Could advances in science and technology lead to the extinction of Homo sapiens? The remarkable growth of genetic engineering and synthetic biology is enabling the creation of new species that can overcome death and incurable diseases, and humanity’s class consciousness and desire to evolve could catalyze this change.
MARVEL’s Avengers series, one of the world’s greatest superheroes, has become a worldwide phenomenon with its movie adaptations. We’ve all watched these movies and fantasized about what it would be like to be one of the Avengers. But it’s actually a pretty creepy thought. This is because if humanity’s advances in science and technology allow for the creation of superhumans like Captain America, they will one day take the place of living humans. In other words, we’ve been imagining the extinction of Homo sapiens. However, this story is no longer a fantasy, but a reality that is closing in on us.
In recent years, we’ve seen remarkable advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering. For example, a gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9 has made it possible to modify genes with a precision that was previously unimaginable. This has opened the door to the possibility of preventing or treating certain genetic diseases, and even artificially manipulating human genes to create humans with greater physical and mental capabilities.
Driven by humanity’s insatiable desire for eternal life, biotechnology has made tremendous advances that may actually allow us to create a human race that is superior to our own. But is the extinction of Homo sapiens really possible from a biotechnological perspective? And if it is, what kind of biotechnology could lead to the extinction of Homo sapiens? Let’s look at the technological feasibility of the extinction of Homo sapiens through currently developed technologies and research cases, and furthermore, the social feasibility from the text of ‘ Homo sapiens ‘.
Before discussing extinction, let’s define exactly what a new species that would cause the extinction of Homo sapiens would look like. The limitation of humanity that biotechnology is trying to overcome is death. No one in human history has ever overcome death, so for the new species to be superior to us, it must be able to overcome death. Another limitation that biotechnology is trying to overcome is incurable diseases. There are many incurable diseases for which we don’t yet know a cure, and biotechnology aims to make humanity free from them. Therefore, the new species will be superior to humanity only if it is free from incurable diseases.
Among the many branches of biotechnology, genetic engineering, which is the manipulation or processing of the genes of living organisms and their application in real life, is the one that can create a new species that is free from terminal diseases and does not die. Genetic engineering began with the technology of genetic recombination. Genetic recombination literally means taking a useful gene from one organism and inserting it into another organism’s genes. To isolate the useful genes, special enzymes called restriction enzymes are used. Restriction enzymes act like “scissors” that recognize a specific sequence in the DNA of a gene and cut it out. To insert the gene into another individual’s gene, the restriction enzyme needs space, so the same restriction enzyme is used to make room for the insertion. After the gene is inserted, a ligation enzyme connects the genes so they don’t fall apart. This technique allowed humans to insert the insulin gene into the DNA of E. coli and mass-produce insulin, which was a major contribution to the development of the biotechnology and medical industries.
Since then, genetic engineering has continued to evolve and mankind has continued to march toward an era where they can design and create whatever they want, knocking on the door of the divine realm. In 2010, Dr. Craig Venter, an American synthetic biology authority, published a paper claiming to have synthesized artificial life in the lab. Dr. Venter’s team was able to synthesize bacteria that had been stripped of the genes essential for life. The field of synthetic biology is at the forefront of biotechnology, designing and synthesizing biological components and systems that do not exist in the natural world, or improving biological systems that do exist in the natural world. Synthetic biology is at the forefront of biotechnology and involves the design and synthesis of biological components and systems that do not exist in nature, or the improvement of biological systems that do exist in the natural world.
Artificial genome synthesis is accomplished through a bottom-up approach, starting with the design of individual components and building them into an organic structure as a whole. First, nucleotides, the basic building blocks of genomes, are chemically synthesized, followed by oligonucleotides, which are multiple nucleotides attached to each other. In this way, you can synthesize genomes in small increments. As long as you know the sequence of the genes you want to include, you can synthesize an artificial genome accordingly. We haven’t yet succeeded in inserting an artificial genome into a eukaryotic organism and making it biologically active, but this is within a few decades. If we could sequence the genes associated with terminal illness and death, we could then synthesize a genome that excludes them and create a new species that does not die and does not suffer from terminal illness. Since death and disease are part of the nature of all Homo sapiens, it would be fair to say that a new species that is free from them would be a different species from Homo sapiens. Therefore, we can see that the extinction of Homo sapiens is quite possible through synthetic biology.
What about socially? Human class consciousness could spur the creation of new species. Yuval Noah Harari says that the upper classes have always been under the illusion that they are superior to the lower classes, and with the help of science and technology, their illusion could become an objective reality. Indeed, if the synthetic biology and genetic engineering technologies mentioned above were to become a reality, the upper class would be able to bring about the extinction of sapiens in the process of differentiating themselves from the lower class. In addition, since terminal illness and death are things that humans are basically afraid of, they would naturally create a new species to eliminate these fears.
So far, we’ve seen that the extinction of Homo sapiens, the current inhabitants of the Earth, is a real possibility, both from a scientific and social point of view. The current research in the field of synthetic biology has shown that it is technically feasible to create a new species that does not die and is free from terminal diseases. We also found that humanity’s desire for superiority and fear of death and disease support social feasibility. This led to the conclusion that the extinction of Homo sapiens is a very real possibility.
In addition, human nature is inherently driven to evolve and develop. This is why we adapt to our environment, overcome challenges, and constantly seek new things. These same traits will be at play when a new species emerges after Homo sapiens. When a new species emerges, we will no longer be satisfied with the status quo, but will push ourselves to new heights.
The extinction of Homo sapiens is more than just a question of scientific possibility; it raises philosophical and ethical questions about how we recognize our own limitations and how we will overcome them. In the process of answering these questions, we will have to move beyond mere biological survival and toward the pursuit of true humanity.
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