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"Probably the next step will be the ability for prospective parents to select out undesirable genes from their offspring. There's no need to wait around for a plague do that nasty job for us. Then, on average, we'll all be healthier. Seems desirable."

Take it a step further to the reversal of the aging process. Would we not become Homo sapiens sapiens immortalis?

"The man-machine stuff is mostly nonsense. I can see some limited use for specialized prosthetics. But nothing that anyone would consider a new species."

Cochlear implants are already being used to assist hearing. Artificial limbs, although crude, already exist. Artificial eyesight is on the horizon. What if we could have non-biological brain implants for augmented memory?

Replace just one neuron with a computer circuit. Is the person still human? Of course. Then replace 2, 100, 1,000,000 and more neurons with circuits. At what point does a person go from being human to being something else?

Take it even further. Replace all of a persons frail biological parts with non-biological parts? Is that person still "human"? What does it even mean to be "human"?