I can upgrade the shelter
Chapter 418 - 416: Reconstructive Surgery
The moral ethics review committee did not immediately reach a conclusion. After all, what Chen Xin mentioned was merely conceptual, and once actual research begins, many things may differ from the initial assumptions.
Especially as this involves human modification and gene editing, which can have extremely significant impacts, the committee has to be cautious.
While the committee was still carefully discussing and reviewing Chen Xin’s research, the military had already approached him, seeking details about his previously proposed super soldier enhancement plan.
The military also understood the issues and impacts brought by human modification and gene editing, but the super soldiers described by Chen Xin still sparked their curiosity and interest.
After all, wasn’t the big guy in the movies, wearing the Federation flag as a cape and carrying a shield through WWII, a genetically modified human?
If all soldiers... no, even if just a division, a special operations unit could achieve such human limit combat capabilities, it would be highly tempting for the military.
Of course, the military’s support for Chen Xin’s research was based on the premise that it wouldn’t cause harm or adverse effects.
"With the current technology I have, achieving combat power like the captain in the movies wouldn’t cause any adverse effects." Chen Xin used the familiar power standards from his past fan fiction writing as an example to explain to the military’s envoy: "This level of genetic modification strictly speaking isn’t even modification, it’s enhancement, allowing the human genes to display their optimal state. This enhancement is actually akin to how genetically modified soybeans can enhance resistance to pests and diseases.
As for whether there would be any adverse effects, I can only say that within three generations, with an individual lifespan of up to 50 years, there would be no problems. Further long-term impacts would need to be observed through extended experimentation to draw more conclusions."
In fact, with the black tech displayed by the system upgrade, achieving completely side-effect-free genetic enhancement would be easy for Chen Xin, but saying so at this moment wouldn’t be believable.
So Chen Xin opted for a more conservative answer.
"No issues within three generations?" Even the military is primarily concerned about heredity and side effects.
"Yes, this conclusion is derived from calculations. As for the potential consequences after three generations, I’m currently short of a supercomputer to calculate possible outcomes." Indeed, a supercomputer can facilitate such calculations, though Chen Xin isn’t directly asking for one, he’s merely stating a fact.
Moreover, once the research base is established, equipping it with a supercomputer is a certainty.
"Three generations... that roughly means at least 50-70 years!" The military’s envoy quickly calculated the time, understanding that Chen Xin’s previous comment about individual survival for fifty years actually coincides with the generational timeframe.
"That isn’t a long timeframe, and the probability of significant issues is actually lower than the probability of a person’s own genetic mutation occurring. Simply put, the chances of genetic enhancement going wrong are far lower than someone developing cancer." Chen Xin gave a typical comparative example, but he also knew it wasn’t a great comparison.
True, the likelihood of cancer is high, and everyone has some chance of developing it. However, cancer is just a disease, non-contagious, and at most harms only one person, with limited impact.
But if genetic enhancement were to go wrong, it could potentially affect all individuals who underwent the enhancement, and potentially their descendants as well.
Being extremely cautious regarding this matter isn’t excessive.
The military’s envoy lacks the authority to make decisions and was merely gathering information from Chen Xin for potential inquiries and discussions by higher authorities.
After inquiring about genetic enhancement, the military envoy also asked about Chen Xin’s previous plan involving obtaining the genetic enhancements of wolf species for creating more powerful super soldiers.
"Academician Chen, how did you think of using wolf genes to modify humans? This isn’t just a simple ethical issue, is it? To put it bluntly, isn’t this human-animal hybridization?" The envoy’s words were heavy, as any person would instinctively reject the idea of turning humans into beasts.
However, in response to this, Chen Xin merely stroked his chin, then took out his notebook, and displayed a set of data in front of the military envoy.
This was a background setting and related data for the Space Wolves in Warhammer 40K, which was indeed the inspiration for Chen Xin’s entire modification plan.
"This is a game setting, right? Academician Chen, your inspiration comes from this? But this so-called Space Marine modification surgery listed involves inserting nineteen artificial organs to forcibly turn an ordinary person into a superhuman. Can this truly be accomplished?" The military envoy didn’t dismiss the idea because it came from a game setting; instead, they earnestly evaluated the content, seriously considering the potential impact if Space Marine modification could truly be realized.
"Regarding solely the modification surgery, I can assure you there’s no problem." Chen Xin dared to make this promise because realizing Space Marine modification technology isn’t particularly difficult.
The real challenge lies in cultivating artificial organs, which is the basis for the existence of Space Marines in Warhammer 40K—the Genetic Seed.
"Ah, no wonder you require wolf genetic samples and live embryos as well as human genetic modification!" The military envoy understood Chen Xin’s point and expressed a face of sudden realization.
Chen Xin affirmed by nodding and pointed to an image of a Space Marine on the computer to explain to the military envoy: "Through genetic modification of wolf species to develop Genetic Seed for cultivating artificial organs, then those artificial organs are surgically implanted into the bodies of candidates.
The entire process, technically speaking, does not alter the individual’s original genes, because the modification surgery doesn’t use gene editing to achieve Space Marine enhancement, but instead relies on the artificial organs to influence the functioning of the body’s natural organs, thus achieving Space Marine enhancement. Theoretically, this shouldn’t affect the original genes of the individuals.
This is also why, in the game setting, completing all nineteen surgical procedures required for Space Marine transformation takes a full ten years, as it’s not gene coding causing mutations but second-stage development under the influence of artificial organs."