Human Augmentation: The Ability to Revolutionize the Human Race
The human specie has come a long way from where they began. We started out with nothing and knew nothing when we came into this world. However, in time we were able to climb our way to the top of the ladder of civilization and dominate our planet. To have reached such a standing, we must give credit to the countless inventions and mechanisms mankind has developed that have catalyzed our incredible advancement. Without such innovations, humans would not have been able to progress and become as well established as we have become today, our world dominance would have been precluded, and we could as well have ended up as the main food item on the menu for a ravenous species of lions or other carnivorous animals.
Luckily, we didn’t end up that way. We took it on ourselves to create mechanisms that would further distinguish ourselves from the rest of the world and establish a means by which humans could control our surroundings.
Nowadays, humans have in place a vast system of technology and other resources. We have evolved with the mindset to create things that will benefit us in some shape or form. It can be said that such creations have been primarily focused on changing or fixing almost everything revolved around humans. But why not simply focus on changing the core component of the system, us? Everything we have thought of has started from us, everything we have built has started from us, everything we have ever done has started from us, humans.
So why construct things to help humans while we could be making humans better off from the start? We have been creating things to accommodate human needs and issues, but shouldn’t we be focusing on improving humans so we wouldn’t have to be making these accommodations? And, if so, how would we be able to accomplish such a task?
The answer is simple: human augmentation. Human augmentation will bestow us with the ability to transcend to greater heights, ranging from improving our health and bodily capabilities as well as making us overall more functional, versatile, and productive.
Take for example the augmentation of the human embryo. For years, scientists have been researching and conducting countless experiments to figure out the most efficient and safe measures for gene editing of the human embryo. The human embryo is the one of the earliest stages of human development and therefore any modifications would result in major changes for when that being further develops. Some natural or inherited abnormalities in the embryonic stages, such as mutations, cause mild to severe health conditions. Scientists have been fixated on establishing a method to extract such mutations so that those who carry them would not suffer from their effects.
In a study conducted in august, 2017, scientists at Oregon Health and Science University, along with colleagues in California, China and South Korea, were able to edit a dangerous mutation from genes in human embryos. The new technique they developed involved inserting gene-editing components together with sperm in the human embryo before any fertilization took place.
The produced results from using this new technique provided that 42 of 58 tested embryos had all of their cells repaired from the damaging gene, which causes a common heart condition that could lead to sudden death latter on in life. Such results mark a tremendous milestone for gene editing and human genetic engineering.
This new technique could enable scientists to alter any harmful genes from human embryos and make it so that not only when the embryos further develop into babies that they would be disease-free but they would also no longer carry the risk of passing the disease to their descendents. If approved by the federal law, the new technique for gene editing “could apply to any of more than 10,000 conditions caused by specific inherited mutations” (Belluck 3). We can clearly see how effective gene editing could be and the vast impact it could have on our society, from preventing diseases in our younger generation to increasing and extending our overall “healthy” population who lack any traces of illnesses and diseases.
To add to this, Dr. Paula Amato, a reproductive endocrinologist at O.H.S.U. and a co-author of the study, conveys that “besides creating more healthy embryos for in vitro fertilization it could be used when screening embryos is not an option or to reduce arduous IVF cycles for women” (Belluck 7). With her previous remark, Dr. Paula Amato establishes her support for gene editing and helps shed light on how there could very well be further applications for the human alteration practices we have today.
The new technique of gene editing, a form of human augmentation, created by the scientists at Oregon Health and Science University and their colleagues offers vast uses, all of which have been tested to benefit us in some way and could help facilitate further advancements in gene editing and genetic engineering. From these developments, scientists could acquire the answers they’ve been desperately seeking to solve other dire problems challenging our bodies.
Here, we are presented with just one of the many studies where scientists have successfully altered the human body and produced beneficial results that would appeal not only to scientists conducting the research but also to the general public. With all of the positive results produced from experiments such as these, human augmentation carries great potential to be a reliable source in developing solutions according to our bodily needs and issues. However, we are not merely limited to augmenting ourselves to solve problems. Instead, we could look at the bigger picture, see where we are, what we can do, and then begin developing mechanisms to further advance the human race and enhance the human body.
As stated by Will Oremus in his article The Age of Enhancement, which addresses how technology has greatly improved human capabilities, “scientists believed humans could better their vision, strength, memory, alertness, and hearing” (Oremus 2). His article elaborates more on what enhancements we have made up until the present day and what the future holds for further human advancements. Oremus gives off the overall impression that he is all for human augmentation and specifically goes into detail about their benefits.
If we take a glance at where we have come, we can definitely see that what he said in his article holds true today. Humans have created wide range of new technologies ranging from retinal implants, prosthetic ears, cochlear implants, gene therapies, memory drugs, such as the alertness drug Modafinil, and many more.
All of these have addressed one or more of the areas proposed by the scientists that they believed could be enhanced. Oremus then adds that “future neural implants could allow humans to manipulate real-world objects with their minds — a power some have likened to telekinesis” (Oremus 3). This is just one of the many possible advancements proposed in his article. With such, we can conclude that Oremus is a large supporter for the augmentation of the human body and is quite enthusiastic for the possibilities they hold.
The extent to which human augmentation could revolutionize the way we function, interact, and live is practically unlimited. There are countless possibilities and advancements offered through its practice. For one, human efficiency could be dramatically increased and thus making humans more prosperous in return. Another thing is that the limitations we face today could soon be eradicated and become things in the past. However, reaching such feats is only feasible if we do so choose to harness everything human augmentation has to offer.
The use of human augmentation is unfortunately not met with open arms and welcoming smiles by everyone. From all areas of the world, there has proven to be a great amount of controversy over the topic of human augmentation and whether or not it’s for the greater good. The ethics of human augmentation is under siege by its critics who argue that in most cases, its practice cannot be conducted safely and can’t produce the exact results estimated prior to its use. They also contend that the results might be gravely dangerous and that they could very well put the whole community in dire risk if something went wrong. For instance, one small error in genetic engineering, such as misplacing a gene, could result in a horrendous mutation and even the death of the participant.
Further criticism of human augmentation is made evident when taking a look at several actions taken by the government to limit or ban its practice. Examples of such restrictions are revealed by Pam Belluck in her article In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos when she mentions that “Congress has barred the Food and Drug Administration form considering clinical trials involving germline engineering. And the National Institutes of Health is prohibited from funding gene-editing research in human embryos” (Belluck 6). Although Belluck’s article mainly focuses on the breakthrough technology that allows for the editing of a mutation form human embryos and is supportive of altering the human body, she does mention drawbacks and complications for its use, such as being banned by Congress.
For human augmentation to actually become a feasible measure for enhancing humans, it must first be approved by the government and the general public, which will most likely take quite some time based off of where people stand today on the topic. Even when it does meet all of the requirements for its public use, it would have to undergo a multitude of excruciating clinical trials and prototypes to distinguish its safety and whether or not it produces all of the desired results. With all of the effort and energy required to make human augmentation ethical and viable, most people would be thrown off and try to come up with an alternative solution for enhancing humans.
But that raises another question. What other practical options are there besides human augmentation for humans to become more advanced and progressive? There are no other found studies which have indicated any other viable measures that could produce the revolutionary results that human augmentation offers. On top of that, recent studies have proven that human augmentation is extremely close to finally being practiced with proper care and safety, one of the foundations critics primarily center their arguments around.
One of the scientists that has announced such a revolutionary change is Richard Hynes, a cancer researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with his statement, “We’ve always said in the past gene editing shouldn’t be done, mostly because it couldn’t be done safely. That’s still true, but now it looks like it’s going to be done safely soon” (Belluck 2). With the rise of safe procedures for gene editing, the acceptance rate for its practice could skyrocket and there may very well be a mass increase in its use.
If scientists could develop a way in which gene editing, along with other human alterations, could be conducted with solid safety measures and controls, then its critics would have to give up their primary argument against its use. Such a defeat would open up the floodgates for human augmentation to flourish, become a well-established part of our society and industry, and open everyone’s eyes to the countless benefits it presents mankind.
And, like everything else, human augmentation will have its pros and cons. But it’s the battle to decide whether or not human augmentation presents more benefits than problems that will determine its usage. However, with everything it has already proven to offer as well as the vast array of future advancements attainable through its practice, human augmentation can easily be declared the victor.
It can thus be said that through the practice of human augmentation, humans will be able to break pre-existing barriers limiting their capabilities, fix problems related to the human body and anything revolving around them, and ultimately be able to transcend to greater heights.
There is an open door to a whole new world full of possibilities through the practice of human augmentation where we could gain any imaginable desired trait and break out of the constricting cages limiting our capabilities so that we may achieve greater advancements and path the way to a better, optimal human.
That being said, it is ultimately what we choose to do with ourselves and the technology we have that will determine the course of our advancement and who we will later become.
Works Cited
Belluck, Pam. “In Breakthrough, Scientists Edit a Dangerous Mutation From Genes in Human Embryos.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Aug. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
Bohan, Elise. “10 Ways Technology Will Transform the Human Body in the next Decade.” Big Think. N.p., 15 Mar. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
Oremus, Will. “Technology Is Starting To Give People Superpowers, Like Telekinesis.” Slate Magazine. N.p., 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Jan. 2018.
“Human Enhancement.” The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, cbhd.org/category/issues/Human-enhancement.
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