What if we could re-engineer humans for the harsh environment of planets like Mars? Believe it or not there are scientists studying our genome to determine if altered humanity is a suitable strategy for colonizing planets other than Earth. And some have even mused about altering humans so that we can better cope with climate change. In her book, Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood, spun such a scenario with the creation of a genetically-altered human species designed in a lab to survive a pandemic apocalypse.
A symposium entitled Genetics, Biomedicine, and the Human Experience in Space, was recently held at Harvard Medical School. The premise of the discussion was the role genetics could play in the successful conquest of space by our species. Could genetics alter us to withstand cosmic rays bombardment or long-duration exposure to micro-gravity? Could we alter our muscles and skeletons, change our diurnal circadian rhythm to match that of a different world, make our bodies handle greater extremes of heat and cold, and develop respiratory systems that function in low-oxygen or even the absence of free oxygen environments?
Those at the symposium looked at our human genome seeking factors as of yet unknown that could be unleashed to alter us to thrive off this world. What genetic triggers could we pull to make us absorb oxygen from an atmosphere largely composed of carbon dioxide? What genes could make our bones, muscles, and circulatory system accommodate low gravity environments.... C LEN ROSEN hPLus Magazine