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Published online 22 August 2006 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news060821-7
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The modern make-over
Scientists and philosophers gathered in Helsinki last week for TransVision, a conference about 'enhancing' humans. Kerri Smith talks to Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford, UK, about what's on the table.
What kinds of human enhancement are we capable of now?
There's the obvious example of performance-enhancing drugs for sport, such as anabolic steroids and erythropoietin. We have alertness and wakefulness enhancers — modafinil, caffeine — that can at least temporarily reduce the need for sleep, although you might be wary of permanently reducing the amount of sleep you get.
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