We are all created equal. This is a truth that has finally been embraced by the vast majority of the civilized world today. There are still some racists and sexists out there, but they are increasingly in the extreme minority. Today we see men and women of every race, color, and ethnicity achieving greatness in virtually every sport, industry, field of study, and position of power. As always is the case, the future promises to bring change.
For decades we have played with the idea of genetic modification of human beings in our science fiction, but only now is that slowly becoming a reality. It has been relatively few years since the human genome was sequenced. We still don’t know what most of our genome is for. One thing is for certain, determining this will be expensive and time consuming.
Most early attempts to alter the genetic nature of human subjects have been to eradicate hereditary diseases. This has been met with little success, but with the coming of CRISPR, that is likely to change. CRISPR is a new method of editing the genome, a method which has been borrowed from the way viruses attack bacteria cells. CRISPER allows for very specific editing of DNA and very soon we can expect to hear that trails on human embryos have proven successful in editing out hereditary diseases. Very good news indeed; we can only hope that one after the other, common genetic maladies will fall by the wayside.
As our knowledge of the human genome improve, and CRISPR becomes more common, safer, and cheaper, we will see more and more cosmetic changes: eye color, hair color or texture, skin color, height, our body proportions, etc. Along the way other discoveries will see such as enhanced strength, bone density, mental capabilities, visual acuity, and other sensory upgrades. Other less obvious changes may come about, such as changes to the blend of pheromones that we unconsciously emit which help in attracting potential mates, changes to the way our brain secretes endorphins to reward us for healthy behavior, even changes to our biological clocks, extending our potential life spans.
Slowly but surely those who can afford it will artificially evolve into something superior and more capable than the typical man or woman. This, like so many of the fast approaching advancements in technology, looms over the economic lower class, ready to widen the growing divide between the rich and poor, perhaps forever.
In the past the rich and powerful merely thought themselves superior to the masses, but in the future they actually will be. That begs the question, what will be the relationship between the conventional man and this new breed of supermen?