In recent years, largely due to the contributions of gantu with their similar biology to us, genetic modification has become rather trivial. Birth defects, chronic conditions, and disabilities can be fixed before birth in most clinics.
On the other hand, some uses of it are strictly forbidden. Using it to do things like modify appearance, athleticism, smarts, or skills is against UPMW law.
But where do we draw the line? Is male pattern baldness a genetic defect and fixing it should be allowed, or an aesthetic issue where modification should be banned?
These are the issues being argued between doctors, lawyers, and politicians. Overall, it seems that the law is slowly pushing towards allowing more modifications rather than less. In a few generations, we could have a species entirely composed of super attractive, smart, and strong humans. And why not? Because it’s not natural? Because it’s not fair? But if everyone gets a leg up, is anyone really getting a leg up?
Of course, some things should always be excluded, in particular those dangerous to the developing child or those around them once they are born. I’m of course talking about the process of injecting humans with magic essence, harvested from species that possess it naturally, in the hope that they’ll gain the magic themselves. While tests have not been done to confirm a mortality rate for obvious reason, it seems about 2 in 3 children this is attempted on will perish, though whether that’s due to the process itself or the shoddy back-alley methods with which it’s performed is unclear.
Even if the child survives, their ability could be dangerous and hard to control. Plus, they can’t breed unless they happen to find another human with the same magic as them. If everyone goes around shoving magic into their children, our species will start to die off.
Then, there’s cloning. This is one of the scariest things our science has accomplished. We have the ability to create an exact genetic copy of another human, including mutations accrued throughout their lifetime. Then, due to accelerated growth drugs, we can have that clone caught up to their counterpart in age within a couple weeks. However, as no reliable method has been found for memory transfer, the clone won’t know anything their previous self knew, and will need to be taught everything like a child.
This practice has rightfully been outright banned all across the UPMW and most other governing bodies.
The freakiest thing about cloning is that all it needs is some genetic material as reference. Someone could kill your husband and replace him with a clone, feeding the replica information about his life as it grows, and you might never know. There would be a noticeable difference, but you’d probably just chalk it up to him feeling off or being forgetful.
The reverse can happen, too. There’s a famous case where singer Laranda Pullheim’s husband was killed in an accident. Years later, it was discovered the corpse was a clone, while the real husband had ran off with a mistress