Biological Bricks

A house built with living concrete sounds impossible to most persons. However engineers have been able to create living concrete made from photosynthetic cyanobacteria called synechococcus. This could one day reduce the environmental impact of the construction industry. The team of researchers including Wil Srubar combined the bacteria with gelatin, sand and nutrients in a liquid mixture, then place it in a mould. Heat and sunlight is then applied resulting in the bacteria producing calcium carbonate crystals around the sand particles. This process is similar to how seashells are formed on the seashore. The advantage of biological bricks is that if the bacteria isn't dehydrated entirely, they continue to grow. 

This process has the potential to be done in Medical Laboratories to create medical real estate using energy intensive concrete that is more environmentally friendly because of its reliance on photosynthesis. Concrete is the second most consumed material on earth after water. Using biotechnology and bacteria that grow exponentially, the construction industry can theoretically move from linear manufacturing to exponential manufacturing.

 

Products from Genetic Engineering

Genetics will shape the final invention of the human race. The final race towards the apocalypse is between artificial intelligence and genetics. Genetic engineering is the manipulation of organisms to make useful products. Humans have used selective breeding in animals for thousands of years. Microorganisms were also studied and bioengineers realised their abilities to carry out commercially useful processes. Microbes are used for the manufacturing of vaccines and antibiotics. Biotechnology refers to the use of gene manipulation combined with material sciences, nanotechnology and computer software to create products. Pregnancy tests have been developed using biotechnology labs. Other products from genetic engineering has made it easier to detect and diagnose diseases. 

Genetic engineering has been used in Medical Laboratories to produce insulin, human growth hormones, follistim, human albumin, monoclonal antibodies and antihemophilic factors. Genetics is also used for creation of genetically modified organisms or crops in agriculture.

 

Medical Robots on Wheels

Experiments with self-driving technology have been conducted by engineers for decades. Since artificial intelligence has become the primary R&D project of this era, biomedical engineers can now revolutionize medical transportation. Both emergency and non-emergency medical transportation will become more efficient with Level 5 autonomous vehicles. Ambulances will no longer need a driver and will use data as its primary decision-making tool. Medical Laboratories will now have a new invention in mobile phlebotomy i.e. medical robots on wheels which bring the lab to your home. This would be even more convenient and interesting if these medical robots on wheels are intelligent enough to perform gene-editing techniques on humans. Cars are becoming robots on wheels and car manufacturers are slowly becoming robot manufacturers with the use of Artificial Intelligence hardwares and softwares in these cars.  

The only concern is the emotional intelligence of these medical robots since they will have to deal with human beings that have feelings and experience emotional disturbances. The Medical Laboratory and its mobile phlebotomy services will have a surge in customer experiences using this technology since these robots will be available to all patients via the internet. Biomedical Engineers can study the patents of Tesla Motors to change the medical transportation industry into a modern version of medical robots on wheels.

Medical Laboratory Inventions

Comedic science fiction may envision Medical Laboratories to resemble Dexter's Laboratory from Cartoon Network. However, the inventions that Dexter create would have to be around genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. Although most episodes of Dexter's Laboratory feature a new invention, none are hard-core genetic experiments. Dexter seems to prefer robotics and artificial intelligence more than genetics. Our modern day Dexter could very well be rocket man Elon Musk who recently announced the new Tesla Bot. Tesla Bot will be used to replace boring and repetitive tasks such as some of the tasks done in medical laboratories. 

The prototype for the Tesla Bot could be the final invention that Biomedical Engineers use to replace Medical Technologists. This maybe the invention of the Medical Laboratory that operates primarily using robotics, femtotechnology and genetics. The greatest technology of our existence on planet Earth will be gene-editing.

Medical Laboratory on Mars

For decades, there has been a deep love expressed for the planet Mars by the human race. Biomedical engineers have studied the planet and recognized that Mars is the planet in our solar system most capable of supporting life and installing a Medical Laboratory. The existence of life on Mars has remained an open question which eliminates the need for a Medical Laboratory. The possibility of life on Mars has not been ruled out even though we know today that there are no civilizations on Mars. Some scientists believe that Mars has an underground civilization which is more or less on par with civilizations on Earth. This means that in order to install a Medical Laboratory on Mars, the mission plan must include staying to colonize or setting up a Martian base. This mission plan must also include certain calculations and technical drawings to construct a Medical Laboratory on Mars. 

The idea of constructing a Medical Laboratory on Mars is entertaining to most science fiction enthusiasts. This idea could also be seen as a proposal for international cooperation to build Medical Laboratories in order to sustain life in space. A civilization on Mars is considered a fantasy by the man on the street but most Biomedical engineers would not deny its possibility. The reasons that it hasn't been done yet are more economical than technical. For this idea to be believable it does not require any futuristic technology or leaps of faith. All it requires is a willingness to be entertained, inspired and educated. You have become a true dreamer.

Life beyond Earth

Questions asked by many exobiologists include: Do aliens exist?, and What is their molecular biology? Most futuristic bioengineers have struggled for years to discover life beyond Earth's atmosphere. However, none have been successful. If humans can figure out the molecular biology of aliens then humans could replicate that biochemistry and transform humans into aliens and vici versa. This could aid in achieving the goal of making humans a multiplanetary species. Changing human genetics could make humans tolerate the heat on Venus as well as the radiation on Mars. Genetic engineering is the field which offers the most promise for humans to reside on other planets and make space tourism a reality. 

When we discover life beyond earth, alot of doors will be opened for interplanetary business and entrepreneurship. There will be need for a universal bank, trade center and monetary fund for the solar system as well as other galaxies. Medical Laboratories and biomedical engineers will have to be at the forefront of replicating the genetics of aliens and other extraterrestrial lifeforms in order to genetically engineer humans to survive on other planets and in other galaxies.

Medical Nanorobots editing DNA

Biological machines that are tiny enough to be swallowed could change the landscape of Laboratory Medicine. These nanorobots could take the diseased/abnormal genes from human DNA and replace those abnormal genes with normal or above normal genes. Such methods can be used to treat diseases or change the functions of cells to provide humans with supernatural powers. Richard Feynman spoke about swallowing the surgeon in his lecture on nanotech titled, "There is Plenty of Room at the Bottom". With the use of non biological intelligence, such as artificial neural networks, these tiny machines can learn how to do the work of surgeons from inside a human body. Medical nanorobots can be used in diagnostics and drug delivery. A medical nanobot could be programmed to analyze chemicals and cells inside the bloodstream and provide lab results to the Medical Technologist. This could revolutionize the entire scope of Laboratory Medicine and transform the role of a Medical Technologist into the role of a biomedical engineer. 

Editing genes using nanobots would make the process faster and make genetic engineering available and accessible to everyone. Everybody could have a computer inside their bloodstream that changes their DNA whenever they want. Biological computers could also be injected into the brain to create augmented realities and brain-machine interfaces through the use of nanorobotics. Biomedical engineers are at the forefront of producing these tiny surgeons and will change Medical Laboratories into nanorobot factories.