On the subject of bioaugments I still am under the impression there would be factions less ethical than others in regards to that field even if it's deeply regulated by the UN.  Does the UN have organizations who will go as far as to stuxnet researchers in less ethical factions if they put research into the field?  How do they enforce that regulation?  What if (Hypothetically of course- if any faction is going to have a total ban on genetic modification it's the space USSR) the USSR decides to make that gorrila army stalin wanted?  How would the UN prevent that?

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAhjPd4uNFY]Also this video.[/url]

I am not sure if there would be a unilateral fear of bioaugmentation, there likely would still be schools of thought who believe humans must adapt the tech of the Juhseughi as much as possible or risk being crushed in the future "When they really try to wipe us out".

The Republic of Taurus shall not let sanctions from the communists get in the way of the invisible hand!  

If there's a market there's a way.

"Nationalism should be dead. It's the future, there's aliens out there and we still hold to these silly nationalistic ideas that divide us based on what nation-state we came from centuries ago in a fucking galaxy of things that want to kill us."
-Notable New Knossian Philosopher Darian Spade

Is 9 billion people a reasonable amount?  I am not sure what populations are standard, what I did was make a primate planet out of New Knossos giving a population comparable to 21st century Earth while adding a additional few billion to account for all the other settlements throughout the Hyades open cluster.