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A wealthy generation will create a "superhuman race": Stephen Hawking's essays reveal a gloomy prediction A collection of recently published essays written by Stephen Hawking before his death reveals that the iconic physicist thought rich people could create a new race "superhuman" by changing the DNA of their children.
The collection of articles and essays, which appeared partly in the, will be published in full in a book entitled "Brief Answers to the Big Questions", to be published on October 16th.
Hawking, who died in March, said he was convinced that breakthroughs in genetic engineering would allow people to create a superhuman race during this century. He also predicted that even if the laws will try to prevent it, the rich and the greedy can not resist the temptation.
"I'm sure that during this century, people will discover how to change both intelligence and instincts such as aggression," he wrote.
"Laws are likely to be passed against genetic engineering in humans. But some people will not be able to resist the temptation to improve human characteristics, such as memory, disease resistance, and length of life. "
Hawking added that the emergence of a superior race will soon result in consequences for "unimproved humans" who he says will eventually "disappear or become unimportant."
He also warned that "once such superhumans appear, there will be significant political problems with unimproved humans, who will not be able to compete." leaving "a race of self-designed beings who are improving at a faster and faster pace."
Hawking's predictions are derived from the existing gene editing technology. The Crispr-Cas9, invented six years ago, is a DNA modification system that allows scientists to modify or add new genes. It has been used to treat children predisposed to a serious illness such as an otherwise incurable cancer.
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