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Kelly C Smith asked:
Obviously, there are lots of stories about genetic enhancement and colonization in isolation, but I am interested in works that explore situations where the genetic enhancements are designed specifically for colonization. For example, human colonists might be altered to be able to survive in low oxygen environments or to consume significantly less food. One idea I am toying with is that this tends to break down the standard distinction in the ethics literature between genetic enhancement and genetic therapy. Often people will say therapy to “fix a defect” is fine (presumably because it’s necessary for basic living), but that enhancement to give people new capacities is not (presumably because it’s not necessary to live a decent life). But if we accept the need for a colony on a hostile world, then engineering in new human capacities might be necessary for even basic life in that context.