Physics of the Future: How Science Will Shape Human Destiny and Our Daily Lives by the Year 2100

Although there are mechanical ways to enhance our bodies, there are also biological ways. In fact, the whole thrust of evolution is the selection of better genes, so why not shortcut millions of years of evolution and take control of our genetic destiny?

No one really has the guts to say it, but if we could make better human beings by knowing how to add genes, why shouldn’t we?
    —JAMES WATSON, NOBEL LAUREATE
    I don’t really think our bodies are going to have any secrets left within this century. And so, anything that we can manage to think about will probably have a reality.
    —DAVID BALTIMORE, NOBEL LAUREATE
    I don’t think the time is quite right, but it’s close. I’m afraid, unfortunately, that I’m in the last generation to die.
    —GERALD SUSSMAN

3 FUTURE OF MEDICINE Perfection and Beyond
    The gods of mythology possessed the ultimate power: the power over life and death, the ability to heal the sick and prolong life. Foremost in our prayers to the gods was deliverance from disease and illness.
    In Greek and Roman mythology, there is the tale of Eos, the beautiful goddess of the dawn. One day, she fell deeply in love with a handsome mortal, Tithonus. She had a perfect body and was immortal, but Tithonus would eventually age, wither away, and perish. Determined to save her lover from this dismal fate, she beseeched Zeus, the father of the gods, to grant Tithonus the gift of immortality so that they could spend eternity together. Taking pity on these lovers, he granted Eos her wish.
    But Eos, in her haste, forgot to ask for eternal youth for him. So Tithonus became immortal, but his body aged. Unable to die, he became more and more decrepit and decayed, living an eternity with pain and suffering.
    So that is the challenge facing the science of the twenty-firstcentury. Scientists are now reading the book of life, which includes the complete human genome, and which promises us miraculous advances in understanding aging. But life extension without health and vigor can be an eternal punishment, as Tithonus tragically found out.
    By the end of this century, we too shall have much of this mythical power over life and death. And this power won’t be limited to healing the sick but will be used to enhance the human body and even create new life-forms. It won’t be through prayers and incantations, however, but through the miracle of biotechnology.
    One of the scientists who is unlocking the secrets of life is Robert Lanza, a man in a hurry. He is a new breed of biologist, young, energetic, and full of fresh ideas—so many breakthroughs to be made and so little time. Lanza is riding the crest of the biotech revolution. Like a kid in a candy store, he delights in delving into uncharted territory, making breakthroughs in a wide range of hot-button topics.
    A generation or two ago, the pace was much different. You might find biologists leisurely examining obscure worms and bugs, patiently studying their detailed anatomy and agonizing over what Latin names to give them.
    Not Lanza.
    I met him one day at a radio studio for an interview and was immediately impressed by his youth and boundless creativity. He was, as usual, rushing between experiments. He told me he got his start in this fast-moving field in the most unusual way. He came from a modest working-class family south of Boston, where few went to college. But while in high school, he heard the astonishing news about the unraveling of DNA. He was hooked. He decided on a science project: cloning a chicken in his room. His bewildered parents did not know what he was doing, but they gave him their blessing.
    Determined to get his project off the ground, he went to Harvard to get advice. Not knowing anyone, he asked a man he thought was a janitor for some directions. Intrigued, the janitor took him to his office. Lanza found out later that the janitor was actually one of the senior researchers at the lab. Impressed by the sheer audacity of this brash young high school student, he introduced Lanza to other scientists there, including many Nobel-caliber researchers, who would change his life. Lanza compares himself to Matt Damon’s character in the movie
Good Will Hunting,
where a scruffy,street-smart working-class kid astonishes the professors at MIT, dazzling them with his mathematical genius.
    Today, Lanza is chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology, with hundreds of papers and inventions to his credit. In 2003, he made headlines when the San