A few days ago, scientists in China announced that they were the very first to produce gene-edited dogs when they created a beagle with double the muscle mass of a normal dog of the same breed. Liangxue Lai and more than two dozen of his colleagues at–and this is a mouthful–the Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health have been working on genetically engineering animals for various uses. This naturally begs the question: will this become a trend, and will it become the norm for purchasing pets in the future?
Lai reported various reasons for their research on gene-editing dogs. Deleting a gene called myostatin so that muscle could grow larger and strong could be used for hunting and police/military applications, for example, Lai said. Creating dogs with other DNA mutations–especially ones that mimic human diseases such as Parkinson’s and muscular dystrophy–could allow scientists to approach solving the problem with new subjects since dogs “are very close to humans in terms of metabolic, physiological, and anatomical characteristics,” Lai says. And while Lai claims there are no commercialize plans in their goals, there are other teams who are looking to make novelty pets a reality, such as miniature pigs.
But are these practices ethical? And are they any different than how scientists breed or alter mice for experimentation? And will these practices ever lead to human testing?
Genetically engineered pets have been subjects of fiction for a long time. Do you want a dog-sized elephant to keep around your apartment? Do you want a talking dog? Do you want a docile velociraptor? And, in the real world, genetically modified animals have been around for years, including hypoallergenic pets, featherless and bird flu-resistant chickens, glittering seahorses, and glow-in-the-dark animals.
Food has also been genetically modified over the years, including seedless fruit, virus-resistant vegetables, and more. One startup, called Cambrian Genomics, even wants customers to be able to create, tinker and print genetic codes. Founder Austen Heinz wants customers to create “totally new organisms that have never existed” all for the price of a few dollars, which venture capitalist and investor Timothy Draper calls “literally printing life.”
What worries most dissenters is that with the mastery of genetic engineering over food and pets, humans can’t be too far away. Even though humans have already been genetically modified. But it’s the idea of what could go wrong. Fiction has shown us three typical paths, which cause both fear and awe:
- In Star Trek, the franchise’s canon includes a eugenics war in the past, an era where popular and classic antagonist Khan and his kin were engineered to be physically and mentally superior to their normal human peers. This led to a huge war that nearly destroyed society, and led to the advanced humans being cryogenically frozen for years. Many have questioned eugenics for years, and how it could lead to yet another way to cause disparity between groups of people.
- In the Resident Evil/Biohazard franchise, extensive genetically engineering and modifying leads to various diseases and monsters that can infect, mutate and kill ordinary humans, causing massive outbreaks, disasters and conflicts.
- But there is hope, seen in popular “super soldier” stories like Old Man’s War, where humanity’s survival lies in the hands of genetically engineered soldiers whose bodies allow them to keep up with far deadlier enemies out in space. Creating an equally strong fast and durable human race could be the way to explore the stars, especially with the idea of increased longevity circulating scientific pursuits.
What do you think? Will superdogs lead to modified humans? Will we all all be immortal supermen one day? Will we create new life? Or is this technology better left untouched? Let us know in the comments below.