According to Patrick Stewart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU), a reporter once told Gene Roddenberry that having a bald captain wasn't believable. By the 24th century they will have cured baldness. Roddenberry's responded that, by the 24th century, no one will care.
I also would have accepted the nerdier answer, which is that in the ST universe, humanity went through a whole genetic engineering craze (in the '90s!) that resulted in Khan and a lot of other madness. So we kind of avoided it after that, and just went au naturel with our gene pool.
The franchise actually did make a few attempts to circle back on this topic, usually as a convenient way of explaining why humans in the 24th century aren't all perfectly fit, hyperintelligent, post-Singularity badasses. Genetic engineering had become a taboo. This was highlighted in a DS9 episode, where Julian Bashir was hiding the fact that his parents GE'd his intelligence, coordination, etc. It was illegal, and he was worried he'd be kicked out of Starfleet.
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According to Patrick Stewart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU), a reporter once told Gene Roddenberry that having a bald captain wasn't believable. By the 24th century they will have cured baldness. Roddenberry's responded that, by the 24th century, no one will care.
Love that response.
I also would have accepted the nerdier answer, which is that in the ST universe, humanity went through a whole genetic engineering craze (in the '90s!) that resulted in Khan and a lot of other madness. So we kind of avoided it after that, and just went au naturel with our gene pool.
The franchise actually did make a few attempts to circle back on this topic, usually as a convenient way of explaining why humans in the 24th century aren't all perfectly fit, hyperintelligent, post-Singularity badasses. Genetic engineering had become a taboo. This was highlighted in a DS9 episode, where Julian Bashir was hiding the fact that his parents GE'd his intelligence, coordination, etc. It was illegal, and he was worried he'd be kicked out of Starfleet.