There could be desirable traits that are wanted.
For instance, many with European ancestors have Neanderthal DNA.
Neanderthals were believed to have been bigger and stronger, though possibly not as smart as homo sapiens.
By editing the DNA to emphasize the size, strength, skeleton and musculature of Neanderthals (while keeping the brain) you could make people who are better adapted to living in heavy G worlds, or better at labor and opening pickle jars.

Australopithecus were smaller than homo sapiens, but with musculature like an ape, and so might do well in areas where space is limited, such as tunnels, where we'd be living for quite a while while colonizing Mars.

posted almost 9 years ago

AndyD273‭

1 reputation 8 213 1 0

Climate change

Let's say that a species lives in a world that used to be temperature. Over time, though, greenhouse gases were released from deposits in the soil, thus increasing the temperature of the planet slowly. Over millions of years, the species evolved to better survive in these warmer conditions (for example, by getting rid of fur).

Now, when they have developed this genetic engineering, an asteroid hits. Suddenly, temperatures drop substantially, bringing the climate back towards where it was originally. The species doesn't have the technology to adapt to this using machines - but they can "devolve" back to having fur or other characteristics they had gotten rid of when temperatures rose.

I don't know the details of the members of the genus Australopithecus, but I do know that given that they dwelt in Africa, they were most likely suited for hotter climates than many humans are today. So perhaps we should use the reverse of my example - a case where it suddenly gets much hotter, not much colder.

posted almost 9 years ago

HDE 226868‭

601 reputation 61 463 80 49