The U.S. government is pouring billions of dollars into understanding genetics and the human brain, and most consequentially, how to manipulate those systems.
Last week, the National Institutes of Health launched its "BRAIN 2.0" initiative, ramping up an existing program started eight years ago.
Comparable to the Human Genome Project in scope and scale, BRAIN 2.0 grants $600 million to fully map our 86 billion neurons and their uncounted connections.
"We've laid the groundwork for a future in which advanced brain interface technologies will transform how people live and work."
"Imagine what will become possible when we upgrade our tools to really open the channel between the human brain and modern electronics," said DARPA program manager Phillip Alvelda, whose goals include "Bridging the Bio-Electronic Divide" and developing a "High-Resolution, Implantable Neural Interface."
We've entered a bizarre era where sculpting human brains and bodies - and the underlying genes - may soon be as commonplace as nose jobs and genetically modified tomatoes are today.
What's important is that you're thinking about where we're at, right now, and where these efforts to rewrite DNA and irradiate brains are going.
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