Is the future of human evolution now in our own hands???

Question

Humans are no-longer so subsetable to natural factors. Therefore, many people think that humans are no longer evolving due to the lack of natural selection.

However, maybe we are currently evolving FASTER THAN EVER!!?

For instance, humans are no longer "weeded out" due to diseas ... therefore, these humans continue to live and breed whereas before they would not have.

Also, soon we will be able to MODIFY ourselves with gene-therapy. We will be able to eliminate undesirable traits and include missing traits in our childeren.

Evolution is really about modifying genes. Humans will have more modified genes from one generation to the next that ever before ... Therefore, is evolution now completely up to our own desires?

Answer 1

Yes I believe in that. To a certain extent yes.

Answer 2

Not at all. Natural selection is still at large. Look at Cystic Fibrosis limits life until 20's-30's if the person is lucky. There are natural disasters such as the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. They both took out based on the "luck of the draw". And with "gene-therapy" is a long way away. We do not know enough of the Human Genome to do something like genetically alter humans. That will be way in the future. Lastly isn't there poverty and homelessness. These people are not the "fittest". They will die because of malnutrition, hypothermia, and disease. Therefore we are just as suseptable to many of natures tests like the rest of the animal kingdom.

Answer 3

The type of evolution you refer to is not natural, and can't really be considered evolution. We wouldn't be exaclty slowly developing if we change our traits by ourselves.
Also, the survival of those with diseases is against natural selection which deems bad genes to doom.
I believe human evolution has been reduced (or maybe evolved) to the intellectual/social arena. For example, getting a job without a college education is getting increasingly difficult. Soon, people will have to go college to earn jobs. That's one way of looking at modern evolution.

Answer 4

That's the way it's headed, though in comment to your thought on natural selection. There a difference between evolution and de-evolution. Unless science catches up soon, the way we've upset the natural order of things may take over and send us into a tail-spin back down the evolutionary chain.

Of course, that's a loony worst-case scenario.

Personally, I'm looking for to that Gattica-style world, just without the discrimination against unmodified people.

Answer 5

We have not fully developed the technology to significanty modify genes in already living organisms, but we can manipulate genes in individual cells as well as select for organsisms with specific genomes. We have the ability to select the gender of babies as well as create cancer free/resistant fetuses. This certainly has a great effect on human evolution. Imagine a world where you can select for a baby that is without hatred, anger or prejeduce...conservatives would disappear overnight!

Answer 6

I wouldn't say we are susceptible to natural factors. You never know when another disaster or a new strand of virus will wipe out half the world's population.

Influenza of 1918 killed 30 million people in the world. We have no defense system against this virus nowadays since all the virus we are exposed to now are the modified version of the old virus 100 years old.

This kind of attack could happen again, and we have no defense against it.

Answer 7

Sure, you can temper with our genes.
But, as with all thing, Nature (GOD) will have the last word.
One can only hope that we are not creating monsters with
genetic selection.
Evolution was never up to our own desires. What we desire
and what we get are two different things.
There will be a lot more "weeding out" of undesirables than
ever. And you might be one of the first to be weeded out.

Answer 8

Possibly, it is true. Cobble a gene together and create a new characteristic for man. That is the future. I hoe I will be able to get some cool characteristisc like sonar.

Answer 9

DNA is the outcome of a organic procedure, not danger. thousands of micro evolution delivers as a lot as macro evolution. for sure organic selection would not produce transformations. you should turn a cookbook into an astronomy e book by using fixing the letters.

Answer 10

Yes The Future of Human Evolution is now in our Hands lisen to this guy http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3847943059984264388&q=aubrey+de+grey

Answer 11

Good Question...the creative people are constantly battling the destructive people. Unfortunately greed gets the best of alot , thus making such victims forget about their fellow man.