Elon Musk a multi-billionaire inventor reportedly asked himself what will most
affect the future of humanity while deciding on what he wanted to achieve with his life he
came up with five Solutions internet artificial intelligence renewable energy space exploration
and colonization and the capacity to rewrite the human genome we are all aware of musk's work with
Tesla PayPal and SpaceX which are some of his most well-known Ventures into the fields of renewable
energy the internet and space we also know that musk believes that artificial intelligence may be
summoning the demon and that it may ultimately lead to the extinction of the human race
join me as we unravel why hasn't musk ventured into genetic editing hello everyone welcome
back to Elon Musk Evolution where we bring you the most recent news about Elon Musk and his
multi-billion dollar companies space news and the latest science and technology but before we
begin make sure you subscribe to our Channel and click the Bell icon so you don't miss any of our
amazing videos but why has musk shied away from genetic editing we have just lately learned about
crispr a highly powerful and useful Gene editing tool and we are currently living in a time when
Silicon Valley billionaires are obsessed with the quest to fight death hence when weight but wise
Tim Urban recently had the chance to interview musk he inquired as to whether or not musk would
ever give genetic reprogramming any thought in response musk said that a moral battle rather
than a technical battle was what was blocking the way he said to Urban you know I call it
the Hitler problem Hitler was all about creating the Ubermensch and genetic Purity and it's like
how do you avoid the Hitler problem I don't know what constitutes The Perfect Design is an issue
that arises as geneticists begin modifying DNA to alter and mold mankind something that they feel
is feasible particularly using crispr likewise if you are deleting conditions that you find
unacceptable pursuing the perfect human becomes morally perplexing very quickly perhaps we can
all agree that we want Huntington's disease to go away but would we want to modify genes to make us
age more slowly or to make autism go away these kinds of questions get more challenging as time
goes on could there be an absolute minimum of intelligence that is deemed acceptable
musk does not believe that it is impossible to change humans though musk responded to Urban's
question about how to stop aging I mean I do think there's in order to fundamentally solve a lot of
these issues we are going to have to reprogram our DNA that's the only way to do it but Elon
Musk will need to assemble a team of genetically modified humans if he plans to colonize Mars
Elon Musk wants to build a city on Mars that can House a million people but first the SpaceX and
Tesla CEO will need a small number of humans who possess a rare genetic trait radiation resistance
although we are aware that radiation resistance exists in both people and animals little is known
about it resistance tests are currently used to attempt to forecast how much radiation cancer
patients Will Survive but in the future this could play a significant role in determining
who gets to travel to space our magnetic field Shields the Earth from the harmful solar radiation
but astronauts who leave the planet will be subjected to a barrage of dangerous particles
the mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University's Norman kleeman has devoted his
professional life to researching the effects of radiation exposure on the eyes he argues that
compared to those who are more radiation resistant we know more about people and
animals who have genetic flaws in certain genes or groups of genes and thus exhibit radio sensitivity
it is feasible though that in the future humans might be Gene edited to be more resilient of the
rigors of space including the radiation when traveling to space individuals will
have to deal with a variety of additional novel circumstances some of which we may be able to
prevent through Gene editing along with physical electrical and pharmaceutical means of protection
Professor Christopher Mason from Wheel Cornell medicine believes that Gene editing can create
a new form of intrinsic biological defense for astronauts on long duration missions
Gene editing done in organisms like plants and bacteria to better survive non-native environments
would certainly help space-faring humans by constructing familiar habitats and providing
sustainable sources of food and Medicine claims Lisa nip from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology despite being a promising area of study a breakthrough is still far off on the
other hand Gene editing and living humans is still in its infancy claims nip there hasn't
been much in the way of human trials to show that Gene editing is undeniably efficient or safe let
alone the ethical issues that come into play once human gene editing is scientifically validated in
human trials the article States researchers are investigating several approaches to shielding
people from the impacts of radiation nip says that while melanin in humans helps to reduce
the impact of UV radiation from the Sun part of the radiation in space can truly be addressed
by merely increasing melanin production in the skin such melanin producing genes May assist a
little but not significantly especially if the exposure is consistent as it is in space where
cosmic rays have a higher energy than UV rays this might be one of our strategies for putting people
in the best possible shape for prolonged space travel even if such study could in theory help
make humans more radiation resistant it will be a long way off for making humans radiation proof nip
continues we could gaze into one other's eyes and see another way one of the body's most vulnerable
organs to radiation exposure are the lenses in our eyes radiation cataracts have been demonstrated
to affect survivors of nuclear explosions Chernobyl and other events that expose them to
high quantities of radiation astronauts are also considerably more prone to developing this ailment
because it develops from the back of the lens this particular type of cataract which was originally
observed in a rabbit in 1897 is simple to spot although the exact etiology is uncertain the
best theory in place at the moment is that it develops as a result of DNA damage a class of
radio protector compounds that are significantly more effective in considerably smaller dosages
than anything previously employed was identified by kleeman and colleagues from the Netherlands
canister Institute in a report released last year but Clement notes that this research is still in
its infancy and that additional investigation is necessary before we can fully comprehend
why some people are more likely than others to experience the negative effects of radiation
sending radiation resistant humans to Mars would create an interesting population of
people from which new features could diverge from those that already exist on Earth
within the first generation they would be evolving and since they would be under such
strong radiation constraints they might evolve to be more radiation resistant explains Mason
however because of the decreased gravity their bones would presumably become less solid they
might grow taller and they would probably adjust to some of the variations in soil and atmosphere
nip continues that there will also be various quicker adaptations similar to how you quickly
get used to a cold swimming pool but he adds that it is still unknown whether or if these
temporary adaptations will be handed down to the next generation of humans over the course
of a few years decades or millennia what exactly is Gene editing and how can it affect the future
since the discovery of DNA in 1953 genetics have never been more intriguing this is primarily
because of advances in science such as the capacity to tweak DNA through a process known
as Gene editing the possibilities for this technology are astounding ranging from the
treatment of genetic illnesses to the modification of agricultural crops to survive pesticides or
climatic changes or even to resurrect the dodo as one business claims it plans to do Gene editing is
a subject that will only get more popular in the future therefore you must first comprehend What
gene editing actually is if you want to ensure that you are aware of the latest developments
our DNA is composed of four essential components known as basis A T C and G genes are made up of
sequences comprising these four nucleotides these genes serve as the code for the body's important
molecules such as proteins proteins are crucial molecules that are required for a healthy and
functional human being genes can be short with fewer than 100 bases ribosomal genes which code
for various ribosomes molecules that Aid in the creation of new proteins are an excellent example
long genes are made up of millions of bases the DMD Gene for example includes a protein called
dystrophin which helps to maintain the structure and strength of muscle cells DMD contains almost
2.2 million bases how does Gene editing work Gene editing is a methodology for modifying
DNA sequences at one or more locations along the Strand scientists can remove or modify a single
base or they can insert an entirely new Gene Gene editing has the ability to literally modify DNA
there are several methods for editing genes but the most widely used is crispr cas9 technology
which was initially detailed in a seminal publication published in 2012. cas9 is an enzyme
that can cut DNA like a pair of scissors it is aided by a strand of RNA a molecule identical to
DNA in this instance manufactured by the scientist which guides the cas9 enzyme to the region of the
DNA that the scientist wishes to modify and binds it to the Target Gene depending on what
the scientist intends to do they can simply delete a piece of the DNA make a single base change for
example altering an a to a g or insert a longer sequence such as a new Gene when the scientist
is through the natural DNA repair processes take over and glue the wounds back together
what could Gene editing accomplish the benefits of Gene editing to humanity could be tremendous
making a single base modification in people's DNA for example could be a future cure for sickle cell
disease a genetic blood condition people suffering from this condition have only one altered base
from a to T in comparison to more complex genetic disorders like heart disease or schizophrenia this
makes the gene easier to alter scientists are also researching new ways for inserting bigger
segments of bases into agricultural DNA in the hopes of creating drought resistant crops and
assisting humans in adapting to climate change why is Gene editing controversial the use of Gene
editing is a controversial one unless governments and scientists collaborate to restrict its usage
it may become yet another technology that benefits mainly the wealthy and it is risky in 2019 China
revealed the first case of illegal implantation of a genetically modified embryo which resulted
in the arrest of three scientists the researchers aimed to Shield twin fetuses from HIV transmission
from their father however when other scientists read paragraphs from an unpublished manuscript
written by the DNA experiments lead regarding the twins they were concerned that rather than
imparting immunity the researchers had likely caused mutations with unknown implications
the risks of creating designer babies are so great that it is unlikely to become
legal anytime soon A Minor error could endanger a baby's health or lead to other disorders later
in life such as an increased chance of cancer with that being said what do you think of Gene
editing are you ready to become immortal let us know your thoughts in the comment box below
and that ends today's episode what do you think of this episode please subscribe and
don't forget to like today's video we'll see you in the next video thanks for watching