Augment

Augment is a term used to describe a group of genetically engineered Humans created by DNA resequencing in the late 20th century, a group of Klingons and other genetically engineered beings. Those from the 20th century were also called supermen, the Augments were designed to be stronger, faster, and more intelligent than a normal Human being; even their resistance to energy weapons was improved, as it took multiple shots with a phase pistol to stun one. (ENT: "Borderland")

The Eugenics Wars
Early work on the genetically-engineered that would eventually become known as Augments was done by Doctor Sarina Kaur and other scientists at Project Chrysalis in the 1970s. The Chrysalis project was destroyed by Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. (Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars novels)

These Augments were five times stronger than the average person, their lung efficiency was 50 percent better than normal, and their intelligence was double that of normal Humans. They, however, were aggressive and arrogant-- one of the scientists behind their creation said that "superior ability breeds superior ambition." Doctor Arik Soong would later theorize that a defect in the genomes of the Augments created a malformation in the base-pair sequences that regulate the neurotransmitter levels in their brains, causing them to be highly prone to aggression and violent behavior. (ENT: "The Augments")

In 1993, the Augments seized power in over 40 nations on Earth, leading to the conflict known to them as the Great Wars, as they battled amongst each other and with "normal" Humans. The Augments were mostly horrible despots, treating their subjects like slaves. (TOS: "Space Seed")

They were finally overthrown in 1996; the last to be deposed was Khan Noonien Singh. After the end of the war some eighty Augments were unaccounted for, including Khan. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) Earth authorities collected the remaining Augment embryos and placed them into storage; by the 2130s they were stored on the Starfleet facility Cold Station 12. (ENT: "Cold Station 12")

As a result of the Wars, genetic engineering was banned on Earth; the first human clone, Stavos Keniclius was exiled from the planet. Other scientists that had worked with the augments fled as well, some of these settled on the world Hera and founded a society designed to continue Khan's dream. (TAS: "The Infinite Vulcan"; TNG novel: Infiltrator)

Soong's Augments
In the 2130s, Arik Soong, senior medical director of Cold Station 12, managed to steal several Augment embryos from the facility, which he took to the Trialas system, where he raised the resulting children as his own. A decade later he was captured by Earth forces, but refused to disclose what had happened to the embyros. (ENT: "Cold Station 12")

In May 2154 the answer to this puzzle was discovered when Soong's Augments, led by Malik, seized control of a Klingon bird-of-prey, jettisoning its crew into space. (ENT: "Borderland") The Klingons recovered these bodies, and discovering the Human DNA on them, threatened war. The Enterprise was launched to the Borderland to find these Augments and bring them back to Earth, and Arik Soong was recruited to assist the ship in doing so.

Unfortunately, Soong managed to escape on Verex III and rejoin his Augments, who then planned to use their bird-of-prey to "liberate" the thousands of other embryos on Cold Station 12. (ENT: "Borderland") All of these Augments were killed when Malik destroyed their bird-of-prey to avoid capture. Soong, who "defected" to Enterprise, decided afterwards to switch his focus to cybernetics. (ENT: "The Augments")

See also: The Augment Crisis

Klingon Augments
After the Augment crisis, the Klingons attempted to create their own augments to combat the Humans, believing that Humans would place Augments on their ships and put the Klingons at a severe disadvantage. They were able to retrieve multiple embryos left over in the debris of the Augment Bird-of-Prey and implemented their DNA in certain Klingons. However, due to the aggressiveness of Augment DNA, the cranial ridges started to dissolve and the Klingon Augments completely lacked ridges on their foreheads.

These subjects did gain increased strength and intelligence, but they died when their neural pathways degraded. Unfortunately, one of the subjects was suffering from Levodian flu, which was modified by the Augment genes to become a deadly, airborne plague that spread throughout the Empire. An early symptom of this plague caused victims to lose the ridges on their foreheads and to look more Human. Other symptoms included irregular heartbeat, chest pain, and tingling in the cranial ridges.

A cure was eventually created which halted the virus in the first stage, retaining the changes in appearance but with no enhanced strength, speed, or endurance. This left millions of Klingons without their ridges, an alteration that was even passed on to their children, though it was hoped that one day gene therapy would be developed to reverse the effects. These altered Klingons became known as QuchHa'. (ENT: "Affliction", "Divergence"; DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations"; TOS et. al.; Vanguard novel: Summon the Thunder)
 * The Klingon augment situation was used to explain why Klingons in Star Trek: The Original Series had flat foreheads.

The Return of Khan
The fate of Khan and his Augments remained unknown until 2267, when the NCC-1701 Enterprise discovered the Botany Bay, a DY-100 class sleeper ship. Aboard the ship was Khan and 71 of his fellow Augments (12 had died due to sleeper unit failure in the interim). At first the Enterprise crew was unaware of the true identity of Khan, but when it was discovered, Khan attempted to take the ship, though he ultimately failed.

Enterprise commanding officer James T. Kirk generously offered Khan and his followers voluntary exile to the uninhabited Class M planet Ceti Alpha V, and Khan accepted. (TOS: "Space Seed") Unfortunately, six months later the nearby planet Ceti Alpha VI exploded, causing the orbit of Ceti Alpha V to shift, which decimated the planet's environment. The dominant remaining life form was the Ceti eel, which claimed many of Khan's followers.

In 2285, Khan seized control of the USS Reliant, intending to use it to destroy Kirk in revenge for what had happened to him and his people. In the end, Khan died when Reliant was destroyed by the detonation of the Genesis Device after a heated battle in the Mutara Nebula.

Khan was presumably the last of the Augments from the Eugenics Wars. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

Augments and the Federation
Earth's restrictions on genetic modification eventually spread to the Federation, however there were a few colonies that performed the necessary operations illegally. This included operations that did not bestow the full 'gifts' of augmentation but rather specific aspects such as increased intelligence or improved motor skills. Ethan Locken and Dr. Julian Bashir were two such augments in the 24th century. (DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" and novel: Abyss)

In the 23rd century, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was sent to evaluate the genetically-engineered [[Paragon colony for possible Federation membership. (Star Trek: The Eugenics Wars novels)

There was also a group of humans, on the planet Hera, who ignored the Federation law and routinely practiced genetic modification to a similar degree of the augmentation in the Eugenics Wars. This group called themselves Herans and believed that they were superior to "Old Humans." They planned to use a genetically engineered virus that would have converted all new born children into augments, however, they faced a human renegade faction on their homeworld who resisted their attempts. (TNG novel: Infiltrator)

Unsanctioned augmentation experiments were also performed on some of the children of Enclave J-12, including Cody Sinclair.

Known Augments

 * See: Augments