25 Things You Need to Know About the Future
Explaining the challenges and technologies that will shape the next few decades.
Part V: Humanity 2.0
Part V of 25 Things You Need to Know About the Future examines future healthcare and augmentation. Already our population is rapidly ageing, with extended periods of retirement becoming economically unsustainable. Add in the numerous new medical possibilities on the horizon, and it becomes clear that fairly soon many current social norms will need to be recast. As we start to take control of our own evolution, a great many ethical and even religious dilemmas will also need to be addressed . . .
Chapter 21: Genetic Medicine
Genetic medicine uses genetic engineering to predict future ailments, to enable a more effective 'pharmacogenetic' application of traditional drugs, to alter a person's genome to improve their health, and to allow parents to choose the characteristics of their offspring. The online references used in compiling this chapter comprised:
Chapter 22: Bioprinting
As shown in this video, future bioprinters will build new organs and repair injuries by building up layers of a patient's own cells. The online references used in compiling this chapter comprised:
Chapter 23: Cybernetic Enhancement
A cyborg is an amalgamation of natural and artificial body parts. This chapter explores our partially-prosthetic future by examining bionic limbs, artificial ears and eyes, and brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). The online references used in compiling this chapter comprised:
Chapter 24: Life Extension
Life extension is the art and science of maximising the individual human life span. It therefore embraces all attempts to promote health and quality of life, to slow or "reprogram" the process of biological ageing, to augment our natural self-repair and immune systems, and to replace body parts with organic or cybernetic upgrades. The online references used in compiling this chapter comprised:
Chapter 25: Transhumanism
Transhumanism represents the view that we should take a proactive role in upgrading the human species, and involves a whole host of new technologies and philosophies including 'cryonics' and 'uploading'. The online references used in compiling this chapter comprised:
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