Lucky us. :) Nanotech Will Exterminate All Genetic Disease!!

[R-D-A]

Nanotech May Extend Life
Through a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology, scientists may be able to eliminate disease and aging, Ray Kurzweil tells Computerworld.

Framingham - In 30 or 40 years, we'll have microscopic machines traveling through our bodies, repairing damaged cells and organs, effectively wiping out diseases. The nanotechnology will also be used to back up our memories and personalities.

In an interview with Computerworld, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil said that anyone alive come 2040 or 2050 could be close to immortal. The quickening advance of nanotechnology means that the human condition will shift into more of a collaboration of man and machine , as nanobots flow through human blood streams and eventually even replace biological blood, he added.

That may sound like something out of a sci-fi movie, but Kurzweil, a member of the Inventor's Hall of Fame and a recipient of the National Medal of Technology, says that research well underway today is leading to a time when a combination of nanotechnology and biotechnology will wipe out cancer, Alzheimer's disease, obesity and diabetes.

It'll also be a time when humans will augment their natural cognitive powers and add years to their lives, Kurzweil said.

"It's radical life extension," Kurzweil said. "The full realization of nanobots will basically eliminate biological disease and aging. I think we'll see widespread use in 20 years of [nanotech] devices that perform certain functions for us. In 30 or 40 years, we will overcome disease and aging. The nanobots will scout out organs and cells that need repairs and simply fix them. It will lead to profound extensions of our health and longevity."

Of course, people will still be struck by lightning or hit by a bus, but much more trauma will be repairable. If nanobots swim in, or even replace, biological blood, then wounds could be healed almost instantly. Limbs could be regrown. Backed up memories and personalities could be accessed after a head trauma.

Today, researchers at MIT already are using nanoparticles to deliver killer genes that battle late-stage cancer. The university reported just last month the nano-based treatment killed ovarian cancer, which is considered to be one of the most deadly cancers, in mice.

And earlier this year, scientists at the University of London reported using nanotechnology to blast cancer cells in mice with "tumor busting" genes, giving new hope to patients with inoperable tumors. So far, tests have shown that the new technique leaves healthy cells undamaged.

With this kind of work going on now, Kurzweil says that by 2024 we'll be adding a year to our life expectancy with every year that passes. "The sense of time will be running in and not running out," he added. "Within 15 years, we will reverse this loss of remaining life expectancy. We will be adding more time than is going by."

And in 35 to 40 years, we basically will be immortal, according to the man who wrote The Age of Spiritual Machines and The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.

Kurzweil also maintains that adding microscopic machines to our bodies won't make us any less human than we are today or were 500 years ago.

"The definition of human is that we are the species that goes beyond our limitations and changes who we are," he said. "If that wasn't the case, you and I wouldn't be around because at one point life expectancy was 23. We've extended ourselves in many ways. This is an extension of who we are. Ever since we picked up a stick to reach a higher branch, we've extended who we are through tools. It's the nature of human beings to change who we are."

But that doesn't mean there aren't parts of this future that don't worry him. With nanotechnology so advanced that it can travel through our bodies and affect great change on them, come dangers as well as benefits.

The nanobots, he explained, will be self-replicating and engineers will have to harness and contain that replication.

"You could have some self-replicating nanobot that could create copies of itself...and ultimately, within 90 replications, it could devour the body it's in or all humans if it becomes a non-biological plague," said Kurzweil. "Technology is not a utopia. It's a double-edged sword and always has been since we first had fire."

Thanks for reading,

R-D-A

[Boomachucka]

The bit I don't get though is how nanotech could stop cellular degeneration.

The healthiest people in the world haven't lived past what, about 105 or 110? Which is super long, but still. It seems that humans are genetically pre-programmed to 'run out of gas', so to speak, at the high double to low triple digits.

[Walas00]

Prepair for overpopulation...
Anyway that will cost a fortune

The problem starts when nanobots will start to exterminate the good cells...

[R-D-A]

Yeh well...this is all speculations but it would be really awesome if the bots wouldnt go nuts..

[Kestor]

I can only repeat myself:

"Lucky?"

[Mune]

I really hope this happens... In fact there's no point doubting it, technology is advancing even faster than I thought... Soon as I'm actually old enough to start contributing to science, I'll give it everything I have to advance us even further...

I want interstellar space travel... By the time I'm old enough to fully contribute, we'll probably of already got it damned.

Awesome topic, keep us updated with any news.

[R-D-A]

Kestor why are you so negative towards this...although I think I already know

[Human No More]

It's certainly an interesting development, the question is whether there is really a maximum age people can reach biologically, or if lives will continue to be extended.

[R-D-A]

Well..maximum is impossible I think. Back in our grandfathers' day we used to hear : He died of old age. Thats not right. Something kills us. Whether it is Cancer or a Heart Disorder, senility , decrepitude...its something. If we can reduce something to Nothing then our body would have no reason to die..

[Skxawng]

Nanomachines can be programmed to go after certain cells in the body; Eg Cancer cells or something as trivial as the Common Cold. If Blood was replaced with Artificial Blood that contained the necessary Nanobots to target any foreign body then potentially a person could be protected against most dieases. Nano bots could also be used to help growth and multiplication of cells that need to be replenished in order for us to live, Eg; continued regeneration on heart and lung tissue meaning long lasting, healthy hearts and lungs.

Potentially Nanotech has the power to do almost anything to a body, and it will be so cool to see what these Mad Scientists have to offer for it

~Skxawng

Edit: One thing to think about - In the last 100 years we have advanced more than we have in the past 10000 years technologically - And the process is only speeding up - Anyone else feel excited?

[R-D-A]

Yeh This is Biotechnology's Century Current reports suggest that in this century tech will advance 21.000% more than any other century ever before in human History! Man the things we are going to see!