Ask A Science Blogger

dice.jpgQ: Which parts of the human body could you design better?

A: I would redesign the human appetite to prefer food high in fiber and vitamins rather than our well-evolved craving for sugar and fat. The consequences of this vestigial appetite include our current unsustainable model of industrial agriculture, our unhealthy corn-based diet, not to mention our systematic overfishing (i.e., overeating) of seafood species after seafood species.

The redesign is particularly applicable in the U.S. and other heartily fed countries, where we feast on fat and sugar under the antiquated premonition that famine will someday follow. It never does. (For nations still largely affected by hunger, the redesigned appetite would be decidedly less useful.) Three out of five Americans are now overweight and one in five is obese, which has the obvious tolls on healthcare, societal productivity, as well as natural resources. Indeed, our taste buds tingling for fat and sugar is one baseline that has not shifted, and should.

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I'd tinker with reproduction. The appetite is a really good choice, but I see its consequences as having more impact on the individual than on the globe. But changing the reproductive system, to one that ultimately resulted in fewer people, might ultimately have far more beneficial consequences for our world.

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