Well maybe one-two levels down. I’d say genomics, the use of genetics to make changes to genomes is one level down from genetics. The brain, the most advanced organ in our bodies, is starting to be understood by the use of genomics, because even the complex synapses and neurotransmitters are determined by the genetics of the organism. The fascinating thing about this organ is that if we manage to improve it, everything will snowball into place, for better or for worse.
When we, as a species, produce one member of our species that has had genomics used to improve his/her brain, then that person in turn can work on genetic things that can further improve our brains as well as everything else, like I’ve discussed earlier. As usual, the ethical considerations would need to be taken into account, because many would see this hyperintelligent human as an unfair, unnatural production of intelligence, completely unlike Einstein, Bohr, or Hawking, who were born in the natural sense, but were (most likely) the result of natural mutations that allowed them to be so smart. As per my whole blog this semester, I must comment that this is not yet a true civic issue because the technology to achieve such a thing as neurally a amplifying someone is not yet, to my knowledge, possible.
The brain itself is such a cool organ though that I cannot help but discuss it and the implications of changing it. The changes would be through genetics and genomics, staying within the parameters of this blog, but the brain itself is definitely a separate very interesting topic. The chemicals that are transmitted by the different parts of the brain, as well as the electrical signals between the neurons, are very complicated and determine your body’s limits and strengths and weaknesses because those things are primarily concerned with genetics. The alterations of the brain would be more about eugenics and improvements to the organism than they would be about treating diseases because very few diseases are literally caused by the signals from the brain, more in the actual properties of the body that are flawed. By that I mean that if you are genetically prone to heart disease, it is not a brain function that is sending a chemical to your heart, making it more susceptible, it is your heart’s properties, determined from nature and nurture (a.k.a. genetics) that determines that you are susceptible to heart disease. This is not to say that the negation of adverse health effects cannot be achieved by changing the brain’s actions. Diseases like Parkinson’s, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), and Huntington’s are caused in the brain and could be contained reactively if the brain is studied and changed. Proactively, genetics is the best way to treat all diseases, but as those diseases affect the brain, a reactive approach could be taken to treating them and other neuro-diseases. In the end, the brain is, to me, a very fascinating and large aspect of the very large field of biology, which has its basis in biochemistry and genetics.