06. The limits of the human body (genetic manipulation, health, longevity)

The limits of the human body are a fascinating topic that questions the natural barriers that define us as a species. Areas such as aging, the increase of new capabilities and genetic editing are key to understanding our future. Over the past few thousand years, humanity has overcome many of its past limitations. Can we continue doing it? Gene editing techniques such as CRISPR, as well as advances in biotechnology and nanotechnology, allow DNA to be modified to prevent hereditary diseases and increase physical and cognitive abilities, opening the door to overcoming natural limitations. However, these innovations raise important ethical questions about how far we should intervene in our biology and what long-term effects they may have on the human species.

• Sonia Contera, professor of Physics at the University of Oxford, author of Nanotecnología viva (Arpa, 2023)
• Carles Lalueza, biólogo , director of the Muse o of Ciencias Naturales of Barcelona (MCNB)
• Tomàs Marquès i Bonet, evolutionary biologist, director of the Institute of Evolutionary Biology, Barcelona