Slideset from my Oct 2021 talk at reasonable faith Adelaide chapter

1. Intro to Transhumanism
By Tom Daly
For Reasonable Faith Adelaide Chapter
Oct 2021

2. Drawing on ..
fazale “fuz” rana, phd
Fazale (Fuz) Rana is the vice president of research
and apologetics at Reasons to Believe (RTB).
Holds BS in chemistry a PhD in chemistry with an
emphasis in biochemistry pursued postdoctoral
studies in the biophysics of cell membranes.
Specialises in genetics, human origins.
biochemistry, and synthetic biology.

3. Drawing on ..
Fydor Urnov – UC Berkeley
Professor of Genetics,
Genomics and Development*
*and Director for Technology
and Translation at the IGI
Coined the term “Gene Editing”
Development and advancement to the clinic of novel approaches to treat human disease using
CRISPR-based genome and epigenome editing.
Fundamental mechanisms of CRISPR-based enzyme action in clinically relevant primary human cells.
Fine-resolution structure-function of the human epigenome.

4. Goals
raise awareness
promote dialogue
Prompt questions

5. Agenda
●
Transhumanism defined
●
Gene Editing / Crispr-Cas9
●
Brain Computer Interfaces (BCI)
●
Radical life extension / anti-aging
●
Nanotechnology
●
Bio-hacking
●
Ethical issues (just scratching the surface)
●
Philosophical/Theological
●
Actions/summary

6. Transhumanism

7. Transhumanism : defined
The belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its
current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of
science and technology. Oxford dictionary (online reference)
Transhumanism = real science + philosophy/religion/set of beliefs
Transhumanist: believe we have a moral obligation to take control
of human evolution to prevent suffering and
overcome biological limitations including death
… and sometimes therefore to avoid the extinction of human life

8. “Regardless of our views, the
technological capabilities to
dramatically extend human life
expectancy and to transcend human
biological limits will soon be a part
of our world—for better or worse.”
Fuz Rana life 2.0

9. Genetic Engineering / Crispr-Cas9

10. Genetic engineering of humans
Started in 1989
It wasn't: oh here is a gene lets fix letter #4 => not precise
Rather started by inserting entire genes using viruses
2 Approved medicines in a class called “cancer immunotherapy”

11. Crispr-Cas9
Immune system discovered in bacteria and
modified
2012 by : Emmanuelle Charpentier and
Jennifer Doudna
(received nobel prize in chemistry)
Think of it as enabling copy-paste for DNA
or Ctrl-C Ctrl-V
Editing
●
cultured cells
●
stem cells ,
●
embryonic cells
●
multiple places in DNA at once.
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
Cas9 is an enzyme

12. Sickle cell disease
In July 2, 2019 Victoria Grey Was Gene
edited with crispr-cas9 and now she
no longer has sickle cell disease
Sickle cell disease is a debillitating
disorder of the red blood cells which
become hard mis-shapen and sticky.
Patients suffer bouts of intense pain
organ damage and often need
frequent blood transfusions.
5 patients in total have
been treated and reports
are all are seemingly
cured

13. Congenital Blindness
Leber congenital amaurosis is caused by
mutations in a gene that codes for a protein
called RPE65
E.g. University of Pennsylvania
three patients received the treatment and all
three showed some improvements in vision.
Went from being able to detect hand
movements to being able to read lines on an
eye chart, the team reports
Yet main purpose of the trial was safety
https://www.umassmed.edu/news/
news-archives/2020/06/gene-therapy-
and-crispr-strategies-for-curing-
blindness/

14. HIV
Sept 2021 : FDA Approves First Human Trial for Potential CRISPR-Led
HIV Cure this approach is looking to cut the HIV sequences
Alternate being studied:
Some people natural resistance to HIV
=> have mutation in a gene known as CCR5
=> use CRISPR-CAS9 to make this same genetic modification
in people suffering from HIV.

15. Cancer
E.g. phase 1 trial university of Pennsylvania
researchers
●
used CRISPR to remove three genes that
help cancer cells evade the immune
system.
●
then added another gene to help the
immune cells recognize tumors.
The results revealed that the treatment was
safe in patients with advanced forms of
cancer.
… The new tool has taken
the research world by storm,
markedly shifting the line
between possible and
impossible.

16. Cancer
In 2014, just two years after discovery of CRISPR-Cas9
Duke University : selectively disabled two genes of the
HPV virus, which causes cervical cancer (Two of the
viral genes, dubbed E6 and E7, prevent tumor
suppression )
researchers successfully arrested the growth of
carcinoma cells with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing.

17. Type 1 Diabetes
CRISPR and Type 1 Diabetes
Meanwhile, another new study, this one published this spring in Science
Translational Medicine, highlights the potential that CRISPR-led gene therapy
could correct stem cells from diabetic patients and turn them into fully
functioning beta cells.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aax9106

18. Next 5-10 years – Prof Urnov
Next : is likely edits for “muscular dystrophy”
Then likely:
●
Crispr-cas9 edits to fix mutations in the lungs (CF?)
●
Dramatic improvements in treating cancer , some will likely be curable
●
Hemophillia and blood clotting
●
Huge advances in treatment of pain 3-5 years (reduce opiod deaths)
●
Heart disease
– People who lack a normal form of a gene called pcsk9 have a vanishingly low risk of
heart attack
– clinical trials for crispr-cas9 to remove this gene could start in 2022.

19. Crispr-Cas9 Technical hurdles
●
Off target effects
●
Uptake of editing into cells
●
Need to re-do editing (sort of unknown)
●
How to stop cut/insert/repair repeating
●
Current limits of what genes to target and when.

20. Brain Computer Interfaces

21. Older Existing Technology
Cochlear implant
Deep Brain Stimulation
Parkinsons,
Tremor,
Epilepsy

22. Cyborg ?
Robotic foot :
●
Sends signals to brain
●
Receives signal from brain
●
Feels like he “owns” the foot. https://www.ted.com/talks/hugh_herr_how_we_ll_become_cyborgs
_and_extend_human_potential?language=en#t-836949

23. High Performance Hand Writing BCI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyFj3yl3Aik

24. Neuralink (Elon Musk)
Has 2000 connections to his
motor cortex
Signals from motor cortext now
readable from app on mobile
phone
neurons in this region indicate
intended hand movement
Use AI to learn and predict hand
movements from brain patterns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rXrGH52aoM

25. Other BCI related
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-11/qld-medical-technology-
bionic-voice-box-ai-pancreas-diabetes/100525912
Voice Box :
●
AI learns from breathing
patterns and “constructs” a
voice
●
eventually using AI the
persons original voice.
Pancreas : AI learns from
glucose patterns and finely
controls clucose levels

26. Bio-hacking

27. bio-hacking
●
Cheap / readily available
●
Already CRISPR gene-editing kits are
available on eBAy
●
Political and cultural movement that
says gene editing should be
democratised i.e. we should all be
enabled to gene edit ourselves
●
Transhuman bill-of-rights
Prof Urnov:
●
Botox today
●
Hair wash for baldness
●
Gene edit your eye colour
●
...etc

28. Nanotechnology

29. What is it
The branch of science and technology that deals with dimensions and tolerances
of less than 100 nanometres, especially the manipulation of individual atoms and
molecules.
Nano = 1 billionth of a metre

30. Nanotechnology
Enable very targeted drug delivery
●
Standford school of medicine : using carbon nano-tubes
they can deliver drugs targeted to destroy plaque build up
upto 40% in hearts of mice
●
North Carolina State University => developing a method to
deliver cardiac stem cells to damaged heart tissue
●
University of Colorado Boulder => quantum dots to
treat antibiotic resistant infections
●
...and lots more

31. Nanotechnology
●
.
●
Novel forms of pain relief => ease/solve the opioid pain med crisis.
●
Risks/research : mainly around nanoparticles getting into non-desired places

32. Nanotechnology - Nanorobots

33. Anti Aging Research

34. Transhumanists and aging
Transhumanists and growing number of scientists :-
●
Regard aging as a disease
●
Think that as a disease it should therefore be “curable”
●
Are applying massive amounts of research to finding a cure
Many bio-tech companies are joining in, or starting up
Venture Capitalists are backing myriads of startups.

35. Theories of aging
1)DNA damaged over time from free radicals oxidization and other mechanisms
2) Loss or damage to the on/off switches on our DNA (epigenetic damage)
A complete theory-of-aging if disoverable would be a very
important tool in the project to enable slowing down and
reversing of aging

36. Knowledge rapidly increasing
Epigenome :
Comprised of chemical compounds and proteins that
can attach to DNA and direct such actions as turning
genes on or off
turn on or off one gene=> get a skin cell
turn off or on another to get a different type of cell.
Epigenetic Clocks : e.g Horvath Clock
DNA test to tell biological age of an organism
Epigenetic
markers

37. Scientists reverse age-related vision loss, eye damage from
glaucoma in mice
Harvard Medical School showed
●
first demonstration that it may be possible to safely
reprogram complex tissues, such as the nerve cells of
the eye, to an earlier age
●
promotes axon regeneration after optic nerve crush
injury
●
Restores vision in a mouse model of glaucoma
●
Restores visual acuity in normal old mice
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/20
1202114531.htm
Potentially huge Significance
for brain injuries/disease

38. Anti aging ..scope is increasing
….A new study indicates that hyperbaric oxygen treatments (HBOT)
in healthy aging adults can stop the aging of blood cells and reverse
the aging process. In the biological sense, the adults' blood cells
actually grow younger as the treatments progress.
The clinical trial was conducted as part of a comprehensive Israeli
research program that targets aging as a reversible condition.
https://scitechdaily.com/staying-youn
g-scientists-discover-new-enzymatic-c
omplex-that-can-stop-cells-from-aging

39. Anti aging ..stems cells and AI
Artificial Intelligence is pervasive
..turbo charging research
Stem cells feature heavily

40. Status ….
However, a growing minority of biogerontologists think that we
understand enough about the aging process to dramatically
extend life expectancy. Two of the most outspoken advocates
of this view are physician Michael Fossel (president of the
biotechnology company Telocyte) and biogerontologist
Aubrey de Grey (cofounder and scientific advisor of the
Methuselah Foundation).
Fuzz Rana Life 2.0
Their ideas are based on sound scientific insights, not quackery. And the
interventions they propose are feasible, given advances in genetic engineering,
nanotechnology, and biotechnology. – Fuzz Rana Life 2.0

41. Ethical issues

42. Restoration versus Enhancement
Restoration = therapy
restoring what was or what should have been
Enhancement = improving function beyond what was or has been
Changing the “person” not just the human animal.

43. Ethical Dilemas
●
Even today Cochlear implants have ethical considerations for deaf communities
●
BCI: Does / will the BCI be the driver of the human ? [neuroethics]
●
Embryonic stem cells
●
Destroying life ?
●
Need large source of human eggs => would we avoid “using” poor women ?
●
Equitable access to technologies
●
If we live for 100's of years, what does this do to the relationship between generations
●
Currently one generation “gives” to the next
●
Generations would “compete” for resources/jobs etc.

44. Prof Fydor Urnov
Working on Crisrp-cas9 “epigenetic modifications”
Such “epigenetic” modifications can be (are?) temporary
●
Collaborating with UCSF, CMU at the Whitehouse
●
Funded by DARPA (US Military)
●
To protect military and maybe first reponders against radiation damage
●
To protect patients needing radiation treatment for abdominal and pelvic
cancers

45. Prof Fydor Urnov
Re germline editing: it's it's it's one of those things where
things are as binary as it gets germline editing of human beings should never
be allowed under any circumstances period end of
paragraph
The only potential reason why people would want to do the germline editing is
uh to for human enhancement and the reason that is should be forever banned
is we don't know how to enhance people

46. Germ line editing
●
2018 Modified human embryos and implanted them
into a woman , who later gave birth to twin girls
●
If designer babies are possible => How to put the Genie
back into the bottle
●
Gonna say the 'E' word (eugenics)
He Jiankui, a genome-
editing researcher at the
Southern University of
Science and Technology of
China in Shenzhen, says
that he impregnated a
woman with embryos that
had been edited to disable
the genetic pathway HIV
uses to infect cells.
..but the other thing that's even a deeper crime is he showed to the rogues of
the world that this can be done – Prof Fydor Urnov

47. Its happening almost certainly ...
I am absolutely convinced that there are laboratories right now they're underground I
mean I don't mean physically I mean metaphorically yeah or who are enhancing quote-
unquote embryos for people with too much money too much money and not enough
understanding of the science and not enough ethics
– Prof Fydor Urnov

48. Philisophical/Theological

49. Secular salvation hope
They (Transhumanists) see our destiny as a human species in what science and
technology can deliver so it's a an idea that you know I think is going to be the
most influential idea in the next several decades and will really shape the world
that we live in particularly as our world becomes more and more secular you
know people are going to turn to science and technology as a as a source of
salvation so it's a an idea that again is kind of the fodder for science fiction but
it's becoming a reality --Fuz Rana
Good news: This is unavoidably rising fundamental
questions of purpose, value , eternity and salvation

50. Ideas have consequences
Secular Materialist
●
Humans differ just in degree , not in kind (Peter Singer 200 pigs)
●
Parents have a responsibility to select the best children they could
have given all of the relevant genetic information available to them
(Julian Savulescu , Oxford centre for ethics)
●
What is the purpose of humans (unclear, non existent )
●
We are free to make any modifications we want

51. Influence
Yuval Harrari - Homo Deus
Nick Bostrom Oxford prof
Julian Savulescu – Oxford ethics prof
Elon Musk Neuralink as antidote to singularity
Ray Kurzweil (Google)
Andrew Yang (US Presidential candidate)
Peter Singer (Princeton ethics prof)
..significant number more
Professor John Lennox
Fuz Rana (RTB)
Christian Transhumanists
The odd show on John Dickson's or
Unbelievable podcasts
??????
Our kids, teens , communities
Culture.
Media Sports orgs schools HR Depts Church
Lawmakers
??????
Secular
Anti-Theist
Utilitarian
Consequentialist

52. Call to action (folks of faith)
Use the resources I have linked
Encourage young Christians to get into science/tech
Start talking to / asking questions of young people about some of these topics
e.g. what do you think it would mean if science solved aging ?
What does it mean to you to be human , what do you base that on
Why are humans valuable ..where does that come from ?
Encourage other believers to “engage” => relevance to our city.
Use the Gospel to exegete the larger questions
Remind ourselves : Christian Faith has a long tradition of “learning”

53. End/Resources

54. Further resources
●
“Humans 2.0” by Fuzale Rana of '' Reasons to Believe'' (apologetics organisation)
●
“2084” by Prof John Lennox Oxford (Christian apologist)
●
Sean Carrol's mindscape podcast #112 with
Fydor Urnov Prof of Molecular and Cell Biology Berkley and who coined the term “Gene
Editing”
●
A Christian Perspective on Transhumanism - Fazale Rana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDYy9XZymxo
(Dallas Theological Seminary)
●
My Transhumanism Australia twitter feed