Back to the Future: The Rise of Human Enhancement and Potential Applications for Space Missions

Abstract

Rapid advances in biology, electronics, computer and data science have turned invention into products, changing the lives and lifestyles of millions of people around the world. This mini-review will describe some remarkable progress made over the last 10 years which serves both healthy individuals and patients alike. With a forward looking lens towards long term space missions and the potential colonisation of the Moon and Mars, we discuss three technologies under development. We conclude with a distant looking perspective on the prospect of gene mediated human enhancement and highlight the importance of aligning benefit for people on Earth with goals for future space missions and the need to establish regulatory and ethical guidelines.

Keywords

• uman enhancement
• gene therapy
• gene editing
• smart skin
• brain-computer interface
• prosthetic limbs
• wearable devices
• exoskeleton