Seven months after his death, Stephen Hawking continues to impart his otherworldly wisdom. In a series of recently released essays, the famed physicist warns humanity about the future of genetic engineering. He takes a pessimistic view, suggesting that people will use modern genetic technology to create a new “race of self-defining beings.” This race will control the world because its members will be far superior to unmodified humans in terms of health and abilities.
These comments appear to come in light of the invention of CRISPR/Cas9, a powerful gene-editing technology. Over the past few years, CRISPR has been used experimentally on many organisms, including human embryos. It can be used to splice out and edit harmful sequences of DNA, such as genetic mutations that cause disease. Many people see this as a positive thing because it could be used to eliminate many genetic diseases. Among the diseases that could be cured is ALS, which Hawking himself suffered from.
Hawking acknowledges the benefits of the nascent technology. He writes that in the beginning, CRISPR will probably be used only for good things, like eliminating certain diseases. For one thing, genetic diseases are simple to work with; many of them depend on mutations in only one gene. Other human traits, such as behavior, intelligence and physical strength, are much more genetically complex. It will take a long time to figure out how to modify these things. However, Hawking is convinced that it will happen sometime in the future. And once it does, humanity “won’t be able to resist the temptation” to tamper with human abilities.
Hawking foresees the kind of future that dystopian sci-fi writers like to depict. Only the rich will have access to this technology. They will use it to create designer babies with superior immune systems, beauty, strength, and intelligence. In this way, they will surpass evolution, creating a deep divide between themselves and the poorer members of society. Hawking even goes so far as to suggest that the new, genetically improved humans might exterminate the weaker humans. Afterward, they may go on to take over other planets.
This forecast may seem far-fetched. After all, won’t nations pass laws to prevent unnecessary genetic meddling? Hawking believes that people (or nations) would eventually circumvent such laws.
Not everyone agrees with Hawking’s dire prophecies from the grave. Many scientists have a positive view of CRISPR in light of its contributions to disease treatment. Only time will reveal who is right.
