What's ACTUALLY Preventing Us From Colonising the Solar System

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What is a human? We come in all shapes and  sizes, colours and genders. And yet we find it   still fairly simple to identify in our heads,  “Yes, that’s a human,” or, “No, that’s not.”   But this might not always be quite so easy to do.  While humans have remained fairly consistent over   the last 10,000 years, there are advances in the  works that might make things a little murkier.   We are on the cusp of a technical revolution  that might redefine what makes us us.   That technology is gene editing. And it is not  science fiction. NASA is already looking into   using it on astronauts, and for good reason. It  is likely an unavoidable necessity if we want to   settle on other planets. Why is that? And what are  the long-term implications if we let this genie   out of its bottle? And perhaps most importantly,  what will it mean to be human 1000 years from now?   I’m Alex McColgan, and you’re watching Astrum.  And in today’s video, we will attempt to find out.   There is a pernicious obstacle out there for  any would-be space farer. It is one you’ve   likely heard of. But perhaps you’ve not realised  how serious it was. Beyond the protective shroud   of our planet’s magnetosphere, radiation is  a big deal. Even on Earth, we cannot avoid   radiation. We are subjected to small doses of it  every year, just from the rocks that make up the   planet and the tiny amount of cosmic radiation  that seeps into our atmosphere. There is no   truly “safe” amount of it, but the tiny dose of  roughly 3 millisieverts (mSv) a year is usually   no bother to us. A single mSv is the equivalent  of about 3 chest-x-rays, so as these are spread   out over the year it gives our body time to  recover from any damage such radiation causes.   But once you start leaving the Earth’s  magnetosphere, the radiation dosage goes up.   Merely standing on the Moon increases your dosage  200 times. Solar particles ejected from the Sun   and background cosmic radiation slice through  any unprotected astronaut’s body up there,   causing damage to their DNA that can lead  to short term acute symptoms like fever,   nausea and vomiting, and also long-term  health problems like cancer and sterility.   This is problematic enough that most space  agencies put a life-long cap on how much   radiation an astronaut can receive before  they’re permanently grounded: around 1000   mSv. Once you’ve been exposed to that much  radiation, you’re not allowed into space again.  But problematically, even with all the shielding  that humans can muster, it is currently estimated   that the round trip to and from Mars will  give you a dosage as high as 1200 mSv.   In other words, a completely fresh astronaut will  be able to take one trip to Mars, and their career   will be permanently over. And that’s just Mars.  If ever humans want to colonise other places in   the Solar system, such as the icy moon Europa,  they would face 5,500 mSv in just a single day.   At that level, their odds of  dying in the next 30 days is 50%.   Yet it will be necessary to leave Earth. While it  may seem a long way away, 6 billion years from now   our Sun will become a red giant. At that point,  it will expand and engulf the inner planets of   the Solar System. Every species on the planet at  that time, every work that we humans have created,   will be gone forever: consumed in a raging  inferno, unless we’ve spread out to where   our Sun-gone-berserk can’t reach us. And  that’s not even to mention the fact that   a planet-ending asteroid could hit us with a  dinosaur-level extinction event long before that.   We’re actually overdue the next one, statistically  speaking. So going to space seems advisable.   If we have colonies on more than one planet,  it reduces the risk of an asteroid taking   us all out – the cosmic equivalent of  not putting all our eggs in one basket.   This is why on the 13th August 2021, NASA  announced that it had completed a successful test   of genome editing aboard the International Space  Station. It should be noted, there are different   levels of gene editing. The test done by NASA  was to break the DNA of yeast, remove a section,   and then replace it with a sequence of healthy  yeast DNA through a technique known as CRISPR.   As radiation causes damage to DNA, being able  to remove segments and replace them with healthy   segments is a convenient genetic maintenance,  the equivalent of replacing a puncture on a tyre.   This already would be useful to astronauts  travelling through space, as it would allow   them to repair ongoing damage to their DNA  by constantly replacing damaged parts of it.   But genetic editing and CRISPR  can go one step further.   There is nothing to say that the replacement  DNA has to be the same as the original.   CRISPR has been used successfully to implant  totally new genes into test subjects,   giving them desirable traits according  to the gene-editor’s aims. For instance,   genetic diseases like sickle cell anaemia result  in low levels of haemoglobin in the blood.   CRISPR allows these harmful genes to be removed  from a cell, and replaced with a healthier version   that does produce the needed haemoglobin. Trials  are already underway, to encouraging success.   But it doesn’t stop there. CRISPR can borrow  genes from entirely different species.   Tardigrades are microscopic little animals that  carry the nickname “Water bears”. Their claim to   fame is that they are resilient to all sorts of  harsh environments. They can survive radiation,   desiccation (being completely dehydrated),  and have even survived the harshness of space.   That radiation resistance is particularly  interesting to us, and the result of a protein   they produce called Dsup. In 2015, geneticists  successfully edited the gene that produced Dsup   from tardigrade cells into a culture of human  cells. Incredibly, the human cells became 40%   more resistant to radiation. This technology is  here, and is already quite accurate and versatile.   Of course, there is still a lot to learn about the  human genome. It turns out that the “One-gene, one   trait” model is too simplistic. One gene can do  several different things, and editing one can have   unexpected knock-on effects throughout the body.  As such, any introduction of tardigrade cells into   humans must be done slowly and cautiously. But  it does seem likely that over time, scientists   will understand what each gene does, and how to  balance the pros and cons of gene editing. Which   raises an ethical dilemma. Just because we learn  how to – and it’s entirely possible that we as a   species will master how to do this – should we? That’s not really for me to answer. But I will   point out that this is already going on. Aside  from the ability genetic modification is giving   us to cure genetic diseases, or to repair damaged  DNA – which I imagine most people would be fairly   ok with – even genetically modified “designer  babies” have already been carried to full term.   Chinese doctor He Jiankui in 2018 announced to  the world the birth of two gene edited babies,   Lulu and Nana. The two children had been  engineered before birth to be resistant to a   strain of HIV. The only problem was He Jiankui had  not told anyone that was what he had been doing.   His work was shut down within days by the Chinese  government, and in 2019 he was jailed. But to some   respect, the genie is out of the bottle. And we  have to start asking how we would like to see   this technology applied. It may become necessary  for anyone travelling to Mars or the other planets   in the Solar System to receive gene therapy  conferring on them this resistance to radiation.   And as the techniques for conferring  genes from other species improve,   specialised hybrid humans might become more and  more common – or even required – in other areas.  While replacing the genes of every cell in  our bodies is still a ways away, there is a   possibility that it will one day actually happen.  And if it does happen, what would that mean for   us? Well, want to settle on a warm or cold  planet, like Mercury or Pluto? Certain traits   might be conferred from extremophiles that  give you resistance to extreme temperatures.   There are many species of bacteria out there  that survive perfectly well in icy conditions.   It might be useful for any human  settling out there to do the same.   Speaking of Pluto, low-light environments  might make it advantageous to either gain   improved low-light vision, larger eyes, or to gain  traits like echolocation, like dolphins or bats.   1000 years into the future, this  will very likely be possible.  How about breathing underwater? We could take the  DNA of aquatic creatures, and give humans gills.   That might help overcrowding on Earth  too, by allowing us to inhabit oceans,   as well as allowing us to settle on any  aquatic worlds we might one day find  Want to travel on long voyages through space? Even  with faster rockets, travelling to other stars   might take hundreds of years. It might be useful  to be able to hibernate in such a condition,   or to have more efficient energy intake  systems, meaning you need less food.   One day humans might introduce chloroplasts  into their skin, supplementing energy intake   with photosynthesis, like plants do. Electricians  might gain the ability to sense electric fields,   like hammerhead sharks. Our senses might expand  into other spectra of light, allowing us to see   x-rays or infra-red. Seeing heat might be  incredibly useful in some lines of work.   Seeing radiation might be handy if you’re  considering stepping outside into a solar storm.   Our ability to eat a varied diet might increase.  There are worms today that can eat plastic.   Maybe we one day will be able to do the same.  Increased longevity. Enhanced intelligence. The   possibilities are endless – as extensive as the  genetic catalogue of any species that has ever   existed and ever will exist, and even further. One  day, we may get so proficient with genetic editing   that scientists will write their own genes from  scratch, granting traits as desired. Christopher   Mason, a geneticist and computational biologist  who has worked with NASA on 7 projects, believes   in his book “The Next 500 Years” that humans  might one day customise their traits on the fly.   “Given the… methods described above, people could  find themselves in a state where they decide,   ‘I want to turn on these genes for tonight,’  or ‘I want these genes active for Summer.’ “   This is not necessarily a bad thing. Humans  already adapt in many different ways.   But it does raise serious philosophical  questions about what it means to be human.   Our DNA would no longer define who we  are, as it would be under our control.   While initially the technology would likely only  be available to the rich, 1000 years from now it   could be so common and so well understood that  it could be available to everyone. Even children   could be given homework assignments on changing  genes at school, according to some theorists.  What is a human? Is it our DNA? Our ability  to communicate? Is it what we look like?   1000 years from now, humans might look  more different from each other than ever.   Will it bring a deeper segregation to our society  than what we already have? What would the ethical   and moral dilemmas be? Genetic manipulation  might even become a question of fashion and   cosmetics – people giving themselves tails or  wings for nothing more than the fun of it. It   could be completely down to what they choose. And  once humans start spreading out across the stars,   adaptations would cause them to become more and  more diverse culturally and even genetically.   Our human race may split off  into separate species altogether.   So, what do you think? Would  this be a future you recoil from,   or is it one that excites you? I’d love  to see your discussions in the comments.
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Channel: Astrum
Views: 475,534
Rating: undefined out of 5
Keywords: what will humans look like in the future, evolution, human evolution, what if, what will humans look like in a million years, what will humans look like in 100 years, gene editing, crispr, implants, crispr-cas9, what if scenario, what if body, crispr cas9, dna, gene editing in humans, crispr explained, gene editing crispr, how gene editing work, genetic engineering, astrum, astrumspace, crispr gene editing, nana and lulu, genome editing, crispr genome editing, gene editing china
Id: dubeUQzk7D0
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 15min 34sec (934 seconds)
Published: Fri Mar 31 2023
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