In this blog post, we explore how advances in biotechnology will impact humanity’s future, contemplating the path between evolution and extinction.
Are we truly the only human species on Earth? Most people would answer yes. Yet, looking back at history around 10,000 years ago, at least six other human species coexisted alongside us Homo sapiens, including Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and Homo soloensis. Despite the existence of so many human species, the reason we are now the sole surviving human species lies in the Cognitive Revolution. Homo sapiens gained the ability to understand invisible concepts like gods, money, and nations through communication. This enabled cooperation among many sapiens, even with those encountered for the first time. Consequently, we gained a competitive advantage over other species. Following the agricultural revolution, our population rapidly grew and expanded. Today, we live amidst the ever-changing currents of science and technology.
Evolution prior to the Scientific Revolution was not driven by human choice or need. It was natural selection, where individuals within the same species who adapted better to their environment survived. However, through the Scientific Revolution, we have become more proactive in transforming our external environment and improving our lives through intelligent design. Yuval Noah Harari, author of ‘Sapiens’, explains the potential end of Homo sapiens—a species that evolved through the Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution, and Scientific Revolution—from three perspectives: biotechnology, cyborg engineering, and inorganic engineering. This article focuses specifically on how biotechnology could lead to the end of Homo sapiens.
Before delving into this narrative, let us first understand what biotechnology entails. Biotechnology involves harnessing the functions or characteristics of living organisms for human purposes, meaning it can create new traits absent in a species or even entirely new species. For instance, mass-producing insulin, a diabetes treatment, has positive aspects like extending human lifespan and curing incurable diseases. However, it simultaneously encompasses religious and ethical issues such as human cloning and the use of animals as experimental subjects. While research on human cloning faces significant opposition and is barely progressing, research on human genes holds many beneficial aspects and will likely become active soon.
Through the scientific revolution, we have begun a dangerous gamble, encroaching upon the domain of God. Humans are no longer a species influenced by nature and evolving accordingly; instead, we alter nature as needed and express our insatiable desires through science and technology. This expression of desire has enabled us to create artificial organs using animals and significantly enhance their intellectual capabilities. Since the Homo sapiens genome is not significantly more complex than animal genomes, there is no reason this technology cannot be applied to humans as well.
Thus, biotechnology is enabling control not only over human physical and functional capabilities but also over the intellectual realm. If humans were to create genetically flawless lifeforms equipped with maximum capabilities, should we call them evolved Homo sapiens? Or should we consider them an entirely different species? This is a question we must ponder. Indeed, the difference between primates and us stems from minor genetic variations. Therefore, should we acknowledge the genetic differences between Homo sapiens and genetically engineered superior life forms and classify them as a new species? Or should we consider them the same species as us?
We cannot precisely predict the direction of scientific and technological development, where its limits lie, or what changes will occur in the future due to scientific and technological progress. However, the time during which biotechnology has begun to impact our lives is merely an extremely brief period within humanity’s long history. This short time has transformed our lives, and humanity has developed a desire to leap into the realm of the divine, attempting intelligent design and seeking to modify itself, dreaming of immortal life. Since this desire will no longer have any brakes, it will ultimately lead to the conclusion of the history of Homo sapiens.
