Green sea slugs and dryads

Here's a fascinating creature: a sea slug that stole the ability of photosynthesis from algae, turning itself into an animal/plant hybrid. Not only does it incorporate chloroplasts (tiny organelles inside plant cells) into its own cells, it has also appropriated the right genes from algae to make the symbiosis work.

Think of the advantages for the slug! A creature that's notorious for being slow and vulnerable now has all the food it can desire, produced right inside its own cells. Free food for life! And all it needs is sunlight.

If you're a transhumanist, you'd be thinking how we can get that ability for ourselves. Imagine: solving world hunger with a vaccine. It's clear to me that world hunger can not be solved by simply giving people food - it's a complex social and economic and political problem. But what if we have the technology to bypass all that mess, and inject the genes into those who are starving, so they and their children would never have to be hungry again?

Of course there would be side effects. Your skin turns green. Wearing clothing will block the sunlight. You'll need more surface area than what your skin can provide to get enough energy - leafy hair should do the trick. So there might be new forms of prejudice. But I think naked green-skinned people with leafy hair would be totally awesome:

Some interesting factoids:

• Most of the population suffering from hunger live near equatorial regions where sunlight is plentiful year-round: India and Africa.
  
• Plants are less efficient than broad spectrum solar panels. In plants, chlorophyll don't absorb green frequency light, instead reflecting it and giving leafs their familiar color. But, whereas solar panels produce electricity, the photosynthesis process in plants produces sugar, which can be used directly by our bodies.
  
• Dryads are creatures in Greek myth, also known as tree nymphs.

Story from:
Leaf-like sea slug feeds on light
PNAS journal article: Horizontal gene transfer of the algal nuclear gene psbO to the photosynthetic sea slug Elysia chlorotica
Picture credit: http://www.presidiacreative.com/23-spectacular-examples-of-digital-art-by-artemis-kolakis/

"Reinventing Humanity"

Neil Tyson mentioned in a recent talk that the main obstacle between academia and the public is a lack of good soundbites: short, quotable phrases that are easy to remember and easy to retell. For example: "Supernova, the biggest explosions in the cosmos!"

The shortest bits are catch-phrases that has great meme potential. People in marketing and propaganda know the power of these catch-phrases: "Yes we can", "Can you hear me now?". I propose "Reinventing humanity" for transhumanism. You can put that on a pin, on a sticker, on a poster. It's unique. When you google it, you'll find this article by Kurzweil. Perfect 10-second soundbite.

Now we need a slightly longer explanation that will help people understand the concept. A sentence or two, no longer than that, leading into a 5 minute conversation. Instead of a description, I would ask a question: "If you had the power to redesign and remake human beings, what would you change? How would you make us better?" This question will empower the imagination of the listener, and it provides a great segue into examples of medical and technical advances. (I hope you have a few of these ready! If not, keep following my blog :) Show them why reinventing humanity is not hypothetical, and why the answer is important to us now.

If you still have their attention, you can bring up the more abstract, yet more important aspects of transhumanism. Why "reinventing humanity" instead of "reinventing human"? Our experiences, our lives, are not limited to the physical body; changes ripple outward and reshape our society and culture. How will technology change the way you live? What would the world be like if we can stop aging, if we can modify our genes, if we can record everything we see and hear, if we can enhance our minds and bodies for a price, if we can transfer our minds into other bodies and other forms, if we can alter our moods at the press of a button? These what-ifs show why transhumanism requires more than science and technology, and points out the great demand it has for humanities research too: sociology, psychology, philosophy, ethics, economics. Hours of discussion can follow.

So next time you speak to someone about transhumanism, just remember:

"It's about reinventing humanity."