Obviously that's disappointing. I'm surprised there isn't more experimentation with gene splicing in lab animals, just for the fun of it. What would be the result of an octopus with vertibrate genes spliced in? Could it walk on land? Just think of the fun we could have with birds..... birds + pigs ? Photosynthetic people? Nobody would ever starve to death. Hungry maybe. Sluggish perhaps. But never starve. Climate change? Who cares! Just steal some genes from the indigenous life of a similar climate. But that's probably impossible to do anytime soon.

But what about subtler differences between people? Cosmetic: genes for skin type, hairline, cheekbones, eye color, etc. might be readily swappable. That is if scientists can pry themselves away from disease research long enough.

And what about the problem of gene modification in fully grown adults? How likely is that? That would take away ethical concerns, because someone who doesn't like his/her physical traits could change them at will.