domingo, 23 de diciembre de 2012

Predicciones científicas en los próximos 110 años.

Popular Mechanics, la famosa revista estadounidense de tecnología, ha realizado, con ayuda de sus lectores, un centenar de predicciones sobre cómo será el futuro en los próximos 110 años. Las predicciones, muy ambiciosas, abarcan distintos campos, desde la biología y la salud humanas hasta el hallazgo de la materia oscura, los viajes espaciales o el desarrollo increíble de la tecnología. Aquí recogemos algunas de ellas, pero te aconsejamos consultarlas todas en la web de la publicación, que las ha dividido en tres periodos diferentes: de 2012 a 2022, de 2023 a 2062 y de 2063 a 2122 .F.http://www.abc.es/ciencia/20121217/abci-predicciones-cientificas-para-proximos-201212171207.htm

Reproduzco las relacionadas con la longevidad del ser humano.

José Miguel Rodríguez-Pardo.

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2012—2022


Nanoparticles will make chemotherapy far more effective. By delivering tiny doses of cisplatin and docetaxel right to cancerous cells, the mini messengers will significantly reduce the pain and side effects of today's treatments. 
Your genome will be sequenced before you are born. Researchers led by Jay Shendure of the University of Washington recently reconstructed the genome of a fetus using saliva from the father and a blood sample from the mother (which yielded free-floating DNA from the child). Blood from the umbilical cord later confirmed that the sequencing was 98 percent accurate. Once the price declines, this procedure will allow us to do noninvasive prenatal testing. 

Genetic testing will be used to halt epidemics. A year ago, investigators at the National Human Genome Research Institute teamed with doctors in Maryland to track the outbreak of a deadly bacterial infection. The big breakthrough? Real-time genome sequencing, which helped them identify minute mutations in the microbe, determine how it spread, and quickly stop it. 

· Vaccines will wipe out drug addiction. The human immune system is supremely adept at detecting and neutralizing foreign substances. Why not train it to target illicit ones? That's the idea behind addiction vaccines: Persuade the body to produce antibodies that shut down drug molecules before they get to the brain. The concept works in mice. Human trials are under way. 


2023—2062


Checkups will be conducted by cellphone. The technology is no problem. Scientists are hard at work trying to perfect apps that can measure your heart and respiration rates, perform blood and saliva tests—even evaluate your cough. Question is how long will it take the medical industry to embrace them. 

Nurse Jackie will be a robot. By 2045, when seniors (60-plus) outnumber the planet's youth (15 and under) for the first time in history, hospitals will use robots to solve chronic staffing issues. Expect to find the new Nightingales lifting patients and pushing food carts. Engineers at Purdue University are thinking even bolder—designing mechanical scrub nurses that respond to hand gestures during surgery

2063—2122


Your Body Will Be Truly Connected


· Doctors will check your vital signs around the clock via tiny sensors.
· Stomach chips will monitor your diet to help you lose weight.
· Spinal cord implants will reverse paralysis.
· Brain chips will let you absorb data while you sleep.
· Brain interfaces will help you fully inhabit virtual worlds. 
One of us will celebrate a 150th birthday. Our money's on Keith Richards. Given recent advances in health, technology, and medicine and the rise of genome science, it's only a matter of time until someone gets to blow out all those candles—especially if you toss in a breakthrough on the scale of antibiotics, says David Ewing Duncan, author of When I'm 164. What are your odds of living to see our predictions come true? There are more than 300,000 centenarians on the globe already—and one hearty soul has reached the age of 122. 

Read more: 110 Predictions For the Next 110 Years - Popular Mechanics