According to Peter Ward ("What Will Become of Homo Sapiens?"):
Assuming that it does become practical to change our genes, how will that affect the future evolution of humanity? Probably a great deal. Suppose parents alter their unborn children to enhance their intelligence, looks and longevity. If the kids are as smart as they are long-lived - an IQ of 150 and a lifespan of 150 years - they could have more children and accumulate more wealth than the rest of us. Socially they will probably be drawn to others of their kind. With some kind of self-imposed geographic or social segregation, their genes might drift and eventually differentiate as a new species. One day, then, we will have it in our power to bring a new human species into this world. Whether we choose to follow such a path is for our descendants to decide.
Here's an excerpt from the ending of the original screenplay for the movie Gattaca:
A STARSCAPE As we pan across the constellations, a title is superimposed upon the starscape: In a few short years, scientists will have completed the Human Genome Project, the mapping of all the genes that make up a human being. After 4 billion years of evolution by the slow and clumsy method of natural selection, we have now evolved to the point where we can direct our own evolution. The first title is replaced in the heavens by a second title. If only we had aquired this knowledge sooner, the following people would never have been born: A succession of portraits and photographs of RENOWNED and HISTORIC FIGURES fades in and out of the constellations - the accompanying titles list their affliction rather than their accomplishments. HOMER Blind from birth NAPOLEON BONAPARTE Epileptic COLETTE Arthritic LOU GERHIG [sic] Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gerhig's [sic] Disease) RITA HAYWORTH Alzheimer's Disease HELEN KELLER Blind and deaf STEPHEN HAWKING Lou Gerhig's Disease JACKIE JOYNER-KERSEE Asthmatic CHARLES DARWIN Chronic invalid The face of Charles Darwin fades off and another title appears out of the stars. Even Charles Darwin, the man who told of the survival of the fittest, numbered amongst our frailest. The title fades off and is replaced by one final title in the night sky. Of course, the other birth that would surely never have taken place is your own. CUT TO BLACK
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