Over the past few decades, we have achieved so many wonders that new innovations just don't surprise us like they used to. Remember when the new iPhone used to make people go "Wow!!"? That ain't happening anymore!

I think sci-fi movies and tv shows may be one of the reasons why innovations have lost their wow factor. We see futuristic technologies on screen and just know that someday those could be a reality. And lo and behold, most of the time, that is exactly what happens.

However, once in a blue moon, scientists still manage to do certain things that make you go, "What? How is that even possible?". The recent gene-hacking of human cells to allow for invisibility is one such instance.

It seems like we are really starting to play around with our genetic material and test the boundary of what is possible. As I have said before, we are increasingly going to take the matter or our evolution as a species, in our own hands.

The Power of Invisibility?

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine have managed to give human cells the ability to camouflage. To achieve this, they engineered the human cells to produce reflectin, a protein found in squids.

As we all know, squids are masters of camouflage. So much so that they become invisible to the naked eye. The reflectin in their genes helps them scatter light to create a sense of transparency or iridescence.

So, theoretically, this can be developed further to give the power of invisibility to human beings. If or not it can be scaled is another question. However, this is not what the scientists intend to do (for obvious reasons). They are more interested in learning how this could give rise to new light-scattering materials.

Also, the scientists want to provide a new avenue to other scientists to investigate how the underlying genetic material in living things actually work. It could help them mimic their methodology in their study of other genetic traits.

Even though we won't get to see humans with invisibility powers anytime soon, the latest development makes you realize just how far scientists have come. In the future, I think it will be possible to have any traits you want (that are legal) and get rid of any traits you don't want! Basically, human traits would be commodities.