Re: [GZG] Re: Gzg-l Digest, Vol 12, Issue 42

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http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lOne of the
difficulties in creating the "super trooper" is the length of time it
takes.

If you want to modify something at a genetic level you have to start
from scratch. Unless you want your modifications to affect your troopers
like a magic potion.

All the stories of super genetic troopers I have read about it takes a
long time to create the body. It takes years to grow a genetically
modified body to adult size from one cell. The you have to spend ages
training the troops (which could be the time their bodies are growing)
how to fight.

If you don't create the genetic material from scratch and clone it then
what do you do? Abduct human children and subject them to surgical and
genetic modification procedures? 

It could take 20 years to create a battalion of genetically engineered
super soldiers. That is a large amount of secret and expensive
investment. A lot of governments don't have that kind of political will.

Then you have moral issues. You are creating a race of slave soldiers
specifically bred to fight in a war. Do they get the rights of other
citizens or are they expendable bio weapons, looked down on because they
are not pure human? If the moral dynamics of human societies in the
future is similar to the present you would get some serious opposition
to a genetic creation program.

It could also be bad for morale for the "normal" troops to have genetic
engineered units being used as the elites.

Compared with getting an adult normal human and giving them some
training and equipment, creating genetically enhanced troopers is an
expensive and long term investment. Longer than a democratically elected
government.

The politics and finances could be harder than the technology.

As for corporations doing this kind of work. Who would they sell the
finished GE troopers to? If they don't sell the technology the
corporation doesn't keep going.

I could imagine quite a good RPG campaign whereby the players are trying
to gather evidence of another government or corporation pursuing illegal
or unethical genetic research, tracking sales of key technology
components, chemicals, location of scientists with the necessary
knowledge. Could be hard work to distinguish between legal organ
replacement and illegal clone creation....Of course those being
investigated might not take too kindly to being spied upon.

John
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: DOCAgren@aol.com 

  Yes, I was talking about Human mods...  Mostly...  :-P

  Yeah a firm based within my soon to be writen up Midgard Herding
uncanon power is Ubique Genetics and I was looking at having them Help
modify vatborn into "supertroopers", on average Stronger, healthy, and
more Dexterous then average human, with a few other abilities built in. 
Of course with all good, does come a few bad..	of course most of these
would only be known in an RPG.

  I did design them with GURPS rules, from GURPS Biotech.

       As for saying all governments would produce "Vat grown
Supertroopers", I have to disagree.  Some governments would have reason
not, be them religous groups opposed to them, to a fear of rebelian by
the Supertroopers against "normals".

       Of course the other use I have found for "Supertroopers" are
Aerospace pilots, gives a good reason why these fighters are manned by
pilots trained also long as they can remember to be pilots.