Biggest hurdle to just experiment by randomly crispr-editing in humans are ethical, as a society the majority does not want a repeat of experiments similar to Mengeles twins.
Even though I would love to edit myself to be able to digest lignin and cellulose
Ethics are a big hurdle, but I wouldn’t call it the biggest. Mengele was a conscienceless monster who played at pseudo science.
The biggest hurdle to gene editing is that it’s fucking hard. Even Mengele V2.0 with no morals and a stable of daily test subjects wouldn’t lead to a ‘mastery’ that lets you merely select for your changes to only include digesting lignin and cellulose.
Seriously. It’s really hard to even model within acceptable error margins, what the results of gene therapy will be. The potential for disastrous results also only goes up the more complex the interactions you’re trying to affect.
The boy, first treated in February at just 7 months old, still needs a special diet and medication; the experimental therapy alone isn’t enough to prevent a dangerous buildup of ammonia in his blood caused by a faulty gene for a key liver enzyme. Still, the swift development of a gene editor that appears to have repaired the defect in some of his liver cells is a landmark demonstration of a personalized approach that has tantalized rare disease researchers.
That vague language glossed over tragedy: Seven days after the girl’s medical team infused trillions of viruses carrying the recipe for the base editor into her spinal fluid, she died of a severe immune reaction linked to the therapy, Science and Retraction Watch can now reveal.
In a possible future, itself perhaps locked in to some other timeline, your dreams may be possible for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But today, they’re just as likely to get you dead.
If Im honest I just wish for humanity to be able to treat chromosome issues and lethal fetal issues.
Let trendy transhumanism and cellulose digestion stay on the pages of fiction. I used Mengele as the worst breaker of ethics and horrible practises I could think of
Progress is trying to march in that direction. It’s just subtly (I.e, not something PopSci usually covers) one of the hardest scientific undertakings of our time.
I also don’t feel as though neither enough attention nor funding is being directed that way currently.
Still sounds like a better and more likely survivable outcome than elon musk’s chances of having a positive and interesting interaction with a woman (from the woman’s perspective of course). If that occurs it may create a blackhole.
Biggest hurdle to just experiment by randomly crispr-editing in humans are ethical, as a society the majority does not want a repeat of experiments similar to Mengeles twins.
Even though I would love to edit myself to be able to digest lignin and cellulose
Ethics are a big hurdle, but I wouldn’t call it the biggest. Mengele was a conscienceless monster who played at pseudo science.
The biggest hurdle to gene editing is that it’s fucking hard. Even Mengele V2.0 with no morals and a stable of daily test subjects wouldn’t lead to a ‘mastery’ that lets you merely select for your changes to only include digesting lignin and cellulose.
Seriously. It’s really hard to even model within acceptable error margins, what the results of gene therapy will be. The potential for disastrous results also only goes up the more complex the interactions you’re trying to affect.
At current time, even some of the best recorded attempts which are decidedly positively quality of life altering (e.g. [emphasis mine] https://www.science.org/content/article/gene-editing-therapy-made-just-6-months-helps-baby-life-threatening-disease) still come with great caveats:
Meanwhile, even renowned institutions starting from best intentions, get it horribly wrong, because the interactions are just that hard to model (e.g. [emphasis mine] https://www.science.org/content/article/exclusive-death-girl-chinese-gene-editing-trial-was-never-made-public):
In a possible future, itself perhaps locked in to some other timeline, your dreams may be possible for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren. But today, they’re just as likely to get you dead.
If Im honest I just wish for humanity to be able to treat chromosome issues and lethal fetal issues.
Let trendy transhumanism and cellulose digestion stay on the pages of fiction. I used Mengele as the worst breaker of ethics and horrible practises I could think of
That’s the goal.
Progress is trying to march in that direction. It’s just subtly (I.e, not something PopSci usually covers) one of the hardest scientific undertakings of our time.
I also don’t feel as though neither enough attention nor funding is being directed that way currently.
when you can digest cellulose but you lose 90% of your daily fiber and get colon cancer
Still sounds like a better and more likely survivable outcome than elon musk’s chances of having a positive and interesting interaction with a woman (from the woman’s perspective of course). If that occurs it may create a blackhole.