Could Mars be partially terraformed, then Marsform humans to live with the results?

[potoole]

None. Yet.
I suspect that artificial organisms tailor-made to fit the environment will become commonplace in a few centuries. Or another way of looking at it, robots will likely be constructed partly or wholly from organic materials, allowing them to have the capability of self-repair and other advantages.

This might seem to be a thread hijack to some, but in fact it is the opposite; I'm trying to address the question in the original post. Will we part-terraform Mars, then redesign humans to live on the result? I think it is quite likely that we will; either that, or we'll design some other, non-human citizens who will live there in our place.

Very interesting, thank you.

[Jens]

This might seem to be a thread hijack to some, but in fact it is the opposite; I'm trying to address the question in the original post. Will we part-terraform Mars, then redesign humans to live on the result? I think it is quite likely that we will; either that, or we'll design some other, non-human citizens who will live there in our place.

What I find hard to understand is, how do you alter humans to be able to survive on Mars? I don't think that Mars, even partly terraformed, would be friendly to biological organisms as we know them. You simply cannot bioengineer humans to use carbon dioxide instead of oxygen. We might be able to make some organism capable of living in such an environment, but it wouldn't be anything remotely human. Maybe a virus or something along those lines. I'm certain we could bioengineer people to be able to deal with more or less gravity to some extent, but if you get to altering the fundamental biology, which I think is what we are talking about, then I don't see how it works. What exactly is meant by "Marsform"?

[eburacum45]

On a part-terraformed Mars the partial pressure of oxygen could be as high as Earth's, or higher; but there would probably still be considerable amounts of CO2 about, reaching beyond toxic levels. The low N2 level might not be such a problem, except for agriculture. The challenge for future pantropists would not be to produce an anerobic human, but a strain of humanity tolerant of raised CO2 levels that would kill you or me.

[neilzero]

Yes we will soon genetically alter humans = possibly some secret experiments are in progress. Only minor changes will be without bad side effects.
If we change Mars to 50% oxygen at 0.2 bar, possibly a few humans can remain conscious for 20 minutes breathing that air. A few whiffs of 99% oxygen may keep them conscious a few more minites. That likely is about the limit without genetic changes with big disadvantages. A few humans have survived inside the Arctic Circle for 1000 plus years. If we warm Mars so it is usually Arctic winter temperature, then some people can work outside for 20 minutes, longer with electric socks and electric underware. The radiation will produce shorter life expectancy and more health problems, but they likely can produce children before they die, if they limit outdoor exposure to about one hour per day. The 0.38 gravity will likely mean they cannot return to Earth except as a cripple, but will be ok on Mars with a good exersize routeen. Toxic material in the soil will likely require lots more caution than Earth dirt. I'm guessing. Neil

[noncryptic]

Terraforming takes eons to complete, so there'd be plenty of time to figure out bioengineering.