In this blog post, we’ll explore whether the abilities of superheroes—such as Captain America in the movies—can actually be achieved through modern science and technology, including drugs and gene therapy.
Since the release of the 2012 film ‘The Avengers’, which was a massive global hit, public interest in Marvel heroes has soared. Starting October 10, 2014, Trace artist Nestiket (Go Young-hoon) began serializing the Marvel Comics webtoon ‘Avengers: Electric Rain’ on Daum. People are fascinated by superheroes with superhuman abilities. In one scene from ‘The Avengers’, the superheroes use their powers to battle the army led by the villain Loki—a sequence that’s thrilling no matter how many times you watch it. Among them, Captain America, wielding his large shield and issuing commands to the other superheroes, looks particularly impressive. Wouldn’t it be great if Captain America—whom we’ve only seen in movies and comics—appeared in real life?
Captain America subdues his enemies in an instant with his exceptional physical abilities and combat skills. However, before becoming Captain America, he was so frail that he was even rejected for military service during World War II. How did someone who was that weak manage to transform into a superhero? In the original story, he volunteered for the Super Soldier Program, received a special serum, and pushed his human capabilities to the limit, becoming a superhuman with exceptional strength and reflexes. Is it actually possible for an ordinary person to become a superhero by receiving a special serum?
Our bodies regulate physical changes in response to various situations through hormones produced by the endocrine glands. Administering hormones or hormone-like substances from an external source can affect certain bodily functions, and it is possible to enhance physical abilities using specific drugs. For example, using anabolic steroids can increase muscle mass and strength. However, these effects do not mean that a person’s physical capabilities can be pushed to their absolute limits across the board, as seen with Captain America in the movies. Administration of erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone that stimulates blood cell production, can increase red blood cell production, thereby enhancing the blood’s ability to carry oxygen and, consequently, affecting athletic performance. Furthermore, during past wars, central nervous system stimulants such as amphetamines were used to reduce fatigue and maintain alertness among soldiers and air force pilots. However, these drugs merely artificially alter bodily functions; they are not technologies that grant humans superhuman abilities.
Nevertheless, the use of drugs to enhance physical performance has a fatal drawback. While these drugs can improve specific physical abilities, they are extremely dangerous because their side effects can be severe. In particular, long-term or excessive use of anabolic steroids increases the risk of serious cardiovascular problems, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, an increased risk of blood clots, myocardial dysfunction, and cardiomyopathy. In severe cases, this can lead to heart failure, acute cardiovascular events, or sudden death. Not only anabolic steroids but also other performance-enhancing drugs can each cause serious side effects, and in fact, various health problems are emerging among athletes who have misused these drugs for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance.
When considering methods to enhance the body’s physical capabilities through injections, in addition to administering hormone-based drugs, one can also consider using viral vectors to deliver genetic material into cells. Viruses are infectious particles composed of genetic material and an surrounding protein structure; generally, rather than carrying out complete life processes on their own, they invade host cells and utilize the cells’ functions to replicate their own genetic material. Some viruses can insert their genetic material into the host cell’s genome, and gene therapy technologies that utilize this characteristic to deliver specific genes to cells have been developed. In fact, gene therapy using viral vectors is already being utilized clinically to treat various genetic diseases, and research is actively underway to correct disease-causing genetic mutations using gene-editing technologies. Therefore, if technology were developed to modulate genetic traits related to exceptional muscle strength or athletic ability, one could imagine the possibility of “super soldiers” like Captain America. However, current gene therapy technologies are primarily aimed at treating diseases or restoring impaired functions, which is quite different from the goal of generally enhancing the physical abilities of healthy individuals.
There are also several issues with methods that use viral vectors to deliver genetic material or edit genes. Some viral vectors can trigger an immune response, and there is a possibility that they may be delivered to non-target tissues or affect genetic material in unexpected ways. In particular, gene therapy that involves inserting genetic material into the genome requires long-term follow-up, as the insertion site can alter gene expression in cells or, in rare cases, be associated with an increased risk of tumor development. Current gene-editing technologies also face challenges such as off-target changes, the difficulty of efficiently delivering genetic material to the desired tissues, and immune responses. Therefore, while gene therapy technologies themselves are already being utilized in actual medical practice, simultaneously enhancing complex physical abilities—such as muscle strength, reflexes, and endurance—in healthy individuals in a desired direction using genetic information remains a very difficult challenge.
As time passes and science and technology advance further—reducing the side effects of drugs, refining genetic material delivery via viral vectors and gene-editing techniques, and gaining a precise understanding of the complex genetic factors that determine human physical abilities and their interactions—the possibility of a “super soldier” who transcends human limits, like Captain America, may become closer to reality than it is today. However, at the current level of science and technology, it is impossible to create superhuman abilities like those of Captain America in the movies using only specific drugs or gene therapy. Furthermore, not only the abilities of Captain America—who became stronger after receiving a special serum—but also those of other superheroes remain, for now, largely confined to the realm of cinematic imagination. While we cannot predict how science and technology will advance in the future, we cannot completely rule out the possibility that humans with physical abilities far surpassing our current capabilities will one day emerge. However, if a superhero were to appear in the future, it would likely be the result of a combination of various scientific and technological advancements—such as drugs, gene therapy, gene editing, and regenerative medicine—rather than being created by a single serum injection, as depicted in movies.
