4 ms·

Every time I hear about a new medical discovery or treatment, I think "yeah right, maybe in 15 years". Well, here we finally are. Our ancestors, and I mean gr

Every time I hear about a new medical discovery or treatment, I think "yeah right, maybe in 15 years". Well, here we finally are. Our ancestors, and I mean great-grandparents and grandparents, would call us gods.

dotnet00 2y ago
It is interesting to wonder if they'd call us gods in a good way though. Perhaps they might see it as 'playing god' instead. HN being a techie crowd tends to skew this a bit, but it's worth remembering that genetic engineering is still pretty controversial to the average person: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/americans-are-closely-divided-over-editing-a-babys-genes-to-reduce-serious-health-risk/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/americans-ar...
- dekhn 2y ago
  When I was 18 (early 90s) and applying for university, the admissions office asked me what I wanted to do and I said "play god with DNA". Sure it sounds arrogant, but I knew that gene therapy would become a thing and if it worked, eventually people would apply it recreationally (by which I mean, to change your phenotype, or your future children's phenotype, for non-disease purposes). I went into that field and spent a couple decades learning how to do it. My only conclusion at the end was that it would only be considered societally acceptable for diseases, not recreation, for the foreseeable future, and even things that seem "easy" (like fixing retinitis pigmentosa) are in fact fractally challenging. As much as I would like to have chromatophore tattoos, we're just not in a place where we can justify this (even self-experimentation) because it's really hard to know if your intervention had the effect you desired, and no other effects.
  - devilbunny 2y ago
    I’m about your age, but holy hell, if I had been an admissions officer, that would have sold me on you. I’m an anesthesiologist, though, so “likes to play god” sort of goes with the territory. It’s not common, but there are surgeries where you go on heart-lung bypass, chill the patient down to 30 C, and then stop the pumps. No blood flow. The surgeon does the critical part, you turn the pumps back on and warm them up, and then the body takes over again. It is absolutely magic.
  - jasonfarnon 2y ago
    "My only conclusion at the end was that it would only be considered societally acceptable for diseases, not recreation" I strongly doubt this. If technology is there, the path from disease to recreation would be very short once the market is involved. Except at the extremes, whether a condition is a "disease" or "impairment" can be pretty subjective.
- unsupp0rted 2y ago
  Those who suddenly got eyesight or hearing would call us gods in a good way. Everybody has a problem with people "playing god" until they get paralyzed or a serious illness. Then "playing god" is all they wish for.
  - devilbunny 2y ago
    I'm an anesthesiologist, which curiously enough is a lacuna in pretty much every religion that has opinions about medical treatment. Oh, it's not okay to take this drug or that one, but you're totally fine with being in a medically induced coma? Whatevs, bro.
jimnotgym 2y ago
Caveman brains, mediaeval institutions, and godlike technology. What could possibly go wrong. That is a quote I heard somewhere and paraphrased.
qkeast 2y ago
I have profound hearing loss (sensorineural) in both ears, and I've been following gene therapy in all of its fits and starts for almost two decades. I was lucky enough to have _not horrible_ hearing at my youngest, and then lost it progressively up until I rely entirely on lip reading for conversation. I was eligible for cochlear implants probably more than 15 years ago, but I was getting by, and I heard that getting implants would almost certainly preclude any future therapy like this. I'm ecstatic to finally hear an actual "it worked, in a human" outcome, and can't wait for something that works for my hearing to reach maturity.

dotnet00 2y ago

It is interesting to wonder if they'd call us gods in a good way though. Perhaps they might see it as 'playing god' instead. HN being a techie crowd tends to skew this a bit, but it's worth remembering that genetic engineering is still pretty controversial to the average person: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/americans-are-closely-divided-over-editing-a-babys-genes-to-reduce-serious-health-risk/ https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/03/17/americans-ar...

dekhn 2y ago
When I was 18 (early 90s) and applying for university, the admissions office asked me what I wanted to do and I said "play god with DNA". Sure it sounds arrogant, but I knew that gene therapy would become a thing and if it worked, eventually people would apply it recreationally (by which I mean, to change your phenotype, or your future children's phenotype, for non-disease purposes). I went into that field and spent a couple decades learning how to do it. My only conclusion at the end was that it would only be considered societally acceptable for diseases, not recreation, for the foreseeable future, and even things that seem "easy" (like fixing retinitis pigmentosa) are in fact fractally challenging. As much as I would like to have chromatophore tattoos, we're just not in a place where we can justify this (even self-experimentation) because it's really hard to know if your intervention had the effect you desired, and no other effects.
- devilbunny 2y ago
  I’m about your age, but holy hell, if I had been an admissions officer, that would have sold me on you. I’m an anesthesiologist, though, so “likes to play god” sort of goes with the territory. It’s not common, but there are surgeries where you go on heart-lung bypass, chill the patient down to 30 C, and then stop the pumps. No blood flow. The surgeon does the critical part, you turn the pumps back on and warm them up, and then the body takes over again. It is absolutely magic.
- jasonfarnon 2y ago
  "My only conclusion at the end was that it would only be considered societally acceptable for diseases, not recreation" I strongly doubt this. If technology is there, the path from disease to recreation would be very short once the market is involved. Except at the extremes, whether a condition is a "disease" or "impairment" can be pretty subjective.
unsupp0rted 2y ago
Those who suddenly got eyesight or hearing would call us gods in a good way. Everybody has a problem with people "playing god" until they get paralyzed or a serious illness. Then "playing god" is all they wish for.
- devilbunny 2y ago
  I'm an anesthesiologist, which curiously enough is a lacuna in pretty much every religion that has opinions about medical treatment. Oh, it's not okay to take this drug or that one, but you're totally fine with being in a medically induced coma? Whatevs, bro.

jimnotgym 2y ago

Caveman brains, mediaeval institutions, and godlike technology. What could possibly go wrong. That is a quote I heard somewhere and paraphrased.

qkeast 2y ago

I have profound hearing loss (sensorineural) in both ears, and I've been following gene therapy in all of its fits and starts for almost two decades. I was lucky enough to have _not horrible_ hearing at my youngest, and then lost it progressively up until I rely entirely on lip reading for conversation. I was eligible for cochlear implants probably more than 15 years ago, but I was getting by, and I heard that getting implants would almost certainly preclude any future therapy like this. I'm ecstatic to finally hear an actual "it worked, in a human" outcome, and can't wait for something that works for my hearing to reach maturity.