If I were to tell you that for many years now, governments around the world have been experimenting with and implementing super soldier programs, would you dismiss that claim out of hand? Or would you take the time to search out this matter for yourself?
Current super soldier programs around the world aim to give their soldiers some of the abilities of what Scripture calls the Might Men of Renown: super strength and abilities that were never meant to reside in humans.
What things are the major nations involved doing? One nation to look at is China. China’s super soldier development involves the biological engineering of members of their military. Due to DNA manipulation, it’s now possible for super soldiers who are immune to disease to be created and to eliminate all emotion from the soldiers.
These bionic men would be capable of fighting all the time. They would be able to run very quickly, they wouldn’t need sleep, and would need to eat and drink very little. These augmented soldiers, dubbed “homo robocopus” could also have their DNA altered to give them enhanced strength.
China has made huge breakthroughs in the area of gene modification. They have successfully corrected genetic mutations in human embryos, giving birth to the possibility of much greater gene-editing than before. There are worries that China might use this knowledge to create genetically enhanced soldiers with physical and mental capabilities hardwired into them as embryos.
These fears aren’t unfounded. Chinese scientists have revealed hyper muscular test-tube dogs were successfully bred in a laboratory. They have two times the muscle mass of a normal one, with considerable speed and strength advantage. Once the same can be done with human genes, weaponized soldiers could be created too. Additionally, in Hong Kong, bionic eyes are being developed which give users infrared and night vision.
Super soldiers
Recently, France gave the go-ahead for augmented soldiers. Some fear the super soldiers could be the new norm in the near future. While France claims it will abide by humanitarian law, French armed forces minister Florence Parly warned, “We have to be clear, not everyone has the same scruples as us and we have to prepare ourselves for such a future”. Some of the technology in progress to create “homo robocopus” in France includes brain chips to enhance soldiers’ brain power.
It should surprise no-one that the USA is also developing super soldier technology. The USA has identified genome editing as a potential threat, especially from non-Western countries that don’t operate within regulatory or ethical boundaries. The Pentagon itself invested heavily into gene modification, although not for enhancement of soldiers.
The US used performance enhancing drugs in war in the Vietnam War. Many US soldiers were under heavy influence of stimulants like amphetamine, which helped them stay alert. Using drugs to create super soldiers goes well beyond that. Drugs could help soldiers break natural limits effortlessly.
According to Ben Chitty, senior project manager for biomedical, human performance and canine portfolios in the Science and Technology office of the US Special Operations Command, some of the abilities that are being explored at the moment are those humans aren’t biologically adapted to such as breathing in high altitudes and even underwater.
It’s quite possible other global powers are currently perusing options along these lines as well, albeit unreported.
The US military has already invested over $65 million USD in developing software that can be uploaded to the human brain that won’t only heighten the senses of the soldier, but could make them highly resistant to blindness and paralysis.
Implants have been touted as possessing great potential in the field of medicine, with armies already trying to decipher how they can be used to fight mental and physical illnesses on the battlefield.
In 2013, Duke University in North Carolina reported that they had managed to make lab rats communicate telepathically, using implants inserted into their primary motor cortex. On the battlefield, abilities like telepathic interaction would mean combatants could liaise with each other more quickly and over longer distances.
Besides technological superiority on the battlefield, why are the governments of the world bothering with gene-altering technologies, considering how potentially dangerous they are?
Could it be because the governments of the world align themselves with the enemy of mankind, Satan? If so, destroying the human genome and replacing it with a superior hybrid race in its place is one very powerful way for those who seek the destruction of humanity to make war on God’s people; those made in His image and likeness, whom the fallen ones hate with an undying passion. Perhaps these same super soldiers will be used when Antichrist comes on the scene.
Regardless, there are unforeseen consequences that could arise from attempting to conduct such experiments on humans. The technique could cause extensive mutations and genetic damage. Genetic damage can be difficult to discover through standard DNA tests.
The gene-editing technique deletes thousands of DNA bases. Some deletions can silence genes that are supposed to be active, and activate some genes that should be turned off.
Nevertheless, the rise of the super soldier seems inevitable. The world of science and technology is pushing the limits, and in doing so destroying people who are God’s image bearers and turning them into things which cannot and will not be redeemable.
Katelin Staples is from Gladstone, Queensland. By day Katelin is employed as a proofreader. Katelin has a passion for discovering the deep things of God and how they affect the world around us.