biology & war

I just wrote a sci-fi novel. A story placed in a fictional universe, since it felt way far off to write about it in any other, more realistic way. And then suddenly, a few days ago, my imaginary storyline could fit perfectly into the morning paper. What just happened?

On Wednesday, July 15th, 2026, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that it is now mandatory for everyone aged 30 and older who serves in the American armed forces to test their testosterone levels every year. Younger service members have the option to get tested too. The rationale is to boost health and to ensure America has a strong and powerful military.

Testosterone is a vital hormone that drives male physical traits like muscle, bone and hair growth, but it also fuels sex drive and regulates mood and energy. Time Magazine writes: "Low testosterone is a common feature of Operator Syndrome, a medical phenomenon characterizing the unique stresses of being in the military, which doctors are now seeking to understand." Screening testosterone is, on paper, an efficient way to improve warfare and build a high-performing army where humans can keep executing complex tasks under enormous mental and physical stress.

There are many health benefits to well-regulated testosterone, which is of no surprise. All human bodies thrive in balance and harmony. However, when a hormone is proposed as a way to improve efficiency for armed conflicts, we seem to have moved far beyond that harmony. There are also researchers who suggest that testosterone administration in men reduces generosity, which makes the idea of boosting it even more complex and frightening (see Testosterone reduces generosity through cortical and subcortical mechanisms). On the flip side of the same coin sits the so-called "warrior gene," MAOA, which has earned that nickname because it has been linked to aggression in observational and survey-based studies, with a landmark experiment finding that aggression increased with provocation, especially among people carrying its low-activity variant (see Monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) predicts behavioral aggression following provocation). Two very different biological levers, both pointing at the same unsettling question: how directly can we dial human aggression up or down?

So, back to my little novel, "In The Corner Of The Eye" — how does it relate to Hegseth and the new mandatory hormone screenings? In my imagined world, I dreamed up a place where scientists are removing aggression from humans by genetically modifying their DNA. Rather than boosting testosterone for warfare, my novel plays with the idea of cutting out the very specific gene that motivates a human being to kill another human being.

In a game of scientific play, Hegseth wins over me. I am, among many other things, a writer who produces stories from my home office. He works at the Department of War. Still, our works cross and our worlds relate. And in this crossing, where sci-fi becomes real, there is also massive potential to keep imagining. To be wild and free!