Designer Drugs

Discussion in 'Philosophy' started by DBV, Dec 19, 2011.

  1. So I've been looking into the studies of epigenetics lately, and it's had me wondering: what if one day we're capable of designing drugs that can alter our genetic information? Like what if we could design drugs that would cause our genetics to produce more neurons? Or maybe we'd design drugs that could cause new receptor sites in the brain that would cause completely new emotions, or other psychoactive activity.

    Maybe we could design some sort of super immunity system, or develop completely new senses? It'd be crazy if we ourselves could create our own evolution..

    What do you guys think? I honestly think eventually it'll be a possibility, but do you think this capability would be a good or a bad thing to humanity and nature as a whole? Do you think humanity is responsible enough for that amount of power?
     
  2. Genetic manipulation is by no means new. To pop a pill an have your genes mutate would be, but the concept is there.

    You could - in theory - choose the sex, eye & hair color, physical make-up of your unborn child.

    Shits fucked though, gene manipulation can be sketchy.
     
  3. I agree man.. it's pretty sketchy.

    I honestly don't think we're too far off though.. once we can actually fully interpret how the genetic language works, we could basically make our own genes
     
  4. High thought:

    Not new as Kush said ^

    Not too sure how this would play out, though.
    Once you start messing with genetic makeup shit gets pretty sketchy pretty quick.

    Just to play Devils advocate:

    What would happen if (not to sound too "Action Movie" cliche" but...) someone that would use this for evil ( :laughing: sorry) of some sort?

    Imagine someone producing an army of some sort... of emotionless... THINGS with new senses and shit :smoke: . THAT would be crazy...


    Sober thought:


    Still sketchy however, I would be all for it. In order to move forward as a species we need to be able to do things LIKE (not this exactly) this. In sort of a flip-thought from above, imagine if that army was OUR army :)

    There is many ways this can benefit man kind but it could also set us back a few paces.


    It's all in the risk!
     
  5. #5 DBV, Dec 19, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 19, 2011
    What if we created an entire genetic strain that evolved into some super creature that destroyed humans?

    btw: I realise it's nothing new.. as I said epigenetics is what got me thinking of the possibility (that and The Rise of the Planet of the Apes). I guess I'm just wondering if this capability would be a good thing considering how ignorant and naive humans can be..
     
  6. have you ever read any of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series? in the sequels it starts getting into in vitro genetic modification.

    im about to post an excerpt from wikipedia that explains the fictional concept from the series so..
    SPOILER ALERT (removed all character names and stuff so it's not such a big spoiler)
     
  7. Dude thanks so much for this post! I'm picking this book up ASAP! Haha. I read Ender's Game in 5th grade.. I don't remember a lot of it,but I remember it being a great book.. this one sounds good too.
     
  8. yeah dude! read Ender's Game (make sure you don't give up on it.. it can come off a little childish at first but you gotta remember you're reading a book about brilliant children). once you get over it, it's a great read even for adults. i'm actually in the middle of re-reading the series as we speak.

    pick up Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow.. and then Shadow of the Hegemon. there's a lot more books in the series after that.. and they start getting more obviously adult-oriented as the series continues. they wont get into Anton's Key in detail until Shadow of the Hegemon. but it's gotta be one of my favorite book series ever. the best way to read the series is in the storyline's chronological order.. but the books were published out of order because of the way Card went about formulating the series. so if you get into it and can't figure out which book to read next, lemme know. lol
     
  9. Will do man. I'll probably just look for a series bundle.. hopefully I can find a good christmas deal on amazon or barnes&noble or something.
     
  10. An appropriate soundtrack to your thread :p

    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2h_wiFyqos]Designer Drugs - Zombies - YouTube[/ame]

    I don't think I want to have immunity on this planet though. I saw a similar thread in the Science and Nature section a while back.
     
  11. Dude... im actually so scared of this happening.

    Breeding soldiers using gene manipulation is guaranteed going to happen. Whether we decide how morally wrong it is depends on the people...

    Im equally frightened of the prospect of robots gone horribly wrong... fucking with A.I. and shit.

    Sometimes us humans just gotta take a break, maybe enjoy what we have for a second? nah... we'll only be satisfied once we "advance" our-self to death.

    EDIT: im fairly certain their is an actual disease very similar to what Bean had... perhaps antons key (although fictitious) isnt so fantastical as we thought...
     

  12. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf0E9llkZIU]A remote control that controls humans (English audio) - YouTube[/ame]
     
  13. Yo thanks for the video meddlehaze, that was crazy.

    Definitely some scary things could be done with those, especially once the technology has been perfected. Still seems like a bunch of really legit useful applications could use this technology.
     

  14. Lol no problem.

    And yes definitely. It'll be easy to disguise the malice use of this technology in "virtual gaming" or other "fun" applications. We know how to focus sound and light, I wonder if they will figure out a way to focus the signals in the headphone things so they can control the masses in a hands-free kind of way.:eek:

    Thanks for the rep btw!
     
  15. #15 PeruvianDank, Dec 20, 2011
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 20, 2011
    Its called transhumanism. And it is inevitable, as time will show.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj_-sBNQKcQ[/ame]
     
  16. As awesome as it sounds.. the idea scares the shit out of me.
     

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