Gene-editing Technology

[dragoner]

http://www.nature.com/news/crispr-the-disruptor-1.17673

IMTU, I have often considered that people all are "geneered" to one extent or another, so that common ailments, or even cancer, aren't an issue. Also things like common nearsightedness, childhood leukemia, etc.; have also been eliminated.

 

[Rikki Tikki Traveller]

I tie that to the development of the Panacea drug (TL8-9) and it is one of the BIG draws for an expanding civilization to offer the natives.

One way that I like to play that in game terms is to use 5 as the average for most pre-Stellar human characteristics. Only now (TL7-8) are we starting to clean up our gene pool and take advantage of what the body/mind is really capable of.

 

[dragoner]

I have almost never had player's choose to be from a low tech world (only once iirc), so if their characteristics wind up a little higher, no big deal. It really wasn't much of difference until Mongoose expanded the stat DM's, which is still manageable. Though I have to think that where ever colonies were founded, even if their tech fell, they still would be a remnant of these "gene fixed" populations, so that a direct comparison to us is disconnected. It also goes a bit of away to explaining why things such as quarantines aren't a standard procedure as ships go from world to world.