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Thousands of years ago, human domesticated wolfs and from this domestication came dogs, one of the most varied species on earth. This occurred through simple genetic manipulation and forced evolution. What this makes me wonder is if an alien civilization enslaved humanity, over thousands of years could they somehow genetically manipulate the human race into different breeds, like dogs? The features my alien species want to have choices on in their human breeds are as follows;

  1. Size; some aliens need tall slaves to reach thins while others need short ones for going into tight spaces, like mines.
  2. Muscle mass; Manual labour slaves need to be bulky, while house slaves, sex slaves, and pets need to appear non-threatening.
  3. Appearance; Not in the way humans differ from each other now, but instead in ways such as number of body parts such as limbs(including tails), eyes, ears, etc. For things such as circuses and other jobs that would require extra parts.
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  • $\begingroup$ As it stands, this is too broad. Perhaps you could give us some insight on what you mean by different species? Dogs are actually the same species since most can interbreed, but they have tribes and breeds, which are different. For a very homogeneous species, human skin color variation might be considered within the requirements of your answer, or you might want extreme as differing numbers of eyes or limbs. $\endgroup$
    – Xandar The Zenon
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 1:31
  • $\begingroup$ Um, what are the actual odds that the aliens are close enough to humans to be able to do that kind of thing? Is there any animal in a circus or that you keep as a pet you'd want to do that to? Is that really even necessary to have in your question? I'm talking about #2, so use your deductive reasoning. $\endgroup$
    – Xandar The Zenon
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 1:56
  • $\begingroup$ @XandarTheZenon as much as I hate to point this out, some humans have petty weird fetishes, so I'm sure aliens might as well, but I still see your point. $\endgroup$
    – TrEs-2b
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 2:12
  • $\begingroup$ who says they haven't started that already? $\endgroup$
    – EveryBitHelps
    Commented Aug 12, 2016 at 23:04

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I dont see why not. We've done this with our food (plant and animal) for thousands of years. Cows ("Aurochs" in the past) used to be quite formidable yet through selective breeding weve made them fat and docile. You breed strong people with strong people, smart people with smart people, whatever you want. I dont see why selective breeding suddenly stops working when it comes to humans. We are just another species. The answer to your question can already be seen in the world today. Human society initially developed in isolated pockets and its effects are easily identifiable today, and thats without aggressive selective breeding.

As far breeding extra "parts", I'm not so sure. Those are the result of random mutations rather than inheritable traits as far as I'm aware.

As for how drastically we could be altered, I'm sure there are limits. But even humans have already pondered this question. The idea of breeding supermen, or the opposite, is not a new one. Although this raises another question. Do the aliens need to do this? The ancient world found specific uses for different types of slaves already. Strong people were used on ships, children used for tight spaces, eunuchs kept in houses etc and we've already used people with "extra parts" in circuses and sideshows. Humans have already done these things of which you ask. If we are willing to do these things, why would not an alien species be willing to take it further?

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  • $\begingroup$ Further. We used selective breeding to create the various breeds of dogs, because that was the most efficient way to create workers suited for each role we had. Arguably a interstellar capable race should be able to create "workers" in a much simplified manner (robotics for example, since I doubt their spaceships are powered by row upon row of slaves rowing). $\endgroup$
    – Aron
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 5:48
  • $\begingroup$ Just because they can, doesn't mean they will. $\endgroup$
    – Aron
    Commented Apr 18, 2016 at 5:48

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