The Crispr Twins Had Their Brains Altered | Hacker News Reader

The Crispr Twins Had Their Brains Altered

technologyreview.com

51 pointsVaslo10 comments

Although i share the intuitive reaction of disgust, the last statement "we're not ready for it" made me wonder : knowing the complexity of the genes expression problem, is there any point when we'll be able to say we're ready for it ?

Another question i wonder : is making a baby with someone else truely something responsible, knowing the number of things that we alter when we combine pretty randomly the DNA of two , sometimes extremely different, people ?

Another question, if we had the tech to improve the cognitive abilities of our offsprings, would it be ethical not to do it?

I'm morbidly curious to see what the unexpected side effects will be.

Altering cognition like this can't be for free.

It's probably something like configuring a kernel and enabling way too many options. The guy's probably flipped a shitload of switches and there's a chance neither of the kids will boot correctly.

One relevant 'Twilight Zone' episode. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_12_Looks_Just_Like_You ( clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d6h3kaQs6g)

and another https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Eye_of_the_Beholder

Memory is a two way street, I think the brain has a way to protect itself from painful memories as a way to keep us functional and sane.

Totally. I have a very normal memory and have sometimes wished a particularly unpleasant or embarrassing memory was a bit less sharp. Then again, I’v often wished my memory was a bit sharper for learning new languages, names or technical details.

I too must admit to a morbid curiosity to see how this turns out. I suppose we’ll have to wait about twenty years to see.

LeBron James has an eidetic memory and has talked about being trapped by loops of bad memories, or haunted by them, both of which make him hesitate or underperform on the court: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/11067098/lebron-james-gre...

> We need drugs, but it’s another thing to take normal people and muck with the DNA or chemistry to improve them

In a sense, don't drugs do exactly that sans the mucking with DNA?

Yes. If we read that quote in 50 or 100 years, it'll seem hilariously antiquated.

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