David A. Broyles

Throughout history, humans have pursued ways to improve themselves and gain advantages, whether through information, technology, or physical enhancement.Although advancements in machine learning offer the promise of computers with “superhuman” capabilities, two other advancements will soon offer options that only science fiction has envisioned and explored.Biotechnology—specifically, the physical modification of biology with technology—has a trajectory that goes beyond reversible “human-machine teaming” and ends with cyborg-like possibilities of endless enhancements and modifications.And genetic engineering, particularly with the accessibility offered by CRISPR1 (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and related technologies, has a trajectory that promises smarter, stronger, and “better” humans from birth, heralding the advent of “homo superior.”

Although the US military has made advances in exploring the applications of human engineering with robotics and human-machine teaming, the applications of genetic modifications and biotechnology to human physiology have received less attention.