multifaceted humans

[Agustus]

Multifaceted humans is already a reality in many senses. However, it is interesting that research has not been down to merge skin celles with plant cells in function. This would elimenate the need for food and further reduce waste emitted if humans or animals became self contained units in their evironments.

This is a cooky idea but it has already been purported by the scifi channel in several movies. I feel it is one of the comming steps in human evolution. What would the future economy and infrastructure be like in that world? That is my question.

 

[Idle Mind]

I think we have to look at feasibility before we start asking questions like that. There are several problems that I can think of off hand with making humans photosynthetic. One, our outer skin is composed of several layers of dead cells. This protects against various things such as fluctuations of osmotic pressure in the cells when exposed to water that is not isotonic to the cells for extended periods, and it provides a tough outer layer that prevents damage and the subsequent infection by the opportunistic pathogens. This layer, however, will also block out a significant amount of sunlight, making photosynthesis ineffective.

The second problem that I see offhand, ignoring the first problem, would be that the surface area of humans is too small for photosynthesis to provide enough energy for us to be self-sufficient. Plants have a huge surface area with which to collect sunlight.

This is not a biologically practical idea, so I wouldn't worry about future economic shifts in the wake of something like this.