Thread: Which will likely be a possible breakthrough within 30 years

Choose one baby, choose one

1. Life-Extension dramastically extended
No idea what dramastically means.
2.Flying cars
We have had flying cars since the 1950s. They just aren't very practical.
3.Computer and internet everywhere, like your loved pencils.
Obviously.
4.Traveling everywhere without planes
I think we have been able to do that for some time. Since we came out of Africa, in fact.
5.BioMutation for cosmetic surgery, to becoem anyone you like.
Maybe. Of course you could also become anyone you don't like.
6.Definitely--immortality
Quite an obsession with you.

Obviously stem cell research should advance, but I don't think to the point of imortality. More for transplants...

All the other choices seem impractical.

Choose one baby, choose one

internet : it already is here in ireland with almost all networks offering 3g coverage.

life - possibly extended, but not drasticly

Originally Posted by ps2huang

Choose one baby, choose one

since it is within a certain window of time, 2 or more could happen.

I just read an article in Scientific American about how the life of yeast cells has been doubled by messing with a gene which controles the wrapping of DNA around proteins, deactivating it (disallowing the accumulation of DNA rings which get cleaved out after a few generations leading to cell death).

Similar tests in mice, Drosophola flies, and nemotodes gave similar results with life span increased. There were quite a few other methods of increasing life span.

Limiting calorie intake by 40% -ish increases life span across the board, except temporary sterility is a common side effect.

Stress causes the body to keep the immune system sharp. Aging, and cell death (leading to damage to tissues, problems for the organs, and the types of problems that can result in death), are not programmed activities. By keeping responses active, damage can be slowed and this is the idea behind some of these treatments.

I'll find the article and issue quickly. March 2006 Scientific American (its the cover article). Page 48.

Just putting in my 2 cents.

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Biomutation--Gene theropy is used to change the genetic makeup of cells, but this is at a very local level. Once tre are millions and millions of cells, I don't think the changing of the entire organism's genetic makeup is possible. It would be especially hard with irriplaceable cells such as nerve cells as the current method involves using protein coats of virii. This will, inevitably, not be perfect leaving some active virii. The virii used are the ones that target specific cells (such as: for cystic fybrosis they use protein coats of respitory illnesses). I find it doubtful that the risk of contracting illness in all types of cells in your body is worth while now (or will be even in 30 years).

Its also hard to imagine that the genes that control a person's physical characteristics (eye color, hair color, etc.) would be pinned down. The reason for this is that in order to find which gene does what takes money and this research is usually funded for the identification of a gene which causes a disease, not eye color.

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I think the other choices were well covered.

-Ajain

I see I'm with the majority (Internet) :wink:

Where do I learn how to dramasticaly extend something? Sorry I couldn't help myself.:P

I chose internet. I think the prediction of immortality is about 100 years not 30. And yes, as Ophiolite said, we have be have been traveling the world without planes for quite a while now. I'm not sure we will be able to travel everywhere but, we wouldn't be able to travel everywhere with airplanes.

The biomutation is a bit gross. We are very powerful beings and until we can all harness this power we have no reason to be mutating out selves. As far as becoming someone else... I don't see why anyone would want to be someone else.

I wouldn't consider "Computer and internet everywhere, like your loved pencils" en the because it's already happening...

Whats my loved pencil?

Originally Posted by Imaplanck.

Whats my loved pencil?

Yeah, my thought exactly

Originally Posted by 11 73 3 33

Originally Posted by Imaplanck.

Whats my loved pencil?

Yeah, my thought exactly

But you thought it so much more elegantly than me.

i hope we have colonies on other planets then, we need to colonise other planets/moons to ensure the human species existens for a extremly long time, on earth we are vurneble, in the solersystem we are inextincteble