Bio Technology advances

Bio technology is one of the cutting edge fields of the 21st century.   The potentials for rapid advances in understanding biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics and microtechnology will likely have the greatest impacts on the changes that we see in the next twenty years.

The role of biotech in the future has as many possible shapes and forms as biological organisms themselves.   A deep understanding of biology and the genetic information will impact the fields of medicine, energy, food production, longevity, computing, and areas which may not even be yet considered.

Biological structures are the fundamental building blocks of all that we see.  While it may be debated how those building blocks came to be, it is reasonably clear that like all else in our environment we will be driven to understand how to apply the tools that we are presented with.

Bio Tech Manufacturing

Bio technology in manufacturing can have huge impacts.   Whether it is in the creation of custom molecular structures and substances, creating better plastics or in the synthesis and reduction of waste compounds which might normally be highly toxic or radioactive.

In food production, bio tech is a frontier which has huge potentials, as biological farms may directly produces superfoods that are algae or fungus based, or as an alternative to petrochemical based fertilizers for crops that we now eat.

Bio Technology Medicine

In medicine biotechnology promises to work alongside of nano-technology to revolutionize medicines and medicine production, organic synthesis of novel compounds and drugs, and the more direct application of understanding our physical selves better.

Anagethics

Anagathics (anti aging), cellular renewal and replacement organ growth are some of the more promising direct applications.  These technologies have the potential to inexpensively allow long life spans for humans, to literally biblical proportions, with potential life spans in the hundreds or thousands of years being potentially on the near horizon.

Medical compounds can be produced by bio technology which can modify basic organisms to feed off of almost any substance, create specific organic chemical reactions and produce other substances as a byproduct.  Many modern drugs are already created using this process.  Other interesting medical applications of biotechnology include the ability to do highly targeted gene therapy.   Often this is a combination of genetic information and nanotech delivery systems.  Specific genetic triggers can be activated, de-activated or re-encoded in much the way that a piece of computer software will produce specific results in the operating system.

Biotech Computing

 Biological based computers have an amazing capacity to calculate neural net type problems, the famous traveling salesperson problem, an efficient route finding test was recently solved by modified bacteria with specific traits.   Advanced biological computers are potentially possible, and may be useful for solving highly complex problems that are difficult or impossible to solve by conventional brute force computation.    A biological computer has the potential to surpass a supercomputer in problem solving ability for certain types of problems. 

Biotech and the environment

One of the most interesting aspects of biotechnology is its potential to dramatically or subtly alter the environment.  

Many of these techniques are highly questionable, such as Monsanto’s suicide gene plants.   Introducing new organisms into the environment always carries risks, and history has shown that these risks are not always foreseen.   Other techniques, particularly those carried out in controlled environments have fascinating potentials.

Examples of biotechnology applications would include the ability to clean up radioactive wastes, the ability to produce hydrocarbon based fuels such as oil and the ability to recycle types of waste, such as plastics, in a way in which nature normally has great difficulty with.

BioTech and the Future

Nature is constantly changing, and like it or not we hold some of the keys.  The wise course is to carefully consider the implications of our choices before they reach into the wider world.  

Bio technology will have revolutionary impacts on the relationship between man, himself and his environment.    This is a fascinating field and has the potential to both cure disease, extend mans life span, make life better or create tremendous unanticipated problems if not managed carefully,  This is a trait that biotech shares with almost every cutting edge technology.   We can only hope that we will ultimately arrive at the best possible solutions and avoid the temptation to stray too far into the dark side of these powerful technologies.