More efficient healthcare projected for next two decades
By Futuretalk
We often think nostalgically of our past as the “good old days,” but projected scientific and technological breakthroughs suggest the greatest and most exciting times are yet to come. Today, breakthroughs in healthcare rush at us with amazing speeds, but the golden ages of biotech, 2010-2020, and molecular nanotech, 2020-2030, promise even greater advances in human health.
Legendary biologist Leroy Hood predicts that in the next decade, we will understand genetic predispositions for most sicknesses and develop tools for preventing them. “We’ll move from a mode that’s largely reactive to one that’s predictive and preventive,” he says.
Between 2010 and 2020, research labs will place strong focus on regenerative medicine with its amazing prospect for re-growing organs and tissues from inside the body. This new technology, according to a recent government report, promises to radically improve health, restore a more youthful appearance to aging seniors and ‘boomers, and eliminate most deaths from cancer, heart disease, obesity, and many other illnesses.
This future is not so surprising considering how much we take our current speed of medical innovations for granted. Almost daily we hear researchers make fresh discoveries, or begin new clinical trials. Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts we can expect more medical advances between now and 2020 than was experienced during the entire 20th century.
And when we enter the 2020s, molecular nanotech will begin to wield its powerful influence over our lives. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh dreams of the day when nano-sized robots will roam freely through the bloodstream, zapping diseased cells with pinpoint lasers, repairing all problems they encounter along the way.
Though he admits that nanobots sound like something out of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, Vo-Dinh feels confident his dream will come true. “Already we can insert nano-biosensors into cells and observe their process,” he says.
Officials at Foresight Institute, an industry think tank, agree that future nanobots will revolutionize healthcare. Ability to self-replicate makes them inexpensive, and because they can position each atom in place with perfect precision, they leave no doubts about the quality of performance.
Today, when a cell is damaged, doctors rely on drugs to instruct the cell to repair itself; a hit-or-miss process that often fails. With nanobots, damaged cells are completely rebuilt one atom at a time, creating a flawless, brand new, youthful cell.
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing’s Robert Freitas believes that, “when nanorobotics becomes reality, which could happen as early as mid-2020s, it will not stop at eliminating disease; it will actually improve on nature. Bones would become stronger and muscles more powerful.”
In addition, Freitas says, “this potential draws the curtain on one of the most dramatic possibilities of all: eliminating aging. Most scientists believe aging results from cell malfunctions. Thus, if nanorobotics can correct cellular problems, middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.”
Could these medical technologies become reality in such a timely manner? Positive futurists believe they can. The choice of living hundreds of years in perfect youthful health may soon be within our grasp. Stay positive, and this “magical future” could include you.
This article will appear in various print media and blogs; comments welcome. See other published work by Futuretalk at http://www.positivefuturist.com/archive.html
I think 3D tissue printers will be one of the next big things in medicine. The ability to print skin has already been done as a proof of concept. More complex tissues may take some time though.
In a recent Clemson University study, financed by NASA, scientists have learned to accurately position heart tissue cells that can be “printed” with inkjet technology. Accurate positioning is necessary to achieve function with soft tissues like the heart.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/...70221093208.htm
However, most of the real promising regenerative medicine techniques expected in the next decade will include developing the ability to direct stem cells to grow tissues and organs, both inside and outside the body, and reengineering cell growth with new gene therapies.
The incredible biotech revolution expected in the next decade promises many miracles and yours truly anxiously hopes to benefit from them. Clogged arteries? No problem – just pop a pill and within six weeks or so, a brand new network of clean, healthy arteries could appear.
Many benefits of this future is aimed at America’s mature population which controls more than $8 trillion of our countries assets. This will be the major force in driving our “magical future” forward.
Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/...70221093208.htm
However, most of the real promising regenerative medicine techniques expected in the next decade will include developing the ability to direct stem cells to grow tissues and organs, both inside and outside the body, and reengineering cell growth with new gene therapies.
The incredible biotech revolution expected in the next decade promises many miracles and yours truly anxiously hopes to benefit from them. Clogged arteries? No problem – just pop a pill and within six weeks or so, a brand new network of clean, healthy arteries could appear.
Many benefits of this future is aimed at America’s mature population which controls more than $8 trillion of our countries assets. This will be the major force in driving our “magical future” forward.
I read something a while back where doctors were trying to grow teeth buds, so that people could regrow their teeth.
Stem Cell Tooth Replacement
Earlier this year Japanese researchers successfully encouraged cells; not stem cells though; to grow into tooth buds which were transplanted into the mouths of mice. These new teeth failed to grow adequate roots, but scientists believe the technology will one day be perfected.
In 2004, British scientists cultivated a complete tooth in mice and grew them stand-alone in the lab. Researchers theorize that stem cells could be coaxed in the lab to turn into tooth buds which, when implanted in the gums, would grow into a new tooth in a process similar to the way humans grow their original teeth.
King College’s Paul Sharpe predicts this technology will be developed and could become available to the general public by 2009.
Tooth replacement is just another area of expected miracles to come during the biotech revolution, 2010-2020.
Earlier this year Japanese researchers successfully encouraged cells; not stem cells though; to grow into tooth buds which were transplanted into the mouths of mice. These new teeth failed to grow adequate roots, but scientists believe the technology will one day be perfected.
In 2004, British scientists cultivated a complete tooth in mice and grew them stand-alone in the lab. Researchers theorize that stem cells could be coaxed in the lab to turn into tooth buds which, when implanted in the gums, would grow into a new tooth in a process similar to the way humans grow their original teeth.
King College’s Paul Sharpe predicts this technology will be developed and could become available to the general public by 2009.
Tooth replacement is just another area of expected miracles to come during the biotech revolution, 2010-2020.
The next technological breakthrough in medical science has been "just around the corner" for the past 30 years. It never comes.
QUOTE (Latrosicarius+Apr 26 2007, 09:16 PM)
The next technological breakthrough in medical science has been "just around the corner" for the past 30 years. It never comes.
The Internet, cell phones, and stem cell therapies that can re-grow heart tissues have all become reality.
Have faith in a positive future and it could become your future.
The Internet, cell phones, and stem cell therapies that can re-grow heart tissues have all become reality.
Have faith in a positive future and it could become your future.
Bright Future for Seniors
Like Robert Freitas says in the above article, “middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.”
These technologies promise to benefit many people like yours truly who is up in years. Should this future become reality, by 2030 when I reach 100 years of age, I could be sporting a strong and youthful body similar to the one I enjoyed at age 22 after returning from an eleven-month tour of duty in the Korean War. This was the time in my life when I was strongest physically. It would be wonderful to recapture that youth – and the biotech and nanotech revolutions could certainly make this possible.
Like Robert Freitas says in the above article, “middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.”
These technologies promise to benefit many people like yours truly who is up in years. Should this future become reality, by 2030 when I reach 100 years of age, I could be sporting a strong and youthful body similar to the one I enjoyed at age 22 after returning from an eleven-month tour of duty in the Korean War. This was the time in my life when I was strongest physically. It would be wonderful to recapture that youth – and the biotech and nanotech revolutions could certainly make this possible.
I hope you are saving, because it won't be cheap. Not at first anyway.
Banks would probably be happy to lend for rejuvenation treatments as their customers would have many more years of life to pay them back.
Banks would probably be happy to lend for rejuvenation treatments as their customers would have many more years of life to pay them back.
Most of the biotech and medical nanotech “miracles” mentioned above are expected to arrive between 2015 and 2030. Some experts predict that advance automation systems expected during this same time could help lower prices with many of these technologies making them more affordable to everyone.
Will these technologies be available at affordable prices in time to “rejuvenate” many of today’s seniors including yours truly? Time will tell.
Will these technologies be available at affordable prices in time to “rejuvenate” many of today’s seniors including yours truly? Time will tell.
The affordability will likely depend on who makes the essential discoveries. Will the tech be made widely available and how much competition there is in the market.
A little luck wouldn’t hurt; and great genes would be a plus. My great grandmother who was born in 1850, died at 93, and I have a 94-year-old aunt who is still going strong today.
With good genes, a little luck, and maintaining good health, who knows?
If I make it though, I don’t expect to still have a job writing my Futuretalk column for newspapers in 2030. Probably some time in the 2020s, electronic paper that can display virtually any print content and an expanded and much higher-speed Internet will probably bring about the end of most newspapers, magazines, and print media.
And then we have “thought communications” coming on to the scene, possibly by late 2020s or 2030s. I guess I just don’t want to miss this wild future. Now if we could only convince today’s religious extremists of this “magical future”…
With good genes, a little luck, and maintaining good health, who knows?
If I make it though, I don’t expect to still have a job writing my Futuretalk column for newspapers in 2030. Probably some time in the 2020s, electronic paper that can display virtually any print content and an expanded and much higher-speed Internet will probably bring about the end of most newspapers, magazines, and print media.
And then we have “thought communications” coming on to the scene, possibly by late 2020s or 2030s. I guess I just don’t want to miss this wild future. Now if we could only convince today’s religious extremists of this “magical future”…
I wonder how the religious zealots will act when they have the choice between eternal life in this world and the one they believe in the next.
Should technology conquer unwanted human death, which some positive futurists believe could be accomplished by as early as mid-century or so, religions will be forced to develop new strategies in order to maintain membership.
Most religions boast as their number one draw card – the ability to bridge people into accepting death as normal and to help people achieve some sort of a mystical “afterlife”.
If technology provides future humans with an indefinite lifespan option, then religions will lose much of their big attraction.
The camaraderie of socializing in group get-togethers could still be a benefit though, so religions may survive; possibly by placing strong focus on helping people “meet the neighbors” while practicing “golden rule” ethics.
But if Kurzweil is correct, and in 2030s humanity is endowed with billions of times more intelligence than we have today, few may see any logic at all in staying with their religion. Religious leaders themselves may even find more rewarding things to do than prey on innocent people.
However, yours truly is not suggesting that anyone should reject their religious faith. For those who believe that religion improves their quality of life, then it probably does, and I certainly would not want to interfere with that.
Most religions boast as their number one draw card – the ability to bridge people into accepting death as normal and to help people achieve some sort of a mystical “afterlife”.
If technology provides future humans with an indefinite lifespan option, then religions will lose much of their big attraction.
The camaraderie of socializing in group get-togethers could still be a benefit though, so religions may survive; possibly by placing strong focus on helping people “meet the neighbors” while practicing “golden rule” ethics.
But if Kurzweil is correct, and in 2030s humanity is endowed with billions of times more intelligence than we have today, few may see any logic at all in staying with their religion. Religious leaders themselves may even find more rewarding things to do than prey on innocent people.
However, yours truly is not suggesting that anyone should reject their religious faith. For those who believe that religion improves their quality of life, then it probably does, and I certainly would not want to interfere with that.
It will certainly be interesting to see what they will do.
I'm picking that there will be a complete rejection of all nanotech by some religions. This will effectively put them in a similar situation as the Amish are today.
Apart from the fact that their children will be doomed to suffer from easily treatable diseases. I have no problem with people who decide to reject to use the technology.
It may end up that there will be two distinct classes of people. Those who have embraced nanotech and those who reject it. The differences will easily become far more obvious than the current gap between the first and third worlds.
I'm picking that there will be a complete rejection of all nanotech by some religions. This will effectively put them in a similar situation as the Amish are today.
Apart from the fact that their children will be doomed to suffer from easily treatable diseases. I have no problem with people who decide to reject to use the technology.
It may end up that there will be two distinct classes of people. Those who have embraced nanotech and those who reject it. The differences will easily become far more obvious than the current gap between the first and third worlds.
Yes, I agree the world could split into two groups; those who choose enhancements and those who believe that enhancements will make us non-human.
However, the group that rejects science and technology enhancements will soon dwindle as most of their young will convert, and the parents will eventually die out. Problem solved.
However, the group that rejects science and technology enhancements will soon dwindle as most of their young will convert, and the parents will eventually die out. Problem solved.
QUOTE (Futuretalk+Apr 29 2007, 12:59 PM)
middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.
By all means, I hope my reservations are misplaced, but I'm sure you understand how awfully big a pill this is to swallow.
By all means, I hope my reservations are misplaced, but I'm sure you understand how awfully big a pill this is to swallow.
Freitas does not propose advances like this lightly. As you can see from his bio, http://www.rfreitas.com/Bios/250-wordBio.htm he is one of the most active researchers in the world involved with nanomedicine.
This writer prefers to believe that Freitas’ predictions will become reality.
This writer prefers to believe that Freitas’ predictions will become reality.
Most people who may reject tomorrow’s radical life extension technologies are close-minded critics that believe a future society will not be advanced enough to adjust to the social changes brought about by everyone living longer.
Every time there are new social conditions, for instance contraception pills in the 60’s, there are people who will benefit from it, people who will not benefit from it and traditionalists that will not be able to accept it.
In the case of contraception, the people who benefited from it were single men who were given increased opportunities of sexual encounters and women who wished to explore potential new permanent mates. The losers were the families of women who still regarded “respect” as a valuable commodity in order to survive the scrutiny of the community in their search for a husband.
People who couldn’t accept it were mostly religious/bookworm types that cannot comprehend any structural changes that affect the sexual status quo. The point is that cavemen attitudes will die off, maybe kicking and screaming like the cavemen they are, but they will die in the light of new sciences.
People who can learn to think outside the box are the ones who will make the best of tomorrow’s technologies. Yours truly believes that he is among this group.
Every time there are new social conditions, for instance contraception pills in the 60’s, there are people who will benefit from it, people who will not benefit from it and traditionalists that will not be able to accept it.
In the case of contraception, the people who benefited from it were single men who were given increased opportunities of sexual encounters and women who wished to explore potential new permanent mates. The losers were the families of women who still regarded “respect” as a valuable commodity in order to survive the scrutiny of the community in their search for a husband.
People who couldn’t accept it were mostly religious/bookworm types that cannot comprehend any structural changes that affect the sexual status quo. The point is that cavemen attitudes will die off, maybe kicking and screaming like the cavemen they are, but they will die in the light of new sciences.
People who can learn to think outside the box are the ones who will make the best of tomorrow’s technologies. Yours truly believes that he is among this group.
QUOTE (Futuretalk+Apr 24 2007, 12:01 PM)
More efficient healthcare projected for next two decades
By Futuretalk
We often think nostalgically of our past as the “good old days,” but projected scientific and technological breakthroughs suggest the greatest and most exciting times are yet to come. Today, breakthroughs in healthcare rush at us with amazing speeds, but the golden ages of biotech, 2010-2020, and molecular nanotech, 2020-2030, promise even greater advances in human health.
Legendary biologist Leroy Hood predicts that in the next decade, we will understand genetic predispositions for most sicknesses and develop tools for preventing them. “We’ll move from a mode that’s largely reactive to one that’s predictive and preventive,” he says.
Between 2010 and 2020, research labs will place strong focus on regenerative medicine with its amazing prospect for re-growing organs and tissues from inside the body. This new technology, according to a recent government report, promises to radically improve health, restore a more youthful appearance to aging seniors and ‘boomers, and eliminate most deaths from cancer, heart disease, obesity, and many other illnesses.
This future is not so surprising considering how much we take our current speed of medical innovations for granted. Almost daily we hear researchers make fresh discoveries, or begin new clinical trials. Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts we can expect more medical advances between now and 2020 than was experienced during the entire 20th century.
And when we enter the 2020s, molecular nanotech will begin to wield its powerful influence over our lives. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh dreams of the day when nano-sized robots will roam freely through the bloodstream, zapping diseased cells with pinpoint lasers, repairing all problems they encounter along the way.
Though he admits that nanobots sound like something out of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, Vo-Dinh feels confident his dream will come true. “Already we can insert nano-biosensors into cells and observe their process,” he says.
Officials at Foresight Institute, an industry think tank, agree that future nanobots will revolutionize healthcare. Ability to self-replicate makes them inexpensive, and because they can position each atom in place with perfect precision, they leave no doubts about the quality of performance.
Today, when a cell is damaged, doctors rely on drugs to instruct the cell to repair itself; a hit-or-miss process that often fails. With nanobots, damaged cells are completely rebuilt one atom at a time, creating a flawless, brand new, youthful cell.
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing’s Robert Freitas believes that, “when nanorobotics becomes reality, which could happen as early as mid-2020s, it will not stop at eliminating disease; it will actually improve on nature. Bones would become stronger and muscles more powerful.”
In addition, Freitas says, “this potential draws the curtain on one of the most dramatic possibilities of all: eliminating aging. Most scientists believe aging results from cell malfunctions. Thus, if nanorobotics can correct cellular problems, middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.”
Could these medical technologies become reality in such a timely manner? Positive futurists believe they can. The choice of living hundreds of years in perfect youthful health may soon be within our grasp. Stay positive, and this “magical future” could include you.
This article will appear in various print media and blogs; comments welcome. See other published work by Futuretalk at http://www.positivefuturist.com/archive.html
Although humans have been exposed to airborne nanosized particles (NSPs; < 100 nm) throughout their evolutionary stages, such exposure has increased dramatically over the last century due to anthropogenic sources. The rapidly developing field of nanotechnology is likely to become yet another source through inhalation, ingestion, skin uptake, and injection of engineered nanomaterials. Information about safety and potential hazards is urgently needed. Results of older bio-kinetic studies with NSPs and newer epidemiologic and toxicologic studies with airborne ultrafine particles can be viewed as the basis for the expanding field of nanotoxicology, which can be defined as safety evaluation of engineered nanostructures and nanodevices. Collectively, some emerging concepts of nanotoxicology can be identified from the results of these studies. When inhaled, specific sizes of NSPs are efficiently deposited by diffusional mechanisms in all regions of the respiratory tract. The small size facilitates uptake into cells and transcytosis across epithelial and endothelial cells into the blood and lymph circulation to reach potentially sensitive target sites such as bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and heart. Access to the central nervous system and ganglia via translocation along axons and dendrites of neurons has also been observed. NSPs penetrating the skin distribute via uptake into lymphatic channels.
EXCITING TIMES TO COME ALRIGHT! JUST NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED!
By Futuretalk
We often think nostalgically of our past as the “good old days,” but projected scientific and technological breakthroughs suggest the greatest and most exciting times are yet to come. Today, breakthroughs in healthcare rush at us with amazing speeds, but the golden ages of biotech, 2010-2020, and molecular nanotech, 2020-2030, promise even greater advances in human health.
Legendary biologist Leroy Hood predicts that in the next decade, we will understand genetic predispositions for most sicknesses and develop tools for preventing them. “We’ll move from a mode that’s largely reactive to one that’s predictive and preventive,” he says.
Between 2010 and 2020, research labs will place strong focus on regenerative medicine with its amazing prospect for re-growing organs and tissues from inside the body. This new technology, according to a recent government report, promises to radically improve health, restore a more youthful appearance to aging seniors and ‘boomers, and eliminate most deaths from cancer, heart disease, obesity, and many other illnesses.
This future is not so surprising considering how much we take our current speed of medical innovations for granted. Almost daily we hear researchers make fresh discoveries, or begin new clinical trials. Futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts we can expect more medical advances between now and 2020 than was experienced during the entire 20th century.
And when we enter the 2020s, molecular nanotech will begin to wield its powerful influence over our lives. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Dr. Tuan Vo-Dinh dreams of the day when nano-sized robots will roam freely through the bloodstream, zapping diseased cells with pinpoint lasers, repairing all problems they encounter along the way.
Though he admits that nanobots sound like something out of the 1966 film Fantastic Voyage, Vo-Dinh feels confident his dream will come true. “Already we can insert nano-biosensors into cells and observe their process,” he says.
Officials at Foresight Institute, an industry think tank, agree that future nanobots will revolutionize healthcare. Ability to self-replicate makes them inexpensive, and because they can position each atom in place with perfect precision, they leave no doubts about the quality of performance.
Today, when a cell is damaged, doctors rely on drugs to instruct the cell to repair itself; a hit-or-miss process that often fails. With nanobots, damaged cells are completely rebuilt one atom at a time, creating a flawless, brand new, youthful cell.
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing’s Robert Freitas believes that, “when nanorobotics becomes reality, which could happen as early as mid-2020s, it will not stop at eliminating disease; it will actually improve on nature. Bones would become stronger and muscles more powerful.”
In addition, Freitas says, “this potential draws the curtain on one of the most dramatic possibilities of all: eliminating aging. Most scientists believe aging results from cell malfunctions. Thus, if nanorobotics can correct cellular problems, middle-aged and even elderly people should be able to regain most of their youthful health, strength, and beauty, and enjoy an almost indefinite extension of life.”
Could these medical technologies become reality in such a timely manner? Positive futurists believe they can. The choice of living hundreds of years in perfect youthful health may soon be within our grasp. Stay positive, and this “magical future” could include you.
This article will appear in various print media and blogs; comments welcome. See other published work by Futuretalk at http://www.positivefuturist.com/archive.html
Although humans have been exposed to airborne nanosized particles (NSPs; < 100 nm) throughout their evolutionary stages, such exposure has increased dramatically over the last century due to anthropogenic sources. The rapidly developing field of nanotechnology is likely to become yet another source through inhalation, ingestion, skin uptake, and injection of engineered nanomaterials. Information about safety and potential hazards is urgently needed. Results of older bio-kinetic studies with NSPs and newer epidemiologic and toxicologic studies with airborne ultrafine particles can be viewed as the basis for the expanding field of nanotoxicology, which can be defined as safety evaluation of engineered nanostructures and nanodevices. Collectively, some emerging concepts of nanotoxicology can be identified from the results of these studies. When inhaled, specific sizes of NSPs are efficiently deposited by diffusional mechanisms in all regions of the respiratory tract. The small size facilitates uptake into cells and transcytosis across epithelial and endothelial cells into the blood and lymph circulation to reach potentially sensitive target sites such as bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen, and heart. Access to the central nervous system and ganglia via translocation along axons and dendrites of neurons has also been observed. NSPs penetrating the skin distribute via uptake into lymphatic channels.
EXCITING TIMES TO COME ALRIGHT! JUST NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED!
Regarding breathing hazardous nano-materials:
This positive futurist believes that by the time nano-materials make our air non-breathable, possibly by mid-century or so, humanity will have escaped its biological confinements and will be enjoying the benefits of living in powerful nano-engineered bodies that can exist anywhere and will require no maintenance.
Will this future happen in such a timely manner? Forward thinkers believe it will.
This positive futurist believes that by the time nano-materials make our air non-breathable, possibly by mid-century or so, humanity will have escaped its biological confinements and will be enjoying the benefits of living in powerful nano-engineered bodies that can exist anywhere and will require no maintenance.
Will this future happen in such a timely manner? Forward thinkers believe it will.
You should just ignore monadnock here Futuretalk. He is just spamming off-topic, since he has already posted this on another thread.
monadnock believes the US government is deliberately poisoning us with designed nano-powders and hiding the results
monadnock believes the US government is deliberately poisoning us with designed nano-powders and hiding the results
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