I want a pair of wings. Please make them the same color and shape as that eagle nesting in its eyrie, so that I can fly around like my favorite bird of prey. Forget that it would take enormous wings to lift even the smallest person off the ground. I know that my bones aren’t hollow like that birds but, hey, maybe I could vacuum suck the marrow out of them so I could get a little lift. I also lack the muscular structures needed to make those wings work but that’s what surgery is for, right?
As much as I really want those wings, I doubt I will ever get them. The technology to alter human DNA or graft limbs to such an extent just doesn’t exist yet. If it ever does exist, it will be so far off in the future that by the time it’s commercially available I will be reclining peacefully in my grave and able to get absolutely nothing from it. My descendants will be free to take on octopus tentacles and mermaid tails to their heart’s content. I begrudge them nothing, except that I won’t be there to take pictures.
Every science fiction buff has read stories in which scientists attempt to mix animal and human DNA. Those stories don’t always have a happy ending. The Island of Doctor Moreau is one that springs automatically to mind. In this story, Doctor Moreau manages to create a race of Beast Folk with the combined traits of humans and animals. The Beast Folk are given a set of laws, one of which is that no animals on the island are allowed to be killed and eaten. This runs contrary to the basic nature of the more predatory Beast Folk, who eventually begin to regress back into animalistic behavior and put human morality back on the shelf. So if humans were someday able to successfully combine their genes with animal genes, would these new creatures be expected to behave like civilized humans or primitive beasts? Would they even be considered to still be human?
So I’d only accept bird wings if I wasn’t in danger of being eaten by a mutated cat. Animals have a code of laws, but their laws aren’t the same as ours. If humans gained the ability to morph into animals, which code of laws would they follow, The Law of The Jungle or the laws laid down by Man? I’m not sure I want to find out.
Related posts:
Nature vs Nurture Animal Traits Animal Behaviors Dog Breeds Children Traits Gentics
The need for Love in Humans and certain Animal Species
Will we have the Ability to Morph into Animals or at least Develop their Traits – Yes
Should People Choose Animal Traits with Genetic Manipulation Transgenetics Gene Manipulation – Yes