillions on modern medicine to try and cure diseases, all while fighting world hunger? Why couldn’t mankind just develop a way to prevent diseases, lessen your need for sustenance — yet increase your ability to perform? No one would have to cure disease if we all were designed to be genetically immune to them.
What started as artificial insemination and maturing embryos through gestation all the way to term, slowly evolved as geneticists learned to master the world of genetic DNA. Altering these humans to need less healthcare, less food, and preventing mental break down and cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s, naturally turned into common day practice. In 1st world countries it had become taboo to not have your child genetically modified and for them to be conceived through artificially insemination. If you weren’t investing in a genetically modified child, you were repressing mankind’s technology aided evolution. But, as what was once a societal norm slowly cascaded into federal control, the world decided that the future of everything mankind will ever hold dear depended on what it does today. Thus, the Future Human Association (FHA) was created — forever altering the timeline of natural human evolution. Not only was creating a genetically modified child ethical, it was required, by law.
In a socialist-majority, democratic world, such ethical treatment of your children comes at a cost. The costs were subsidized of course depending on your income. You could choose from different genetically enhanced tiers. In each tier was an itemized description of what traits you could choose from, starting from the basics; hair color and skin complexion, sexual orientation, to an enhanced trait for a specific sport or field of science. Immunities to existing diseases were standard, but new and emerging diseases cost extra. You were limited by what you could afford. Although the cost of your genetically engineered child varied greatly between tiers, you would spend your lifetime paying off the cost of your children. If your family was genetically modified by richer, previous “originals” you stayed around that same tier as the initial investment. As human abilities began to grow exponentially, the possibilities of you mastering your skill set and making enough collectively to pay and have your children further genetically enhanced than yourself began to decline exponentially. Human beings were now making the playing field uneven, the rich stayed rich and got richer, and the poor and middle class — although not poor or middle class by today’s standards, were stuck there to never excel passed their pre-chosen tier. Inter-tier marriages were not illegal, however they were frowned upon as that inevitably forced you into a lower tier form based on your collective incomes, slowing down your family’s genetic progression.
Progression could be viewed many different ways depending on the region of Earth your family was from. The Western Hemisphere preferred tanner skin tones to handle their warmer climate. Favoring more striking appearances, and darker hair for their children. The Eastern Hemisphere, however, adopted to lighter skin tones and fairer features, with lighter colored hair — the Eastern Hemisphere was much more mild than the West had become. The concept of beauty was greatly exaggerated in each Hemisphere. Everyone fought to produce the most intellectually talented, and awe inspiring, beautiful children. There, however, was no hatred or animosity towards people from the separate Hemispheres. But, what truly remained an issue was where your talents lay. In this new modern world your talents determined not only how profitable you were, but also essentially how profitable your children would be. Still, one of the major goals was to produce the best humans mankind could muster so that their children’s generation would continue to help mankind succeed by solving today’s big problems. As a world grows in intelligence, the big picture in life starts to give humans even more problems, everyone’s a realist. Genetic engineering helped mankind put its eventual destruction on pause, but the law of diminishing returns starts to take its toll statistically at some day and age. Mankind was smarter now, they saw this coming. But, what could they do, humans can only alter their biologics so much before they stopped making leaps and bounds in science. Evolution it seems occurs naturally at such a slow-pace because it gives hindrance to time and how fast humans should be expected to evolve and learn. When you purposely convert your culture to evolve around these limitations, that’s when you truly learn there are natural limits.
These natural limits, it seems, put a damper on how the world would perceive to be an acceptable human timeline. In time humans would learn that they could only live so long before mother-nature decided it was there time to leave this world. Humans were living one-hundred and fifty to one-hundred and eighty years old. But, age also affects your perception of time. The older you get, the more time seems to accelerate. A month or a year is weighted very differently for a toddler vs. a “senior” citizen. The patterns and sequences that our bodies adopt to learn and store in memory begin to get exhausted. Humans being interconnected through the creation of constant communication and informational databases pushed human abilities to their brinks. Years dedicated to their skills and talents they were genetically modified to excel in were eventually wasted when the human brains stop absorbing new information. It seemed as if humans had finally reached a limit. Once you weren’t useful to mankind any longer, it only made sense to have you willfully submit yourself to termination so that mankind could maintain an optimal balance of the increasingly talented pool of human resources. People would eventually grow to loathe this cultural shift, but logically everyone knew it was for the best. But, that doesn’t mean that a free-thinker can’t still attempt to be different and attempt to question society. This belief system slowly started to grow like a virus. Radical thinking was not frowned upon however its creativity was hindered once the FHA began to implement “Human Effective Lifespan” or HEL.
HEL, essentially, was a law that was enacted and held by both Hemispheres of Earth that as a human you were obligated to “terminate” your life once you and your spouse surpassed a certain age, but only after paying off their Tier costs, giving your children’s generation less competition in the working world. Most humans actually abided by the HEL laws. The ones that fought the idea of it grew to understand its importance as they aged. But, others continued to be a rebel to the belief that they should leave when they are no longer useful. Someone wanted to rise-up, and finally surpass those natural limitations with the help of computers, he believed the future of humans was synthetic. And, that the only thing holding humans back was their biologically enhanced brains. The pro human lifespan movement had begun to stir, the evolution of mankind was on the line — someone just had to be brave enough to take the steps necessary to ensure its continuance.
The “originals” are a hardy group of humans. They were the ones of course who implemented the major shift to genetically engineering humans. The leading geneticist who originally modified the first human remains a mystery to this day. The innovator who truly brought this great gift to humanity, however, the one who simplified it and made it possible for the world to adopt quickly and easily, still lives. A tall and lanky man, lightly-tanned skin, dark medium length hair that was never too unkept, he had a stern voice that demanded attention when he spoke, but the way he carried himself was much more subtle than his voice. His smile would blazen the room with joy — in the off occasion it actually occurred. His name, Dr. Larson Gernicus could always be made out on his grey lab coat. However, everyone called him by his nickname “Gern”.
Gern, was a man of great drive. A pioneer in the genetic engineering field, he was reveled as one of the greatest minds in his generation; a generation that he has seen dwindle to almost nothing. All the while Gern looked no older than a man in his early 50’s, he was fast approaching two-hundred years old. Everyone knew that his aging seemed to have stopped many years ago — however as the leading innovator of the human genetic enhancing movement, many people try to learn why. No one seemed to be able to get the truth from him, but to everyone who asked him he would always reply, “I’m as clueless as you are.” He always got looks on the street, everyone knew his face. He was on the news all the time giving lectures and speeches, a pro-human futurist with the notoriety necessary to help be the harbinger of the lasting future of mankind. He was welcomed in every city with graciousness and hospitality, Gern was a household name.
Despite his fame and popularity his home would always be the great city of Augustin, a prosperous major metropolitan city located in the Western Hemisphere bordering the Pacific Ocean.
Augustin was a large city — bustling with the comings and goings of its technologically laden denizens commuting to and from work. Every building was just as aesthetically pleasing to the eye as the last. Across the skyline, giant skyscrapers in spiral and unorthodox shapes of indestructible glass and steel were emblazoned by sunlight. Humans had mastered the utilization of its large urban landscapes, these great cities were powered by the sun. If the surface of the building wasn’t covered in solar glass translucent panels, they were hugged by the large green vines of the plants and gardens that were built into its great infrastructure. Humans rarely ever used the word “waste” anymore, everything could be broken down back into its simplest form to be recycled and reused. Not a single resource ever had to be discarded and forgotten, no matter how old it became.
A plastic bag could see a longer life than a human, out living the usefulness of them easily. Mankind had an expiration date, unlike most everything else on Earth now.
