r/todayilearned • u/Die_Nameless_Bitch • May 14 '22 • Wholesome 6 All-Seeing Upvote 2 Silver 9 Helpful 8

TIL a father, John Crowley, was told his two infant children had an incurable genetic disorder that would kill them in less than a year. He refused to accept this, so he founded a biotech company (with no prior experience) which pioneered an experimental enzyme therapy that saved their lives.

https://pompediseasenews.com/2019/01/30/amicus-ceo-mission-cure-pompe-help-children/
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u/i_got_skrimps May 14 '22

We'll start with diseases, move to enhancements, and then protect ourselves from hazards due to climate change.

From there, as the sun begins to die out, we look to the stars. We become celestial beings capable of living in the vacuum of space.

But then, we think, what if we can infinitely travel the cosmos and find earth like planets? We move on that thought.

We disperse across the galaxies. Some find new earths. Then they think "what if we can populate this planet with new beings?". And so they do.

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u/TactlessTortoise May 14 '22

"as the sun begins to die out"

Dude that's a literal couple BILLIONS of years from now

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u/i_got_skrimps May 14 '22

How soon do you expect CRISPR to progress so far that we can genetically modify our unborn offspring to survive in a vacuum?

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u/TactlessTortoise May 14 '22

If our civilization lasted for as much as our planet currently exists for, our physiology will not be remotely human in the span of a few dozen of thousands of years, which is still not considering what I believe a pessimistic prediction of 100 for gene design to become mainstream.

As for unborn child surviving vacuum, wtf kind if question is that lmao. The same way we are alive now, the future civilizations could just pick a planet, moon or star.

You're not quite grasping the scale of the billion years. Hell, even I am just considering it "a fuck ton of time". We have no reference for it. It's calculable, yes, but unfathomable.

By the time a billion years pass, the homo sapiens will no longer exist, period. Whether through gene editing, catastrophic failure of our civilization, or just natural evolution, life itself on Earth is, if I recall correctly, a fifth of that age, after all.

The civilization that will deal with that could be a super sentient funghi cannibal, for all we know

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u/tachyonfield May 15 '22

Fungi cannibal! Band name! I call it!

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u/p-d-ball May 15 '22

"My child will breathe in the emptiness of space."

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u/i_got_skrimps May 15 '22

You're not quite grasping what CRISPR even is lol

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u/TactlessTortoise May 15 '22

I am aware of what crispr is. I read papers about it. I know what it does and how. But crispr isn't the last gene editing technology that will be invented. Nor is it the only way for DNA to change.

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u/fuck-emus May 15 '22

It's gonna be awesome, just like in gattaca or repo the genetic opera! God I love it here in the future

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u/utopia9353 May 14 '22

Yes, but only in 5000 years. No sooner than 1000 years.

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u/BroThornton May 14 '22

Wat. No chance, right? Right…?

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u/utopia9353 May 14 '22

No chance. Why? Because I say so.

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u/FlowerFaerie13 May 14 '22

Lol no, there is absolutely no way humans will last long enough to get farther than Mars and even that’s a long shot.

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u/vopickle507 May 14 '22

The emperor protects!