Pedantry obligs;
Humans ARE animals.
I’ll see myself out.
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I think the main problem with that idea is that DNA doesn’t work like software (where you get to replace old subroutine X with new subroutine Y as long as the interfaces match). The eagle-DNA thing might work but then again it might not ever, or it might not work right away but only after dozens and dozens of tweaks. Whose offspring are we going to use for the experiments (not mine, for sure) and which IRB is going to sign off on them?
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By chance, I happen to be listening to this very novella today! I’m happy you raised it because it is the best fictional reference I could possibly make.
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One of the many webcomics I follow is “Freefall,” one of which’s storylines is about a guy (slightly genetically engineered) dating a GMO red wolf. A combination of silly and insightful.
From a recent “meet the parents” sequence:
http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff3700/fc03683.htm
Kind of way optimistic, for reasons noted by others here, but it is set in a civilization with numerous settled planets and orbital habitats, so there’d be less of a “competing for limited real estate” factor.
The series also has interesting stuff about robot rights.
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Has no one read all the sci-fi cautionary tales of either a) letting corporations control space exploration or b) mixing human and animal DNA… because it seems like lately some people are taking those cautionary tales as blueprints…
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Short answer: Yes.
Slightly longer answer: Science moves forward. All through the history of science, there have been points where new technology has been scary, and mistakes have been made. While those are personal tragedies, and it should inform science to “go slowly with caution” the answer has never really been “STOP!” There was a bit of hysteria over “test tube babies”. While there are still mistakes and tragedies, by and large in vitro fertilization has become commonplace, albeit with some informed caution. Religious superstition and hubris about the pinnacle of creation aren’t good reasons for holding back.
I think the big trick is “informed consent”. Also, a better acceptance and understanding of suicide, physician-assisted or not. Many people, on a private level, say “Well, I don’t want to suffer with dementia or cancer or what-not. I’ve had a good life up until now. Let me opt out.” So, if I, with informed consent, say “Yep! Gimme some radio-active spider genes! I want to climb walls and have tingly Spider-sense ™!” 
and, things don’t work out so well, I want the ability to say “Oh, shit! Well, that was a bad gamble, but if you can’t fix it, at least let me end it.” – and not have people spend decades trying to fix it.
Well, not quite as glibly as all that. There’s the whole “haves and have nots” issues where some can afford the BEST spider genes, and others either get lesser quality or none. We already such problems, and exacerbating them isn’t right. So, we should at least try to keep an awareness of the social inequalities going forward, even if we don’t know what to do about them.
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As long as iterations are regularly saved to Sharepoint.
(Oops, genetic dead end…what do you mean no one archived the original document?)
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If it can cure my genetic disorder, or other disorders, absolutely. Are there ethical concerns? Sure, but when aren’t there ethical concerns with scientific progress.
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Any of us who have cut our fingers and bled into food we’re preparing have already consumed mixed human+nonhuman DNA. No big thang.
Nobody seems to remember The Fly either. Accident or not, still a Bad Idea.
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Well I’m gonna say, that gene editing between human genes and non-human genes might not make much of anything. Like if you’re hankering for a tail like a cat or whatever I hate to say it that this isn’t likely to ever happen (genes don’t work like magic). At most, it might help you stave off a genetic disease in that’s carried in your family. And at worse, it might cause a horrible cancer. Either way, it’s gonna be a long time before we get there and the real questions surrounding human genetic engineering should focus more on accessibility and preventing further social stratification (vis-a-vis GATTACA).
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heh; more like an entire story arc, but it affects the Bowman’s Wolf (of which Florence is one) as well for spoiler-tastic reasons.
THIS. You hit the bullseye, more or less.
Giving informed consent to a sentience that’s being created is a little more tricky, which is where the second half of your comment comes into play. one of key concepts here is “quality of life”, which a lot of people who are stuck on the whole “suicide is a SIN AND YOU ARE GOING DIRECTLY TO HELL FOR IT” rhetoric cling to desperately. I’m willing to bet they have never seen someone they love suffer for years as their body wastes away from cancer, or their mind slip away from dementia or alzheimer’s.
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I promise I’m not
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I mean… ew…
This is better…
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I’m going to trust my very human instincts and not click the top gif.
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Yeah… wise choice, as always!
Just look at the other one, tho.
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