Invasion of the high-tech body snatchers [View All]

[GAspnes]

Right here, right now, it is virtually impossible to find a human being in the developed world who is not technologically enhanced or modified. Ever been vaccinated? Have a tooth crowned? Wear contact lenses? One does not need a pacemaker to qualify as a bioengineered Homo sapiens.

These examples have profound implications. There is no theoretical difference between a dental implant and a mental implant except that we know how a tooth works and can manufacture a functional replacement. Currently, the same cannot be said for the neural network of the brain. But from a bioengineering standpoint, that is only a matter of time.

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As these technologies emerge, humans will metamorphose: The first stage of our metamorphosis will, in fact, be the physical fusion of human beings with both the biological and nonbiological systems we are engineering.

But rather than the end, this quasi-cyborg, or "Homo technicus," is just the beginning. While bioethicists wring their hands about the morality of human cloning, and politicians battle about where we may or may not get our stem cells, nanotechnology is moving toward the elimination of the cell as the fundamental unit of life. Yet outside the laboratory, how many people are paying attention?

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Once we fully understand cellular function at the molecular level, and can fabricate replacement parts from the entire palette of materials, why would "we" choose to remain simply carbon-based? When the lexicon is complete and fabrication tools are available, there will truly be no difference between a dental implant and a mental implant. Clearly the definition of a life-form will have to be modified as modes and even the need for reproduction or replication change or disappear. Homo technicus will emerge: the fusion of biology and high technology.

more at Salon (premium, one-day sign up)

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/09/30/bioengineering/index2.html

The author is Alan H. Goldstein, director of the Biomedical Materials Engineering Science Program at Alfred University in New York.

His point is that while we worry about bioethics at the genetic engineering level (GM crops, genetherapy), bioengineering is advancing *beyond* carbon on a smooth curve that will result in lifeforms (if you can call them that) which are specialized for every environment, including outer space.

We can (shortly) and probably will be creating structures and mechanisms which will abort evolution and decouple the next generation of beings from the 4 billion years of life-as-we-have-known-it. Fascinating article.