Thursday, April 30, 2015

Another Step Towards Eternal Youth

The scientific discoveries discussed in this Time article really are profound and another notch in the belt of the transhumanists. It also raises the possibility of continual "rejuvenations" such as those Robert Heinlein discussed in his books about Lazarus Long. According to the article:


“It’s clear that when you have alterations in [chromosome stability], the process of aging goes so quickly and so fast that it’s tempting to say, yes, this is the key process for driving aging,” says Belmonte.
Even more exciting, when he analyzed a population of stem cells taken from the dental pulp of both younger and older people, he found that the older individuals, aged 58 to 72 years, had fewer genetic markers for the chromosome instability while the younger people aged seven to 26 years showed higher levels of these indicators.
“What this study means is that this protein does not only work in a particular genetic disease, it works in all humans,” says Belmonte. “This mechanism is general for aging process.”

Of course, once this process becomes refined and monetized it will become the province of the wealthy. Unlike with plastic surgery, there will be no incentive to expand this technology beyond the wealthy because their eternal youth will remove the profit motive that produced democratization of plastic surgery's benefits. In essence the rich and ultra rich will be cemented in place, and relative social mobility will cease due to the ability of capital to replicate itself. Additionally, this technology, when monetized, will allow millionaires and their wealthier brethren to pursue other endeavors after entire careers in Finance, allowing them to dominate academia and politics as much as they like with all kinds of unintended consequences. It is likely that this technology also could prompt an eventual rebellion among those with normal life spans, but the wealthy likely would have the resources to put it down.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

Helix and Orphan Black: Cults & Genetic Engineering

Both Helix and Orphan Black not only play on fears of genetic engineering, but embed these fears within the context of cult-like organizations. In Orphan Black it is the Dyad Corporation and the actual cult of Proletheans who are interested in Project Leda's creation of the Sarah and the Clone Club; the military is in charge of Project Castor's creation of male clones. In Helix not only is there the cult-like Ilaria Corporation engineering a virus to wipe out most of humanity's "surplus population," but in Season Two we have an actual cult composed of the descendant's of one of the immortals. In this case, the cult itself is involved in splicing plants (an early form of genetic engineering) to create hybrids and creates an apple which sterilizes males (an interesting twist on the apple as forbidden fruit).

By embedding the fears of genetic engineering within a cult or cult-like organization, it amplifies human fears of hidden agendas. It also makes for some interesting plot devices and twists. Cults have been out of the news for awhile, so this plot device really is an interesting choice.