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Or is this privilege reserved to Space Marines?

Any upper elites can get basically anything. Inquisitors are one good example. As are high lords and their servants. Planetary Governors have bionics and what not. Or do you mean like Progentitor glands and Black Carapaces? Because yeah, that is only for the Astartes. It is literal Bio-heresy to attempt to duplicate the Astartes on a non-astartes. Which is why almost half the people in this hobby started foaming at the mouth when Cawl did the Primaris Lore break.

Well, not all Planetary Governors are created equal.

Someone in charge of a Hiveworld, with all it can produce, will be orders of magnitude more important and wealthier than someone overseeing an Agri-World. Yet, someone who is Governor of a Medieval World, specifically one used as a recruitment planet for Astartes may even eclipse a Hiveworld, simply because of the hardiness of their stock, and the perks that can bring.

In short, the Imperium’s resources simply aren’t evenly distributed. If your local system has multiple inhabited planets, and of vary classes, you can likely get pretty much whatever you can afford to pay for.

But, if you’re a lone inhabited planet? Not so much.

Then there are alliances and pacts etc. If you a congenial host for Ad Mech, Sororitas, The Ecclesiarchy, Astartes etc? All different opportunities.

Some may involve some form of genetic modification. Some might have access to clone organs to see them live longer lives.

On Necromunda (the most fleshed out of Hiveworld), the entirety of House Goliath are genewrought. Whilst some are natborn, their bloodline is ultimately a genetic construct by House Escher and House Van Saar. So it is theoretically possible some Noble Families have been tinkered with as well, to promote a fashion etc.

The main thing to understand really, is that the Imperium is not a cohesive whole. It’s myriad and sundry fiefdoms, nominally ruled from Terra.

Best bit about being a Planetary Governor? Provided you keep up your tithe, you’re almost entirely left be.

-Guardsman- wrote:
Or is this privilege reserved to Space Marines?

SPACE MARINE enhancements is reserved for Marines and only Marines, but other, oiften cruder enhancements, are readily avaliable. the Upper class rarely does it to themselves (the human form being sacred and all) but you often hear of powerful nobles having genebulked bodyguards etc

You have genetically modified gangers and pit fighters so yes the upper classes do have access to genetic enhancements if the want them

I always assumed genetic tinkering is a component of juvenat treatments (which nobles def. have access to).

While 40k is by no means supposed to be realistic, we do know that damage to DNA and specifically the shortening of the ends of each strand (the telomeres) contributes to the body breaking down from age. Presumably to extend someone's life by centuries you're going to have to fix that, you can't just use cyber augmentation and leave the remaining flesh to dissolve away.

 ScarletRose wrote:
Presumably to extend someone's life by centuries you're going to have to fix that, you can't just use cyber augmentation and leave the remaining flesh to dissolve away.

Tell that to the Mechanicus and Iron Hands.

Inquisitor Lord Hector Rex is, unless they changed it, a genetically enhanced posthuman. Just not on the level of a Space Marine.

I have always assumed that Rejuvenat treaments are genetic in nature. They do something to reverse or stall DNA breakdown.

Being part of the upper class in the imperium grants you access to basically anything, either legally trhough sheer wealth or illegally through the networks of friends and connections you have.

Whats his name from Eisenhorn made himself a Cyborg? or was placed into a cyborg body? Or made himself an AI? I can't remember who it was or what the name was. GLAW or Glau?

You mean Inquisitor Ravenor? He was the one placed in a mobile lifesupport pod, and he operates psychically through his retinue. He's essentially a floating Dreadnought sarcophagus.

No, Pontius Glaw

Ah, ok. I remember the name now that you say it, but not really the circumstances. It's been a while since I read the original trilogy. Probably almost since they came out (I know I reread them all once), though they are good enough I keep meaning to reread them again sometime.

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
Whats his name from Eisenhorn made himself a Cyborg? or was placed into a cyborg body? Or made himself an AI? I can't remember who it was or what the name was. GLAW or Glau?

Pontius Glaw used sorcery to place his soul in a crystal which was then affixed to a robotic body he could control. Not the same deal.

He spent his entire family's wealth achieving that singular goal. So I'd say it's "available to the upper classes" as the OP asked.

Nobility absolutely has access to gene enhancements. There's a limit though, aside from the wealth limits of a particular nobility. The limitations is basicly the arbites, inquisiton and ecclesiarchy. Apart from warp stuff and sorcery I think the biggest hurdle is the ecclesiarchy. The human form is considered sacred in 40k. Mutations and such are abhorred. Yeah you have the means to operate a birdbeak instead of a mouth but you'll be shunned by all and possibly attract the arbites (or even the inquisitions attention) because of it. increasing strength, toughness or prolonging your lifespan is all A-ok.

"Gene enhancements" is such a vague word.

If you're talking about eugenics/designer babies - this seems to be very rare/almost unheard of. There's a segment of the Sororitas (the Orders Famulous) who take the time to practice eugenics on Imperial nobility, to make sure that the best and brightest are actually running the show, but they seem to stop short of actually gene-modifying babies. That said, cloning for reproductive purposes does happen in places (Mechanicus, etc) so it's possible there may be some limited genetic modification going on there (probably to minimize diseases and mutations), but not going full transhumanist with it.

So for the rest of it, we're talking about modifications to the human body post-birth, that are *not* passed on to the next generation. This seems to be vastly more common. Going off the rpg books here, it seems that cybernetic enhancement accounts for the vast majority of this (since the Mechanicus likes their robot parts, and they're who an Imperial noble would talk to about getting any of this done), but that vat-grown enhanced muscle tissue that's then implanted into people to make them stronger is decently common, and available. There's also fluff about Stormtroopers (Tempestus Scions, for the younger players) having access to limited genetic/biological modification to enhance their physical capabilities, but again, no indication this is passed on to the next generation.

It's almost a lock that the SM's are into gene modification, due to their vat grown slaves. It would make the most sense to vat grow a strong and hearty cenobyte, and the least sense to grow a sickly anemic one with albinism. So they get to do it. The High elites do it to ensure their capitol investments and empires continue to grow, for the same exact reason. Unfortunatly it is relatively cannon that elite worlds also often practice inbreeding, thus ruining that idea, so it depends on which author you are reading....

Well, if you count space marines as genetically modified, and I'm not sure they really are as they have a lot of implants that alter than physically but start as 'normal' humans, often shaped by natrual selection on hellish worlds, then you have to count the 'gland warriors" too.

https://monster.fandom.com/wiki/Gland_Warrior

The gland warriors seem to be the budget lite version of space marines, beginning as baseline humans that are made into more effective combatants thru implanting biologically engineered enhancement organisms into their bodies.

I'm sure that a lot of the decadent aristocracy seeks this sort of thing out or at least is open to an offer of them, but it's likely the vast majority of them are peddled by those seeking to spread chaos taint thru the imperium's nobility and various agencies are watching out for them vehemently.

Some are likely sold covertly, the salesmen claiming that 'this elixir" will make you smarter, tougher, more capable, etc, while not mentioning it's a retro viral agent that is laced with a virus that will change your dna and likely has some unadvertised side effects.

Ironically the one genetic alteration treatment for humans that is purely, it seems, beneficial and has no bad effects is offered by the Tau to cure victims of genestealer infection. I absolutely know i read somewhere the tau had learned of genestealer infection in their human 'allies' and developed a genetic treatment that essentially deleted the genestealer genetic alteration.

Are Ogryns grown by any stretch of the imagination or is it a fluke accident? Can you "make" Bullgryns?

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
Are Ogryns grown by any stretch of the imagination or is it a fluke accident? Can you "make" Bullgryns?

Ogryns are a subspecies of humanity. They may have been created via genetic tampering during the Dark Age of Technology, but they more Ogryns are made by Ogryns doing what you'd expect. Same thing with Ratlings.

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
He spent his entire family's wealth achieving that singular goal. So I'd say it's "available to the upper classes" as the OP asked.

Sure, but it's not actually genetic enhancement.

Hecaton wrote:

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
Are Ogryns grown by any stretch of the imagination or is it a fluke accident? Can you "make" Bullgryns?

Ogryns are a subspecies of humanity. They may have been created via genetic tampering during the Dark Age of Technology, but they more Ogryns are made by Ogryns doing what you'd expect. Same thing with Ratlings.

Huh, I always thought it was due to the gravity on their home planet? Has the fluff changed of late? (I mean what fluff hasn't been retconned these days?)

On ogryns, i've heard stories that they were humans who were stranded on harsh, high g worlds during the DAOT and had to evolve to survive, and that in some chaos accelerated their evolution.

Others claim they and squats were genetically modified humans created during the daot along with navigators.

No, Squats were an actual mega civilization, that were all of the dwarven tropes in a "space race". They were master craftspeople, they built the best titan patterns, they made the best weapons etc. They had a whole world that was destroyed by Chaos. So they are pretty much extinct now. I think there is one in Necromunda, but even he is ancient.


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 Void__Dragon wrote:

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
He spent his entire family's wealth achieving that singular goal. So I'd say it's "available to the upper classes" as the OP asked.

Sure, but it's not actually genetic enhancement.

Point conceded. I'm merely pointing out that with enough power and influence it's possible to do literally anything in the 40k universe. He even escaped the notice of the Holy Inquisition for centuries.