NationStates Jolt Archive

Is genome therapy considered FT to everyones standards? I know that it is already being researched and experimented with... I just want to know if that could be considered FT...

Thanks

Okay, for starters this is definitely in the wrong forum. I'm not entirely sure where it should be, but Technical certainly ain't it.

Second, it's probably up to you, and the people you RP with. It could conceivably be FT, or it may fall under Modern+ (ie likely within the next 20-30 years, even if not strictly Modern Tech).
(Keep in mind that those are my definitions of where various tech levels fall, and these can vary widely between players)

well, see. I didnt know where to ask the question. And this forum is for 'general help'. So yeah. But thanks, that helps a bit.

Tossed over to NS, where it's more appropriate and less likely to get buried under 100 threads.

alrighty then...

Gene therapy and genetic engineering of what? Most of the technology is available today, although ethics and morality prevents people, organizations, and governments from turning out super-soldiers and test-tube babies. Ultimately, however, it is realistic to say that genetic engineering on humans is something on the level of post-modern or near-future technology. We can use the technology and within a few decades would probably have it down pat. Future technology is mainly for stuff like faster-than-light travel, gigantic phallic shaped spaceships, terraforming, etc.

Depends on the form of gene therapy, really.

1) Prenatally "repairing" genetic defects through transplantation and transcription in the zygote phase: probably just Modern Tech +.

2) Postnatally "repairing" genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis through genetically engineered cold viruses: also probably just Modern Tech +.

The technology necessary for both of these two have been shown to work already in the real world; they'll probably have practical application within five to ten years. More complex gene therapies, such as active modification or translation over the whole genome and the whole body without using incremental gengineered 'diseases' as vectors would be more and more futuristic in line with how comprehensive the changes are. If you're a Kurzweilian that believes in the Singularity and strong nanotechnology then "I can be whatever the hell I want whenever the hell I want" is probably Post-Modern Tech. If not, then Future Tech.

I personally figure the latter because I'm not much convinced by Kurzweil's computer science arguments that ignore inherent lag times in development and production cycles and are on about the same level of ivory towerness as Drexler's abuse of an exponential growth curve to say that one can go from zero to total geocide with grey goo in two days.

So Culture or Star Trek: Voyager style gene therapy ("Oh, you're a human, well, a little bit of computer buffer space and a re-written genome later and you're back to being a human-Klingon hybrid, huzzah") is strictly Future Tech, in my book. Actual genetic therapies as imagined nowadays, I figure are PMT at the very latest.

The kind that we are offering is post-conception. We take the broken mRNA and exchange it with existing 'fixed' mRNA to change/remove the problem. By identifying the different peices of RNA/DNA that are related to different diseases and viruses, we exchange the mRNA/DNA with 'immune' peices, to bolster both the immune system, and the body's detection rate. We have also used this therapy on brain tissue, and have found to be able to raise brain activity and output, thus increasing IQ and reaction speeds.

Although, we can make human insulin by putting the DNA sequence into bacteria, we have be able to 'fix' the broken DNA by exchanging it with correct DNA, thus allowing the body to once again produce insulin for itself, and removing diabeties as a debilitating disease.

Our procedures are protected though, so I cannot go into great detail.

As you said, I guess this tech would be pMT. Considering we translate fixed genomes by exchanging the mRNA.

But, This technology (being heavily guarded) shall never be used for 'genocide'-like uses. Larsdaylen is a commonly peaceful nation. Killing whole races is not high on our list.

OOC: ;)

So post-natal rewrites of the genome throughout the entire body (which requires some sort of vector that infects the entire body at more or less the same time, or at least suppresses any potential immunological rejection response during the transcription phase). PMT at least. FT probably.

As for genetic IQ and reaction speeds, reaction time is primarily a factor of training and limited primarily by the physical structure and constituents of the brain. Not really something DNA plays a great role in. Given that IQ is poorly defined as is, and the window for post-natal improvement of genetic IQ is probably decidedly limited... meh.

Wouldn't these (http://betterhumans.com/blogs/advancednano/archive/2006/11/24/Steve-Chen_2C00_-designer-of-Cray-XMP_2C00_-making-bio_2D00_supercomputer-extension-to-human-brain.aspxl) help while being sorta kinda PMTish?

From the article:

The Human Brain is better at higher-level intelligence. The THIRD-BRAIN cannot catch up with that in the near future. Maybe some day. We however, when we get older, we tend to forget things. If you have both Brains, functioning together, you will forget less and think fast. The THIRD-BRAIN will be close enough to emulate a real human brain for these functions.