How close are we to making animals to order, something like a hexapod salamander? Impossible? Or just no incentive to do so? 

Possibly I was a bit to vague, can we do genetic changes in animals by manipulating their genes to cause them to have things like extra limbs that actually work rather than just stick out at random.  

Functional changes require integration on many levels in different places (cells, tissue, limbs, brain etc.). To do that deliberately from the bottom up is impossible with our current knowledge. Think fine tuning a PC with a sledgehammer and a chisel as the main tools.

1 hour ago, CharonY said:

Functional changes require integration on many levels in different places (cells, tissue, limbs, brain etc.). To do that deliberately from the bottom up is impossible with our current knowledge. Think fine tuning a PC with a sledgehammer and a chisel as the main tools.

Thank you... I guess i don't get to be a centaur... 

Sorry, barring an entirely new breakthrough in our understanding of higher level organization in detail, you are more likely to have undesired effects, I am afraid.

1 hour ago, CharonY said:

Sorry, barring an entirely new breakthrough in our understanding of higher level organization in detail, you are more likely to have undesired effects, I am afraid.

You guys are making is very difficult to cosplay to john varley's gaea trilogy....