User:Ericmachmer/Embodiment choice

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CRISPR https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genome_editing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epigenetics

selection option choice decision preference election volition dress appearance presence presentation look decoration volitional anatomy anatomical choice physiological choice physiological freedom

Synthorx Design novel proteins that hold promise as the basis for future painkillers, antibiotics, and cancer-targeting compounds.

Point at which humanity achieves physiological freedom

microseconds

cryptic colours, disruptive pattern, and irregular outer margins

“N” Even minimal adoption rates render all unintelligible

address residual superstitious systems of thought without risk of being misinterpreted as racist. still ethnocentric

3D pattering: shadows, motion blur, optical illusions,

Transhumanist thinkers study the potential benefits and dangers of emerging technologies that could overcome fundamental human limitations, as well as the ethics of using such technologies. The most common transhumanist thesis is that human beings may eventually be able to transform themselves into different beings with abilities so greatly expanded from the natural condition as to merit the label of posthuman beings.

Fundamental ideas of transhumanism were first advanced in 1923 by the British geneticist J. B. S. Haldane in his essay Daedalus: Science and the Future, which predicted that great benefits would come from applications of advanced sciences to human biology—and that every such advance would first appear to someone as blasphemy or perversion, "indecent and unnatural". In particular, he was interested in the development of the science of eugenics, ectogenesis (creating and sustaining life in an artificial environment) and the application of genetics to improve human characteristics, such as health and intelligence.

Morphological freedom refers to a proposed civil right of a person to either maintain or modify their own body, on their own terms, through informed, consensual recourse to, or refusal of, available therapeutic or enabling medical technology.

The term may have been coined by transhumanist Max More in his 1993 article, Technological Self-Transformation: Expanding Personal Extropy, where he defined it as "the ability to alter bodily form at will through technologies such as surgery, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, uploading". The term was later used by science debater Anders Sandberg as "an extension of one’s right to one’s body, not just self-ownership but also the right to modify oneself according to one’s desires."

According to technocritic Dale Carrico, the politics of morphological freedom imply a commitment to the value, standing, and social legibility of the widest possible variety of desired morphologies and lifestyles. More specifically, morphological freedom is an expression of liberal pluralism, secularism, progressive cosmopolitanism, and posthumanist multiculturalisms applied to the ongoing and upcoming transformation of the understanding of medical practice from one of conventional therapy to one of consensual self-determination, via genetic, prosthetic, and cognitive modification.

Coloration

Further information: Animal coloration and Animals that can change color

Cephalopods can change their colors and patterns in milliseconds, whether for signalling (both within the species and for warning) or active camouflage, as their chromatophores are expanded or contracted. Coloration is typically stronger in near-shore species than those living in the open ocean, whose functions tend to be restricted to disruptive camouflage.

A photophore is a light-emitting organ which appears as luminous spots on various marine animals, including fish and cephalopods. The organ can be simple, or as complex as the human eye; equipped with lenses, shutters, color filters and reflectors.

Female Glowworm, Lampyris noctiluca

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. It is a form of chemiluminescence. Bioluminescence occurs widely in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some fungi, microorganisms including some bioluminescent bacteria and terrestrial invertebrates such as fireflies. In some animals, the light is produced by symbiotic organisms such as Vibrio bacteria.

The principal chemical reaction in bioluminescence involves the light-emitting pigment luciferin and the enzyme luciferase, assisted by other proteins such as aequorin in some species. The enzyme catalyzes the oxidation of luciferin. In some species, the type of luciferin requires cofactors such as calcium or magnesium ions, and sometimes also the energy-carrying molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In evolution, luciferins vary little: one in particular, coelenterazine, is found in nine different animal (phyla), though in some of these, the animals obtain it through their diet. Conversely, luciferases vary widely in different species. Bioluminescence has arisen over forty times in evolutionary history.

The uses of bioluminescence by animals include counter-illumination camouflage, mimicry of other animals, for example to lure prey, and signalling to other individuals of the same species, such as to attract mates. In the laboratory, luciferase-based systems are used in genetic engineering and for biomedical research. Other researchers are investigating the possibility of using bioluminescent systems for street and decorative lighting, and a bioluminescent plant has been created.

Use of light

Main article: luciferase

These may include iridophores, leucophores, chromatophores and (in some species) photophores. Chromatophores are colored pigment cells that expand and contract in accordance to produce color and pattern which they can use in a startling array of fashions. As well as providing camouflage with their background, some cephalopods bioluminesce, shining light downwards to disguise their shadows from any predators that may lurk below. The bioluminescence is produced by bacterial symbionts; the host cephalopod is able to detect the light produced by these organisms. Bioluminescence may also be used to entice prey, and some species use colorful displays to impress mates, startle predators, or even communicate with one another. It is not certain whether bioluminescence is actually of epithelial origin or if it is a bacterial production.

Protein folding structure of the luciferase of the firefly Photinus pyralis. The enzyme is a much larger molecule than luciferin.

Bioluminescence is a form of chemiluminescence where light energy is released by a chemical reaction. Fireflies, anglerfish, and other organisms produce the light-emitting pigment luciferin and the enzyme luciferase. Luciferin reacts with oxygen to create light:

${\ce {{L}+{O2}+ATP->[{\text{Luciferase}}][{\ce {Mg^{2+}}}]{oxy-L}+{CO2}+{AMP}+{PP}+light}}$

Coelenterazine is a luciferin found in many different marine phyla from comb jellies to vertebrates. Like all luciferins, it is oxidised to produce light.

Luciferase is a generic term for the class of oxidative enzymes that produce bioluminescence, and is distinct from a photoprotein. The name is derived from Lucifer, the root of which means 'light-bearer' (lucem ferre). One example is the firefly luciferase (EC 1.13.12.7) from the firefly Photinus pyralis. "Firefly luciferase" as a laboratory reagent often refers to P. pyralis luciferase although recombinant luciferases from several other species of fireflies are also commercially available.

Luciferase genes can be synthesized and inserted into organisms or transfected into cells. Mice, silkworms, and potatoes are just a few of the organisms that have already been engineered to produce the protein.

Whole animal imaging (referred to as in vivo or, occasionally, ex vivo imaging) is a powerful technique for studying cell populations in live animals, such as mice. Different types of cells (e.g. bone marrow stem cells, T-cells) can be engineered to express a luciferase allowing their non-invasive visualization inside a live animal using a sensitive charge-couple device camera (CCD camera).This technique has been used to follow tumorigenesis and response of tumors to treatment in animal models. The Glowing Plant project plans to use bacterial bio-luminescent systems to engineer novelty glowing Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Longer term they hypothesize that maybe such systems could be used to create eco-friendly sustainable light sources.

Luciferase is a heat-sensitive protein that is used in studies on protein denaturation, testing the protective capacities of heat shock proteins. The opportunities for using luciferase continue to expand.

Ensuring Genetic Diversity

Eugenic policies could also lead to loss of genetic diversity, in which case a culturally accepted "improvement" of the gene pool could very likely—as evidenced in numerous instances in isolated island populations (e.g., the dodo, Raphus cucullatus, of Mauritius)—result in extinction due to increased vulnerability to disease, reduced ability to adapt to environmental change, and other factors both known and unknown. A long-term species-wide eugenics plan might lead to a scenario similar to this because the elimination of traits deemed undesirable would reduce genetic diversity by definition.

Edward M. Miller claims that, in any one generation, any realistic program should make only minor changes in a fraction of the gene pool, giving plenty of time to reverse direction if unintended consequences emerge, reducing the likelihood of the elimination of desirable genes. Miller also argues that any appreciable reduction in diversity is so far in the future that little concern is needed for now.

While the science of genetics has increasingly provided means by which certain characteristics and conditions can be identified and understood, given the complexity of human genetics, culture, and psychology there is at this point no agreed objective means of determining which traits might be ultimately desirable or undesirable. Some diseases such as sickle-cell disease and cystic fibrosis respectively confer immunity to malaria and resistance to cholera when a single copy of the recessive allele is contained within the genotype of the individual. Reducing the instance of sickle-cell disease genes in Africa where malaria is a common and deadly disease could indeed have extremely negative net consequences.

Ethics

Biotechnology has expanded to include new and diverse sciences such as genomics, recombinant gene techniques, applied immunology, and development of pharmaceutical therapies and diagnostic tests.

The biologist Julian Huxley is generally regarded as the founder of transhumanism “The human species can, if it wishes, transcend itself — not just sporadically, an individual here in one way, an individual there in another way, but in its entirety, as humanity”.}}

Neuromarketing consultant Zack Lynch argues that neurotechnologies will have a more immediate effect on society than gene therapy and will face less resistance as a pathway of radical human enhancement. He also argues that the concept of "enablement" needs to be added to the debate over "therapy" versus "enhancement".

Although many proposals of human enhancement rely on fringe science, the very notion and prospect of human enhancement has sparked public controversy.

Dale Carrico wrote that "human enhancement" is a loaded term which has eugenic overtones because it may imply the improvement of human hereditary traits to attain a universally accepted norm of biological fitness (at the possible expense of human biodiversity and neurodiversity), and therefore can evoke negative reactions far beyond the specific meaning of the term. Furthermore, Carrico wrote that enhancements which are self-evidently good, like "fewer diseases", are more the exception than the norm and even these may involve ethical tradeoffs, as the controversy about ADHD arguably demonstrates.

However, the most common criticism of human enhancement is that it is or will often be practiced with a reckless and selfish short-term perspective that is ignorant of the long-term consequences on individuals and the rest of society, such as the fear that some enhancements will create unfair physical or mental advantages to those who can and will use them, or unequal access to such enhancements can and will further the gulf between the "haves" and "have-nots". Futurist Ray Kurzweil has shown some concern that, within the century, humans may be required to merge with this technology in order to compete in the marketplace.

The term directed evolution is used within the transhumanist community to refer to the idea of applying the principles of directed evolution and experimental evolution to the control of human evolution. In this sense, it is distinct from the use of the term in biochemistry, which refers only to the evolution of proteins and RNA. Maxwell J. Melhmanh has described directed evolution of humans as the Holy Grail of transhumanism. Oxford philosopher Julian Savulescu wrote that:

Humanity until this point has been a story of evolution for the survival genes - survival and reproduction ... we are entering a new phase of human evolution - evolution under reason - where human beings are masters of their destiny. Power has been transferred from nature to science.

According to UCLA biophysicist Gregory Stock:

Humanity is leaving its childhood and moving into its adolescence as its powers infuse into realms hitherto beyond our reach.

Riccardo Campa, from the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, wrote that "self-directed evolution" can be coupled with many different political, philosophical, and religious views.

Criticism

Some critics have argued that all forms of posthumanism have more in common than their respective proponents realize.

However, posthumanists in the humanities and the arts are critical of transhumanism, in part, because they argue that it incorporates and extends many of the values of Enlightenment humanism and classical liberalism, namely scientism, according to performance philosopher Shannon Bell:

Altruism, mutualism, humanism are the soft and slimy virtues that underpin liberal capitalism. Humanism has always been integrated into discourses of exploitation: colonialism, imperialism, neoimperialism, democracy, and of course, American democratization. One of the serious flaws in transhumanism is the importation of liberal-human values to the biotechno enhancement of the human. Posthumanism has a much stronger critical edge attempting to develop through enactment new understandings of the self and others, essence, consciousness, intelligence, reason, agency, intimacy, life, embodiment, identity and the body.

While many modern leaders of thought are accepting of nature of ideologies described by posthumanism, some are more skeptical of the term. Donna Haraway, the author of A Cyborg Manifesto, has outspokenly rejected the term, though acknowledges a philosophical alignment with posthumanim. Haraway opts instead for the term of companion species, referring to nonhuman entities with which humans coexist.

Questions of race, some argue, are suspiciously elided within the "turn" to posthumanism. Noting that the terms "post" and "human" are already loaded with racial meaning, critical theorist Zakiyyah Iman Jackson argues that the impulse to move "beyond" the human within posthumanism too often ignores “praxes of humanity and critiques produced by black people,” including Frantz Fanon and Aime Cesaire to Hortense Spillers and Fred Moten. Interrogating the conceptual grounds in which such a mode of “beyond” is rendered legible and viable, Jackson argues that it is important to observe that “blackness conditions and constitutes the very nonhuman disruption and/or disruption" which posthumanists invite. In other words, given that race in general and blackness in particular constitutes the very terms through which human/nonhuman distinctions are made, for example in enduring legacies of scientific racism, a gesture toward a “beyond” actually “returns us to a Eurocentric transcendentalism long challenged”.

As early in the history of biotechnology as 1990, there have been scientists opposed to attempts to modify the human germline using these new tools, and such concerns have continued as technology progressed. With the advent of new techniques like CRISPR, in March 2015 a group of scientists urged a worldwide moratorium on clinical use of gene editing technologies to edit the human genome in a way that can be inherited. In April 2015, researchers sparked controversy when they reported results of basic research to edit the DNA of non-viable human embryos using CRISPR.

On 19 March 2015, a leading group of biologists urged a worldwide ban on clinical use of methods, particularly the use of CRISPR and zinc finger, to edit the human genome in a way that can be inherited. In April 2015, Chinese researchers reported results of basic research to edit the DNA of non-viable human embryos using CRISPR.

See also

Embodiment Methods Human enhancement Genetic engineering Biotechnology Multi-spectral camouflage Directed evolution (transhumanism) Genetic enhancement Human genetic engineering Artificial gene synthesis Evolutionary physiology Do-it-yourself biology Quantified Self Respirocyte Morphology (biology) Phenotypic plasticity Evolutionary physiology Biological Examples Cephalopod Photophore Chemiluminescence Firefly Luciferin Firefly luciferin Bioluminescence imaging Bioluminescent bacteria

Human physical appearance Body art Plastic surgery Modern primative Body piercing Tattooing Microdermal implants Transdermal implant Sun tanning Skin whitening Racial whitening Ethnocentrism Identity politics Discrimination based on skin color Nazi eugenics Eugenics in Japan Origin of language Semiotics Mimicry Aposematism Quorum sensing Embodied cognition Cognitive biology Neuroepistemology

Humanity+ Three Laws of Transhumanism Eugenics in the United States Ubermensch White skin Colorism Shadism Racial whitening Whiteness in Japanese culture Colonial mentality Michael Jackson Bioethics Reprogenetics Technological dystopia Technological utopia Procreative beneficence Procreative liberty Liberal eugenics Intellectual Futures studies Russian cosmism The Beginning of Infinity TechnoCalyps

Further reading

• Cole-Turner, R. (ed.). 2011. Transhumanism and transcendence: Christian hope in an age of technological advancement. Georgetown University Press. ISBN 978-1-58901-780-1.
• Hansell, Gregory R.; Grassie, William (eds.) 2011. H+/-: Transhumanism and Its Critics. Metanexus Institute. ISBN 978-1-45681-567-7.
• More, Max; Vita-More, Natasha (eds.) 2013. The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-118-33429-4.
• Ranisch, Robert; Sorgner, Stefan Lorenz (eds.) 2014. Post- and Transhumanism. An Introduction. Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-60662-9.
• Damour, Franck, La tentation transhumaniste, éditions Salvator, Paris, 2015. ISBN 978-2706712111
• The World, the Flesh & the Devil: An Enquiry into the Future of the Three Enemies of the Rational Soul (1929) Jonathan Cape. Scholar Robert Scholes calls this a "book of breathtaking scientific speculation" that "is probably the single most influential source of science fiction ideas." in Science Fiction: History, Science, Vision. The World, the Flesh and the Devil has been called "the most brilliant attempt at scientific prediction ever made" by Arthur C. Clarke.