Next Big Future - Latest Comments in Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Jessie — Sat, 25 May 2013 00:40:30 -0000

i would so sign up for this if i could...

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

zanderceo91 — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:40:42 -0000

In reference to the statement pertaining to how increase IQ could result in a massive increase in global GDP. Basic statistics states correlation does not equal causation. But this is good stuff regardless. Nice read!

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

DC — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 15:19:20 -0000

SIGN ME UP

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Choaz — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:55:44 -0000

Sign me up 2

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

bluefa1 — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 23:07:57 -0000

frank09.18@hotmail.com
have already had training and was observed throughout my life time i can still be of use even if for animal cell testing of an actual human specimen and i understand the amount of embedded loyalty that would be expected.

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

billthesciencedude — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 17:55:00 -0000

man oviousely the gorillas strenth wont keep it out of zoo's because we have un's and chemical wepones the speed of a cheata and the strenth of a bear or gorilla would greatly inhance the military force in the u.s or canada but the real question is what is going to keep them in check? if the military dicides they want something then they will simply take it it will just be another dictatorship. but it's still a cool idea and i would totally do it lol

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

David Micheal Hill — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 03:37:36 -0000

sign me up

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

tank49 — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 00:38:19 -0000

Oh it can be done .Theres always a way and We just need to look deeper and search further to find ways to become stronger than any other animal. Soon men will lift cars and uproot trees..

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

mikew12345 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:57:37 -0000

This would be great for firemen, cops, etc. And while the benefit to society is debatable, this kind of enhancement will be popular in many other areas -- team and individual sports, etc. It'll probably be popular with certain criminals as well...

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Mike1249 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:20:26 -0000

Non-invasive brain stimulation may also be able to improve performance in a variety of different tasks in the future. Both transcranial direct current stimulation and deep transcranial magnetic stimulation may be able to enhance a person's performance. They might be beneficial for athletes as they would be an undetectable way of altering the brain. See my recent blog post.
http://brainstimulant.blogs...
Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation can also reach almost any area of the brain when compared to conventional TMS which only reaches 1-2 cms into the brain. It may be used to improve mood or cognitive enhancement in the future.

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

nextbigfuture — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:55:36 -0000

there is also work on gene therapy to help tendon healing and there could also be gene therapy to strengthen tendons.
tendon healing improvement.

there is also the exercise pill that tricks the body into thinking it has exercised which improves muscles and tendons

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

glad777 — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:10:31 -0000

There will alot of value gained by increasing human endurance, strength and speed. Most of it of course wil be the cool factor. But these gains will lenghen lives as they will allow an 80 year old to have the bone and muscle density of say a 30 year old. Low bone density kill huge numbers of the elderly. The cognative and endurance abilites lost with age are the main limiters on the elderly. These will at some point be overcome I am sure using these processes.
I am a wieghtlifter not a bodybuilder and I have leg pressed 2K pounds for 15 reps. It is possible to do huge weight now but it takes years of training and the right genetics. Building up tendons can only be done as of now by training. The worst thing about steriods is that they allow new lifters to overtrain and hurt themselves otherwise I have found them to be very helpful to alot of people I know.. If we ever find a way to build tendons with drugs or using some kind of genetic enhancment process then we will see major athletic gains but not before. I also like the idea of super soldiers. Very useful in places like Afganistan where it is hard to win with Mechanized forces and it is more a man on man fight.

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Happycrow — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:09:29 -0000

Don't know about you gents, but I'll take any reasonable strength enhancement I can get. Outside of the classroom, even a mild relatively effort-free increase in strength would make many of my hobbies that currently involve a bit of straining much more pleasant (I do a range from archery through martial arts, but even leather-tanning stuff can involve some mechanical work that is a real bear, for which I frankly have the interest, but often lack the energy, during weeknights.

Bodybuiders are frequently bulked-up. Weightlifters are large, but look different. While the bones will largely take care of themselves (hauling the mass will eventually do it), tendon strength will take quite a bit of time to develop, as it lags FAR behind muscular development in speed. Anybody who gets this strength boost, and then tries to lift a car is going to experience an interesting set of popping noises....

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Will_Brown — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:07:15 -0000

Errr ... no offense Brock, but not so fast. Thank you for the support and I also agree that some version of powered exoskeletoal device is a more likely generic response to increased individual strength requirements in a structured setting (military, industrial, etc). As it happens, I also think there is a more general application for inherent capability than your comments would seem prepared to give credence.

Certainly, there is a not-negligable component of individual ego stroking to account for, but there is also at least an equal portion of practicality involved in such a desire as well. Ever had the need to clean under the couch, behind the refrigerator or the like? Being able to manipulate such household fixtures as a matter of course must be an at least regular occasional circumstance in most people's lives (if my memories of married life are any example, at least :)). Likewise, those of us who's hobbies or employment involve repetative impact or physical exertion would directly benefit from added physical strength. I'm sure we can each provide alternative examples from our own unique experiences as well. I don't see this as being an unwarrented research effort at all, quite aside from the more generalised health benefits Brian has noted.

That all said, I stand by my earlier comment regarding the increased physiological support needed to make such an upgrade practical.

I have no idea to what extent, or even whether, there has been any progress made on development of the concept of respirocytes for only one example of a possible solution to my objection. I have seen (and now cannot find a link to, of course) a proposal for a mechanism to "dope" red blood cells with added oxygen content for use on demand, as it were. Along these lines, I recall reading about a device that injects pure oxygen into the normal air intake to counteract the effects of oxygen deprivation (I can't recall if it was in relation to an underwater application or not now) (my Google-fu fails me :-( ).

As you see, there are efforts to address this issue, I simply think the current reporting on strength and health enhancement (no fault of Brian's, he passes along what's being reported by others) fails to incorporate what I view as an essential component of the issue, that's all.

Falling back on my strategic hobbyhorse, I think you may be undervaluing a mechanism by which the purely health gains may be better (or at least more quickly) become available to us all by downplaying the importance others place in the appearance and ego-boosting aspects of this development, Brock. Does it really matter if a contribution towards the enhancement development process arises from a narcisistic tendency or not (as long as it's display is kept decently private of course)? Who knows, maybe the increased cognitive enhancement will eventually balance that out.

Nah, probably not ... :)

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Brock — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:18:41 -0000

Will Brown raises good points. Changing the strength of a human will be really hard to do usefully. Bones and tendons must be stronger; energy must be denser; the brain has to learn how to handle it; etc. I think Brian's right when he says "increased health, immune system, longevity and cognitive enhancement" are the real goals. Strength is just a curiosity.

Even in the military I think strength and endurance will be of lesser interest. It will be far easier to put a soldier in a suit of powered infantry armor than to biologically enhance him. The armor will be subject to far fewer restrictions (like fuel source, upper limits on strength, endurance, etc.) than even a super-human. I think the only soldiers even remotely likely to receive purely biological enhancements will be SpecOps and CIA spooks who must live off the land and blend in with a normal population. Your average army grunt will be Johnnie Rico rather than Steve Rogers.

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Will_Brown — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:02:02 -0000

Two points, if I may.

The strength gain efforts take two different paths I believe. The mentioned myostatin blocker results in increase of muscle mass - the traditional weight lifters bulked-up look. If I'm understanding things at all correctly, the proposed gene therapy option is to increaase muscle (and associated) tissue density without concommitant increase of size for increased strength.

What I keep seeing ignored by all efforts is a mechanism to power these gains. Without an equivalent increase in the body's ability to oxygenate the muscles, any proposed increase in musculature results in more rapid onset of oxygen deprivation during exercise (or any other physically demanding activity) as well.

I don't think being twice as strong/fast for half as long is quite the intended result, but I don't read about any developments in lung capacity/oxygen transferance capabilities being also pursued and without that the strength research is just a carnival side-show entertainment.

Alright, that last probably isn't a fair description, but I think the potential gains (and applications) of increased individual strength are severely limited without an increase in arterial blood oxygenation capability as well.

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

nextbigfuture — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:26:20 -0000

Yes, one can always just drive a car to go faster than 45 mph now or use a forklift to pick up that weight.

There are military applications. Plus 7 million take steroids now for more strength and better appearance.

It is mainly interesting to see what should be achievable with advanced gene therapy.

The main targets with real impact are increased health, immune system, longevity and cognitive enhancement.

So two times faster, ten times stronger then how much longevity and how much cognitive enhancement ?

Re: Gene therapy for ultimate human running speed and strength

Brock — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:19:23 -0000

I really don't see any point in the strength gains. The gorilla's great strength hasn't kept it out of a zoo or safe from extinction.