Pentagon to Rewrite Evolution, Create Immortal Life

[Music Mole]

Allow me to address the anxieties underlying your concerns, rather than try to answer every possible question you might have left unvoiced. First, let us consider the fact that for the first time ever, as a species, immortality is in our reach. This simple fact has far-reaching implications. It requires radical rethinking and revision of our genetic imperatives. It also requires planning and forethought that run in direct opposition to our neural pre-sets. I find it helpful at times like these to remind myself that our true enemy is Instinct. Instinct was our mother when we were an infant species. Instinct cuddled us and kept us safe in those hardscrabble years when we hardened our sticks and cooked our first meals above a meager fire and started at the shadows that leapt upon the cavern's walls. But inseparable from Instinct is its dark twin, Superstition. Instinct is inextricably bound to unreasoning impulses, and today we clearly see its true nature. Instinct has just become aware of its irrelevance, and like a cornered beast, it will not go down without a bloody fight. Instinct would inflict a fatal injury on our species. Instinct creates its own oppressors, and bids us rise up against them. Instinct tells us that the unknown is a threat, rather than an opportunity. Instinct slyly and covertly compels us away from change and progress. Instinct, therefore, must be expunged. It must be fought tooth and nail, beginning with the basest of human urges: The urge to reproduce. We should thank our benefactors for giving us respite from this overpowering force. They have thrown a switch and exorcised our demons in a single stroke. They have given us the strength we never could have summoned to overcome this compulsion. They have given us purpose. They have turned our eyes toward the stars.

TL;DR

 

[Death on Trapezoids]

Let's not forget the predator drones that can "make logical decisions" if they lose the connection, or the robots that will go behind enemy lines and stay fueled by eating plants and rabbits via the same method of the fly eating clock.

 

[Mrsoupcup]

*Insert Terminator noise* DU DU DU DUDU

 

[SUPA FRANKY]

God...will...be...pissed.

 

[Sporky111]

Spoiler: Let me say this to some of the Escapists here first (a bit spiteful):

/facepalm.

It's hard to find intelligent conversation and opinions when the majority of posts are one-liners about MGS, zombies, supersoldiers, or Half-Life. Can we please bring the "thought" factor up a few notches for the serious topics.

I think the goal of bypassing evolution is a bit lofty. It reminds me of someone slapping nature in the face and saying "now that you've made me, I'm going replace you." At least, that's what the protesters will be telling them.

Evolution won't be replaced by this, because if "shit don't die" then it won't be able to evolve either. The killswitch tells me that they are thinking ahead, in case of sabotage or whatever unpredictable thing might occur. If they decide to make it any more complicated than a single celled organism (which is all it is, at this point) then they will have more problems with money than anything: Playing God angers voters -> voters are angered at politician funding benevolent scientist -> politician cuts funding to save his/her own ass -> project gets cancelled. In this way, all questionable science will be culled. Proof is already evident in the fact that they only got $6M.

Relevant Article in Popular Science. Scroll a bit down the page and there will be a picture of a guy with the title "The Faces of 2010". He's also working on synthetic life, and stands to make much more than the Pentagon would ever pay.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Hey, why not mess around with evolution and genetics?

Spoiler: What's the worst that could happen?

 

[Angus565]

I'm not sure about movies, but it sounds like they haven't played Half Life 2.
Might have misunderstood, but it sounds like they're making synthes.
I completely support this idea.

I want a strider!
a gunship would be cool too.

 

[VGStrife]

Surely this is a very big step in terraforming. Send GM microbes to, say, Mars that eat that atmosphere, and excrete Ozone.

/wishful thinking

 

[plastic_window]

Wow... Well... Good luck, I guess.

This sounds, on the one hand, totally amazing; and on the other, ridiculous. I have a hard time believing that all of this science-fiction buisness is genuinely feesable. Also, I have to wonder, what is the point in this experiment? Why does the Pentagon want to play God?

What do they have in mind with these synthetic organisms - should they ever actually be created?

Here's a thought, though. Let's say the Pentagon makes about a million different species of animal - all of which designed by all this synthetic/selective evolution - to do a million different specialised tasks.

At what point in this chain of events do we cease to be human, and become the evil alien overlords that enslave lesser species to do their bidding?

I quite like the idea, anyway.

 

[SilentVirus]

I'm saying 75 years later, then the lifeforms find a way to override the killswitch, and then thats when they start to rebel and kill us. My mind though.

 

[teknoarcanist]

You realize we're probably talking about single-celled organisms here? And as far as that bit with 'tamper-proof genetics', it's not really that far away from what grain companies already do to their stock; it prevents rival groups/corporations from stealing the (bio)technology--in the case of grain, farmers from buying some really top-grade shit, and then crossbreeding it with their own stock; thus benefiting from billions of dollars of research and not having to buy the same stock again.
Everybody's so eager to slot current events into their favorite doomsday scenario XD
OPTIMISM, PEOPLE!

 

[sartezalb]

This is deserving of a TL;DR. Five of them at least. But what the hell, it's Friday.

Perhaps this is a precursor to humans becoming immortal [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/6217676/Immortality-only-20-years-away-says-scientist.html], they tried transplants on animals first after all. However, I can see it being developed for a different reason - inject your soldiers with the cure then fire biological weapons that wipe out entire segment's of the world's populace.

Why have the Pentagon pursue human immortality? There are already millions flowing through the NIH to research human aging? As for the biological weapons...well, perhaps it's not that off the mark. Although if *you* were going to violate international agreements like that, would you give it such an obvious name as "BioDesign"?

To all those saying or thinking "Man should not play god". Man invented god and if man wants he can bloody well play god too.

More to the point, if that were a legitimate reason to shift policy in this context, then a lot of research that's already happened should never have happened in the first place. Also, if there are any diabetics throwing this charge around, I'll find it bitterly ironic.

Natural Selection not random selection, of what you NEED and removes what you don't, which is why humans aren't the strongest animals ever).

Well, kudos for not panicking, but this touches another sore spot. Natural selection doesn't "direct" everything to a particular form. Given a certain situation, some things will have a better chance of making it through than others. Things that survive have a better chance of having kids. Some traits or collections of traits happen to be correlated with this survival, and as a result, it gets passed onto more and more offspring. So natural selection isn't about taking out the bad; it's about advantageous traits gaining more and more prominence. And yes, this means that natural selection is operating on you right now, but I'm not going to get into that.

So my main point is that when people age they're bodys functions will shut down such as reproduction and senses. So immortality has negatives.

I think the distinction between immortality and eternal youth has been made quite a bit. A lot of the research into extending life has also considered the flipside, which is that quality of life tends to be inversely correlated with quality of life after, oh, six decades or so. At any rate, even if immortality were a reasonable worry here, I'd be more concerned about this sort of issue. [http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=1554]

When you've built a perpetual motion machine, you can come ask me for funding on immortality.

Ha. Well, the difference is that one is physically impossible, and the other one is impossible to fully judge. But that's the beauty of biology, isn't it? We make one profound statement and have it taken down 5 years later. Probably where all the "dogma envy" comes from.

 

[Infernai]

Aww....I wanted nuclear-capable walking battle tanks made. D:

 

[Sneaky Paladin]

Is the guy working on it called DR Insaneo?

Points to anyone who knows where that off.

Spoony experiment
cookie please

 

[Fallen-Angel Risen-Demon]

Everyone Knows you dont mess with gentetics It never ever ends well usually with a zombie appocalipse

 

[Klepa]

Genetically engineered superhumans with barcodes? That don't grow old?

Anyone ever watch that show Dark Angel?

Not such a bad idea anymore, eh?

 

[Sir Kemper]

Watch, in about 10 months, humanitys going to have it's equivilent of the Geth.

 

[CloggedDonkey]

they did the one thing you should always do in times like this: have a kill switch. clearly, they are smart.

but anyway, I hope that this might work, and that they put a kill switch in every one.