Businessman and innovator Juan Henriquez spoke about a future in which people, thanks to genetic engineering, will be able to survive in extreme conditions and learn to edit memories.
The world seems unreal, in which a person has the opportunity to construct bodies at his own discretion and to create or recreate the animals and plants around him. In such a world, people are able to change living organisms and give them shape at will.
This is not about the distant future, this is not a fantasy. This is possible today. Right now.
Sounds like science fiction or newspaper duck, but it's true. The news was shared by Juan Henriquez, Founding Director of the Biology Project at Harvard Business School and Managing Director of Excel Venture Management. Enriquez spoke at the World Government Summit. He enthralled the audience, eloquently arguing that editing the genome allowed man to become the master of DNA - the source code of life itself.
Enriquez explained that this kind of power allows humans to take evolution - and destiny - into their own hands. And all this thanks to a genome editing technology called CRISPR. “Tools like CRISPR are enabling people to change lives on a colossal scale in real time,” Henriquez said. "We are rewriting the book of life in our own way." Henriquez spoke about the practical benefits of this invention, noting that the world is entering an era of "non-random selection."
The businessman reported on the experiments of scientists who change the genome of plants and animals in such a way that they acquire the ability to survive in conditions under which they could have died earlier. Henriquez also detailed how scientists modify the DNA of animals and plants to cause their death. According to him, nowadays it is safe to say that not only nature, but also a person can "populate" living organisms in certain areas at their discretion. The businessman came to the conclusion that in the past science was associated with discoveries, but today creation is subject to it.
However, with the help of genome editing, a person is able to change not only his body, but also his consciousness.
Now you can add, delete, change and store memories, as well as use them for any need. Enriquez believes that today a person is able to influence not only the work of his body - it has become possible to create a new, more adapted person who lends itself to instant "modification".
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Typically, a person associates himself with his own memories. Or with memories imposed from the outside, thanks to which a personality is formed. What happens if humans have the ability to literally create and modify memory? What happens if a person can delete all memories associated with a deceased lover or beloved? What will become of a person if the traces of the terrible acts committed by him are removed from his memory? What will happen if you place in a person's memory a memory of a feat that he did not actually perform?
Will a person remain a person? Today it is impossible to answer all these questions. But it is impossible to hesitate with the search for answers, since the solution of these problems should be dealt with now, without shifting it onto the shoulders of new generations. The technology has already been invented and will soon begin to be applied.
This is just the beginning.
Enriquez noted that through DNA editing and laboratory experiments, humans can not only change their anatomical structure, but also save lives on an unprecedented scale. “A flu vaccine can be developed not in a year, but in a week. By the way, this is not just a theory."
“Why do people intend to change DNA? - he asked. - Because at heart we are all researchers. You need to gain control over evolution in order to continue to develop. " Enriquez stressed that humans are adapted to life on Earth. Human DNA reflects billions of years of "earthly" evolution. It will not be easy to change this, therefore, in the conquest of the deserts of Mars or the icy lakes of Europe, a person cannot do without body modification.
Anton Komarov