If you are only slightly aware of the advances made in medicine in recent years, you are undoubtedly aware that the medical and scientific landscape is changing.
Hardly a day goes by that a new article isn't being published, speaking to some new advancement that can potentially change the way we treat our sick, injured, and elderly. In fact, it's become a full-time job to try and keep up with the various advancement and their potential consequences.
For those of us who enjoy this type of thing, we're entering a golden age of scientific and medical discovery. I fall asleep almost every night playing a kind of "connect-the-dots" game with scientific advancements in my head, and yet, I know that I am probably only scratching the surface when it comes to truly understanding all of the implications.
This leads us to a very important question that needs addressing:
If those who understand most of the science behind these advancements are struggling to keep up, what does that mean for the average person who doesn't spend their time reading scientific journals and teaching these things daily?
The fact is, these advancements are coming (and in many cases are already here) whether we're ready or not. Some of them are nothing more than cosmetic (such as the ability to completely remove scars), while others have implications that can literally require a change in our understanding of what it truly means to be human (such as neural interfaces with machines).
My goal with this blog series is to try and explain the advancements that I find to be the most interesting, and also the most pressing to our society. I will attempt to try and put each advancement into a solid and coherent framework, so that not only can it be easily understood, but we can begin the process of communicating the potential issues associated with each.
Now, I'm not claiming to be an expert in each of these topics. There will inevitably be certain blogs that I will have to defer to the much more qualified individuals out there to help guide us through the murky waters. But if we are to begin the necessary discussions required to navigate the times ahead, even a basic understanding is beneficial.
Over the next few weeks and months, I plan on writing several blogs that include, but are not limited to:
- CRISPR/CAS9 - Gene Editing
- DNA Computing
- Nanotechnology
- Artificial Intelligence
- Neuralink/Neuralace
- Virtual Reality
- 3D Medical Printing
- Bio-Hacking
This is only a small list of potential topics, and I'm sure many more will be added as more advancements are made.
At risk of sounding cliche, we live in the most exciting and terrifying time in human history. The next 50 years will be some of, if not the most important years in all of human existence. My goal isn't to try and persuade you to a certain side or opinion. Instead, I want to simply make you and those around aware of what's coming in the near future.
I'm extremely excited that the first post this week will be on gene editing, using the CRISPR/CAS9 system. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, buckle up, and get ready to learn about The Future of Health and Medicine!
See ya soon!
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