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by interlocutor 2709 days ago
Yes, highly concerning but not because biological organisms are more complicated, but because biological organisms reproduce. Any "hacking" mistake will reproduce for eternity.
3 comments

Only changes to the gamete cells (sperm and eggs) will move on to the next generation.

You can change the DNA of specific cells. A change in you skin cell's DNA will not propagate to your bone cells. The skin cell has instructions to make a bone cell, but skin cells do not make use of that part of the code.

”The skin cell has instructions to make a bone cell, but skin cells do not make use of that part of the code.”

The scary thing is that it may require only a small change to change that. Muscle cells also have instructions to make bone and do not make use of that code, except when things go wrong as in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibrodysplasia_ossificans_prog...

I thought there were 'host' hacks and 'germ-line' hacks.

Could someone with actual knowledge fill this in? Am I right? Or am I very wrong?

Just biohack it back to normal...