In this blog post, we will consider the impact of the development of biotechnology on the future of humanity, between evolution and extinction.
Are we the only human species on Earth? Most people would answer yes. However, if we look at the history of the past 10,000 years, we can see that at least six other species of humans, including Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and Homo solus, lived alongside Homo sapiens. Despite the existence of so many human species, the reason why we have become the only human species today is due to the cognitive revolution. Through communication, Homo sapiens has come to understand concepts that are invisible to the eye, such as gods, money, and the state, which has enabled them to cooperate with many other Homo sapiens, even those they meet for the first time. This enabled them to gain an advantage in competition with other species. Afterward, they grew rapidly through the agricultural revolution and are now living in the midst of the ever-changing flow of science and technology.
Evolution up to the Scientific Revolution was not caused by human choice or need. It was due to natural selection, in which the individuals of the same species that were better adapted to the environment survived. However, through the Scientific Revolution, we are actively changing the external environment and improving our lives through intelligent design. Yuval Noah Harari, author of “Sapiens,” explains the end of Homo sapiens, which has evolved through the cognitive, agricultural, and scientific revolutions, from three perspectives: biotechnology, cyborg engineering, and non-organic engineering. This article focuses on how biotechnology can lead to the end of Homo sapiens.
Before we get into this story, let’s first look at what biotechnology is. Biotechnology is the use of the functions or characteristics of living organisms for human purposes, which means creating new characteristics that are not found in the species or creating a completely new species. For example, the mass production of insulin, a diabetes treatment, has the positive side of extending human life and treating incurable diseases. However, it also has religious and ethical problems, such as the use of animals as subjects for human cloning and experimentation. Research on human cloning is almost non-existent due to the many objections, but research on human genes will soon be activated as it has many beneficial aspects.
We have started a dangerous gamble by crossing the boundaries of God through the scientific revolution. Humans are no longer a species that evolves according to the influence of nature, but a species that changes nature according to its needs and expresses its endless desires through science and technology. This expression of desire has made it possible for us to create artificial organs using animals and greatly improve the intelligence of those animals. Since the genome of Homo sapiens is not significantly more complex than the genome of animals, there is no reason why this technology cannot be applied to humans as well.
In this way, not only the physical and functional abilities of the human body but also the intellectual domain are becoming controllable with biotechnology. If humans create genetically perfect organisms with the maximum capabilities, should we call them evolved Homo sapiens? Or should we call them a completely different species? In fact, the difference between us and the apes is due to a small genetic difference. So, should we recognize the genetic difference between Homo sapiens and the superior life form obtained by genetic manipulation and classify it as a new species? Or should we consider it to be the same species as ours?
We cannot accurately predict what direction science and technology will develop in this regard, where its limits will lie, or what changes will occur as a result of scientific and technological progress. However, biotechnology has only begun to affect our lives in a very short period of time in the long history of humanity. This short period of time has changed our lives, and mankind has developed a desire to modify itself by jumping into the realm of the gods and attempting to design the intellect in the hope of achieving immortality. Since there will be no more brakes on this desire, this will eventually lead to the end of the history of Homo sapiens.
