It's interesting. There are many directions you could go with this. It reminds me of Michael Crichton in Jurassic Park (paraphrasing) 'Just because you can doesn't mean you should.'

Interesting. I just finished a trilogy based on the concept of the 'Atlantis Gene' by AG Riddle which involved a similar concept, though not the dwarfism direction. From what I've read of your's to date, I think it could be very interesting.

Might take a bit of research to determine what genetic afflictions are unique to homo sapiens. I'm pretty sure that albinism and achondroplasia are cross-species. Afflictions like phocomelia caused by thalidomide aren't entirely man-made - they are also naturally occurring.

I'd like to see a good creative exploration of the purpose of the yawn. Moreover, why is it that echokinetic yawning does not occur in children under 5, people with autism, psychopaths, and sociopaths? I'd devour insights into the yawn question without any concern for the feelings of others. What is the biological imperative for a yawn such that it spans so many species? Evolutionary fluke, energy field synchronization, oxygen to the brain, or unexplained behavior genetically engineered by ancient super-scientists?

I for one think this could work really well.

You would need to have one or two of these afflicted people being the ones who discovered the truth.

They could then set up covert GE labs, and turn their 'afflictions' into superior capabilities, and start helping out other afflicted beings. The Downs Syndrome people could become super-intuitive, almost to the point of reading minds, while gaining above average cognitive abilities. The dwarfism people could gain the power to alter their height at will, to change from 3 feet tall to 7 feet tall over a few weeks, etc.

You need strong antagonists to make this work - you could have looter government agents trying to bust these labs and shut them down. Also, religious groups totally offended at the idea of immortality.

The end result could be the labs finally producing immortality - bodies that (like some marine species) renew at a greater rate than they break down, and thus attain physical immortality.

Ending? The 'freaks' get pissed off with all the suppression and hostility that they seek out and make contact with an alien civilisation, and make plans to leave. Government agents discover their intentions, and dispatch armed forces to stop the rendezvous. Alien technology finally keeps the army at bay, and allows the 'mutants' to hitch a ride away to a far more advanced and dignified existence. On their departure, they leave behind a massive cluster of light-reflecting particles which, for several hours, displays a huge projected middle finger in the night sky!

What a terrific S.F. premise! I could think of many plot variations based on that idea. Whoever said that it might be callous or mean spirited has either never read much past sci-fi or doesn't recognize our nation's current attitudes. If you can find it, read The Marching Morons a short story by Cyril M. Kornbluth,

Would that mean, in this scenario, that prior to the tinkering there were no genetic anomalies? The scenario would lead you to tell what the predecessor species was like before the tinkering.

I don't think it's mean-spirited. If certain diseases were caused by human actions, it would just be a fact, not good-spirited or mean-spirited.

Hallow AJAshinoff,

I would suggest that you ignore others' opinions. You will just end up confused.

You are contemplating a novel. A work of art. Poor all of yourself into it and only then will it equate the best you are capable of producing.

Just an opinion.

fascinating, though dangerous. . if care were taken
to respect those who were considered "different,"
and diversity in mental and anatomical variety were
celebrated, it could be a very fine trail to follow,
both for the author and the reader. why are there
different "races" ? . well, different "tastes" way
back then. . I would take my genetic tinkering
in a different direction than you, with my "ideal"
being unique. . fascinating! -- j

If it's a fictional story then go for it!

The impediment to suspension of disbelief is likely going to be how so many defects managed to escape eradication early on simply by preventing the hosts from ever successfully reaching gastrulation or some other step of embryonic development... Although the 'success' of some mutations is likely due to their inherent subtlety.

You write it, I'll buy it, but I'll want a signed copy!

There could be so many ways you could go with this. Perhaps a vein where two different traits that were produced as a "benefit" turned into a "deformity" when their genes where intermixed. I mean that's how our "diversity" in the gene pool works, isn't it?

As long as everyone aflicted with whatever issue is a white male, no one will ever acuse you of being callused or heartless.

Even if I thought that it were callused or heartless - I don't - I would still encourage you to write the book. That's what freedom of expression demands.

Interesting. It sounds like a search for answers and not an attack on anyone.

Life and reality in general could be classified as calloused and potentially mean spirited.

Using that as a meter stick on whether or not to write a story that you want to write is letting mob emotion trump reason.

It is your call in any case, however if its a story you want to tell conciously or not, you WILL tell it at some point regardless.

If the story is pushing you, by all means tell it.

oooh, interesting! I also like the thought of a natural mutation "piggybacking" on a tinkered one - the original tinker was the larger tongue on people with Downs; somehow that interacted with or began to occur concurrently with the lower IQ. do it! I wanna read it!

Definitely interesting. I believe man may have been far more advanced than our history tells us.

Interesting.
Handled well it could be heroic to people with those diseases.

No wonder you're an insomniacs. I need more info... off the cuff I think people are overly sensitive and morbidly afraid of offending someone...so I'm leaning towards interesting.

or place it in 'the future' long from now, and see what the upsides or downsides of genetic tinkering might be on future culture or society.

Heinlein had GMO monkeys as servants in at least one of his stories. I don't know if it was for shock value or a serious perspective on the issue. The one with the Space Elevator....

Niven and Barnes' "Saturn's Race" touches on this idea, but there's a lot more that can be said about it.

I find it quite interesting that the one group that actually tried to breed "better" humans -- the Nazis -- didn't even try for any characteristics that would actually make people "better" in any of the ways I'd think of trying it (say, greater strength, or endurance, or being faster on the draw with a weapon, or resistance to damage, or higher intelligence, or ability to concentrate, or just to eliminate the known inherited diseases). They only bred for their preferred racial appearance, which would have accomplished nothing worthwhile even if they had lasted long enough for their breeding program to produce results (perish the thought).

I foresee in a few years that humans will be able to tinker with the genes of their children (Heinlein's "Beyond This Horizon"). And like Heinlein I expect they will use the ability, if at all, to give them more sensible advantages like the ones in parentheses above.

Lots of potential, including: what if those *aren't* the "defects"?

Very interesting premise!

Definitely "interesting" - always love the what if factor. How could it be mean-spirited, look what the government does for real -, indoctrination, induced cognitive dissonance, withholding medical cures for diseases, and so on. At least yours would be fun.

As crazy as it sounds, it may not be fiction.