How can we influence humanity to arrive at the next evolutionary stage of mankind?

Future human evolution

 

As natural selection no longer applies to humans, as mentioned in the 'human evolution' tab of this site, virtually the only way for us to improve ourselves is through genetic modification and engineering.

 

For us to improve our species to become both physically and mentally superior, we require further technology than what is available to us today. We see gene therapy being an effective way to eradicate genetic disease from a single person, however moving forward if we wanted to prevent it from occuring in the first place, germline engineering would be more appropriate aside from the great risks that it poses.

 

According to Dr. Chee Chan, we have the technology to modify and 'improve' genes responsible for things such as intelligence and physical attributes like height, however currently it is difficult to identify which actual genes are the ones responsible for these things.

 

If we can work to develop a method of identifying which genes are responsible for what attributes, eventually down the track we may be able to completely 'custom-build' a human.

 

Currently genetic engineering which is deemed ethical only has the capacity to alter the genes of one human being and not their offspring, however if we developed technologies such as germline engineering and applied them in a way that was deemed more ethical, the genes of future generations would be changed and potentially we could be 'improved' greatly.

 

The only way forward for the human race appears to be through the intervention of man and the alteration of genes, however our society is yet to come to terms with the ethical implications of a process which could see our species become greater on many fronts including intellectual capability and physical attributes.