Three Tech Revolutions

In the book The Singularity Is Near, Ray Kurzweil highlighted that technological advancements are moving ahead at an exponential rate. Today's technologies are helping us to build better technologies for tomorrow which fuels the acceleration. Kurzweil identifies genetics, nanotechnology and robotics as the three overlapping revolutions. These revolutionary technologies will redefine our lives in the future. The genetics revolution will allow us to reprogram our own biology. The nanotechnology revolution will allow us to manipulate matter at the molecular and atomic scale. The robotics revolution will allow us to create a greater than human non-biological intelligence. 

The medical laboratory has been anticipating the power of genetic engineering for a long time. GMO crops are already produced by a lot of farmers on a wide scale. Since the human genome project was completed in 2003, there has been huge advancements in reading, writing and programming DNA. With biotechnology, the medical laboratory can now reprogram the code of life.

DNA: Life's Software

Software programming and engineering is a major contributor to the birth of the information age. DNA is the ultimate software which programs life, but the human race is still incapable of engineering this software. The double helix of the DNA structure can archive large amounts of data in minute volumes. This is fascinating! Since farmers started to experiment with crossbreeding and selective breeding of plants and animals, Genetics has fascinated many futurists. The ability to create a form of life which doesn't exist currently in nature is the ultimate form of technology. Selective breeding of crops allowed farmers to create a plant which produces the highest yield of fruits and resist diseases which affect other plants. That was where genetic engineering began. Hence, selecting parents (male and female), for any form of life, to breed can engineer a living system (offspring) with a gene pool that does not exist in nature. 

Genetic engineering is programming the DNA code to create cells with a desired function. This can enhance the traits of any living organism and create life with specific characteristics. As we swim in an ocean of data on a daily basis, we continue to search for ways to store this data efficiently. Archiving data in DNA molecules might be the solution and could be the final invention for combining digital intelligence and biological intelligence. Medical Laboratories working with DNA are at the forefront of this new genetic technology.

Engineering humans

The final invention of the human race is the engineering of a synthetic human built as a cyborg with superhuman powers. Engineering human beings will include creating mechanical and electrical devices that will become human body parts. This will incorporate the use of tissue engineering and editing of human genetics. This will be achieved by future biomedical engineers transforming medical laboratories into cyborg factories.

Our final invention will be a synthetic human in the form of a cyborg which has a combination of biological and artificial intelligence. The supposed risks associated with this final invention could probably lead to the extermination of the human race. It will be difficult to control a cyborg that may become orders of magnitude more intelligent that the most intelligent human being. Biomedical engineers will be the single most important profession in shaping the future of humanity. They will shape the future using technologies in the areas of genetics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology. The singularity is near!

 

Nanodiagnostics and Genetics

Advancements in genetic modification via nanodiagnostics can be used to create superhumans. Nanotechnology is a field of research and innovation concerned with building things on the scale of atoms and molecules. Hence nanodiagnostics can build synthetic DNA that can change the molecular biology of humans. Editing of genes using nanotech can lead to the creation of superintelligent humans through combining biological intelligence with artificial intelligence using brain-computer interfaces. 

Medical Laboratories are using nanodiagnostic techniques to change and rewrite human genetics. Although it is now a reality, the editing of human genetics is still seemingly associated with science fiction. Mutants such as Professor X are popularised as superheroes from science fiction and other comic books and movies. Using CRISPR to edit one's genome is giving humans superpowers as they do to the superheroes in science fiction movies.

 

Three Paths to Superintelligence

The existential risk of humanity is a growing concern for many futurists who study singularity. Predictions are being made in Nick Bostrom's book called Superintelligence, that are potentially dangerous for mankind. Three paths to superintelligence that are highlighted in the book include: artificial intelligence, genetics and brain-computer interfaces. These three paths are purported to have the potential of creating cyborgs with superhuman powers. 

Medical Laboratories are playing a crucial role in the advancement of genetics as a path towards superintelligence. Predicting diseases such as Cancer will be the goal of Medical Laboratories that use genetics, cyborgization and artificial intelligence.

The Genetics of Telekinesis, Telepathy and Teleportation

A mutation in the DNA of humans can cause the manifestation of superpowers like telekinesis, telepathy and teleportation. Genetic engineering can bring superintelligence to reality as well as other ideas that have been highlighted in science fiction for ages. Telepathy which is communicating information vicariously without human sensory channels or physical interaction is a cyborgized activity. Telekinesis which is the ability to move objects at a distance by mental power is a cyborgized activity. Teleportation which is the transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them is a cyborgized activity. All these activities are superpowers which might seem like magic but are possible based on the laws of science. Brain-Machine interfaces can make these all possible in augmented realities of the computerized versions of ourselves. We all have magical superpowers in augmented realities. 

Medical Laboratories contribute to these superpowers through the area of genetics. Genetic engineering enhances the biological cognition of human brains by rewriting genetics of neurons and combining biological intelligence with artificial intelligence to create cyborgs. Once we mix our real physical world with our virtual reality then we can see and manifest all our superpowers in cyberspace. We use our genetically enhanced brains combined with AI to manifest telepathy, telekinesis and teleportation in augmented realities.

Medical Labs creating Cyborgs

A person whose body contains mechanical and/or electrical devices and whose abilities are greater than the abilities of normal humans is called a Cyborg. Connecting a human to a computer seems almost impossible to fathom. However, creating cyborgs through a brain-computer interface is possible. For example, analyze the similarities between a biological neural network in the human brain and a artificial neural network used in a computer. Both are similar and operate on principles that are the same. Hence biological intelligence (humans) and artificial intelligence (machines) can be combined to create cyborgs. Other areas such as genetic engineering, tissue engineering, augmented reality, quantum mechanics and living on other planets in space could make life as a cyborg more fascinating. Cyborg is the combination of two words (cybernetic and organism). Hence brain-machine interfaces can create cybernetic organisms.

Becoming cyborgs could be the solution for humans to become a mutiplanetary species. Cyborgs would have to be genetically and tissue engineered to resist the heat on Venus and the radiation on Mars. Medical Laboratories could be the factory floor for biomedical engineers to create cyborgs. Would you want to be a cyborg?

The Next Big Thing

The CEOs of the major technology companies all think that the next big thing can be boiled down to two main areas. These CEOs include Tim Cook (Apple), Satya Nadella (Microsoft) and Sundar Pichai (Google). They all think that the next big thing will be either Artificial Intelligence or Augmented Reality. However, I personally think that genetic engineering and tissue engineering will be the next big thing. The future lies in the hands of Medical Laboratories built by Biomedical engineers.

I might be wrong, or I might be close to the truth but there is a high probability. Medical Laboratory Scientists who adapt to technology and learn certain engineering principles could help to shape the future of technology via synthetic dna or regenerative medicine.

Augmented Reality is one interesting area which tech CEOs think is the next big thing, and medical labs could capitalize on this medical futurism. By definition, it is an enhanced version of the real physical world that is achieved via the use of digital visual elements, sound or other sensory stimuli delivered through computers. This might seem somewhat like medical science fiction, but the augmented reality of medical laboratories may look like an enhanced version of the real world of laboratory medicine that exists only in the cloud. All medical laboratories would be internet based companies. Hence all blood tests will be done at home and data would be transmitted from the dna test kit to the internet website which provides a diagnosis using AI. Test tubes of blood collected from patients would be simply database softwares that has statistical elements which can be analyzed to enhance the artificial intelligence of cyborgs.

Labcoin or Bitcoin

Cryptocurrencies have been making news headlines worldwide since 2009 when Satoshi Nakamoto released the open source software for Bitcoin. In recent times, we have heard how Elon Musk, a tech entrepreneur, has been posting memes on Twitter which cause these digital assets to rise and fall in valuation. Dogecoin is one cryptocurrency that has taken a hit because of tweets made by Elon Musk. The abstract written by Satoshi Nakamoto in the white paper for Bitcoin states that it is a purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash which would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. This means a decentralized currency that would make banks obsolete. These digital currencies which use blockchain technology are a threat to the world economy and the global financial system. Major companies such as car maker Tesla motors started to take payments for cars purchased online using cryptocurrencies. This form of electronic cash has strong cryptography which secures each online transaction. Medical Laboratories which adapt to technology and become fully internet-based companies will have to do transactions with cryptocurrencies. This is a revolution of the financial system that will transform every industry with blockchain technology.

Labcoin sounds like the future "science fiction" name of cryptocurrencies that Medical Laboratories will use. Or it could be the name of the pseudonymous developer or group of developers who will help Medical Laboratories exclusively prove their ownership of cryptocurrency units using cryptography. By definition, a cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual coin ownership records are stored in a ledger existing in a form of computerized database using strong cryptography to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. The question is: "Will Labcoin be the cryptocurrency of medical laboratories?" 

3D printing in Medical Laboratories

3D printing of organs that can be implanted into the human body sounds like science fiction but it is a new field called Regenerative Medicine. This medical field is now science fact because Doctors are scraping cells from body parts into petri dishes which grow into organs. Just like the manufacturing of DNA will change Medical Laboratories, the making of body parts, with 3D printing, done to order will change Medical Laboratories. Technology will transform Medical Laboratories into a factory floor for synthetic biology. This is part of the development of tissue engineering. This technological revolution along with other areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum mechanics and gene splicing will have the greatest impact on humanity. 

Medical Laboratories are changing to adapt to these five technologies (AI, Quantum Mechanics, 3D printing of human organs, Genetic Engineering and Space travel). These are ideas that come from science fiction novels but we are now seeing them manifested into science fact.

Making Synthetic DNA

Editing genes is the future of technology in the next 100 years. It is oftentimes predicted that by 2100 synthetic DNA will be manufactured by all Medical Laboratories. Biomedical Engineers will be at the forefront of this technological revolution. Without a shadow of doubt, the future of Medical Laboratories lies in the hands of genetics and engineering. Gene therapy and other areas of biopharmaceuticals will be greatly impacted by the manufacturing of synthetic DNA. Gene editing will be done by using DNA as a sort of programming language like Python/ R for statistical computing. Artifical intelligence and Sythetic RNA/DNA will be the basis of technological advancements in the future. Hence, inventors who want to move forward into the future of technology should focus on areas such as genetic engineering and artificial intelligence. Understanding the medical laboratory and its current functions can help with understanding the advancements in human genetics.

Having an understanding of human genetics helps with how we will create superhumans and manufacture synthetic DNA. This advancement could cure a lot of diseases such as Cancer or Sickle Cell Anaemia. Life on other planets in the solar system will be dependent on genetics. This sounds a lot like science fiction. In the future, the making of DNA could create superhumans as the final product and the factory floor for engineering superhumans would be Medical Laboratories.