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Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines

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Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by GabbaWasAnInsideJob   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 5:29 am

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In book 2 of SOS (shadow of saganami series) Albrecht Detweiler is having a conversation in which he is talking about various genetic bloodlines and he says “or, for that matter, Harrington, although, given her pedigree on her father's side, I suppose she's not actually a normal herself, wherever her loyalties might lie.”
Now I know she has the Myerdahl genetics but I was curious what she might have gained from her mother. I was curious what type of genetic engineering that Beowulf might consider allowing in their own offspring. Obviously not any mods that create a "super-human" but what about things that made made you more intelligent, more resistant to disease, longevity, etc.
any thoughts?
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by Duckk   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 8:10 am

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The Beowulf Code strictly prohibits genetic tinkering except to fix existing issues.
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Shields at 50%, taunting at 100%! - Tom Pope
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by cthia   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 8:17 am

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Duckk wrote:The Beowulf Code strictly prohibits genetic tinkering except to fix existing issues.

Below average level IQ could be considered an existing issue. Look at cthia, says my wife. :lol:

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by Duckk   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 8:23 am

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Also check out runsforcelery's post here:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5546&p=138597
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Shields at 50%, taunting at 100%! - Tom Pope
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by JohnRoth   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 10:20 am

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I suspect you may (or may not) see some changes to the Beowulf Code in the second series -- if there is one. David said in a recent Baen podcast that there are things he would change in some aspects of the background given changes in the over 25 years since he started on the project, and genetics is one of them. A time gap of 20 to 30 years in Honorverse time between series is sufficient to digest some of the lessons learned from the cleanup on Mesa (however that is going to be done or turn out) and debate at least some of the issues that brings up.

As far as genetic engineering goes, though, there is one major elephant in the room: the presence of genetic mods that can be inherited in toto, regardless of the number of generations or the way people without those mods have married into the line and contributed material outside of the bounds of the modifications. We've seen several versions of those already: Honor Harrington's Meyerdhal II modifications, Elisabeth III's Winton modifications, Yana Trhwhatever's super soldier modifications and the generic modifications needed to handle environmental challenges on Greyson and Mesa. The latter, though, may not be "locked." Although RFC did, I'm not including Jeremy X in that mix; the genetic slave lines are, as far as I know, synthesized from scratch according to a desired template for each batch, so there's no need for the 'locking' mechanism.
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by pnakasone   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 10:47 am

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As I understand the Beowulf code is that you can not make radical changes that would put someone out side human norms in abilities.

I may be wrong but the gene mods mentioned predate the Beowulf code. So any established mods that predate the code are considered legal.
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by tonyz   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 5:28 pm

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I'm guessing that given the amount of modification (e.g., elimination of undesirable characteristics) that Beowulf is prepared to tolerate, even if they are deliberately refusing to create Homo superior, that the average Beowulfer, after centuries of small improvements and removal of gross deformities, probably has a genetic endowment considerably superior to people on 21st-century Earth.

Nobody wears glasses. Nobody comes down with diabetes or Alzheimer's. Nobody thinks twice about any of these things.
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Re: Beowulf geneering their own bloodlines
Post by Duckk   » Fri Nov 27, 2015 6:02 pm

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You don't hear about those kinds of issues because the Honorverse has long understood how to treat them without genetic modification. Medical nanotech can fix a lot of issues, and there are lots of other non-invasive treatments.
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