Life Imitating Fiction

All inventions begin in the imagination, so it shouldn't be surprising that some of yesterday's sci-fi fantasies are becoming today's newspaper headlines. Here's a look at how far research, medicine, and technology have advanced, and where we might be headed in the future.

In 1932, Aldous Huxley gave us a vision of a Brave New World that was thought-provoking, chilling, and eerily prescient. His description of a London 600 years in the future is free from poverty and strife. However, it is also a totalitarian state in which personal freedom is virtually eliminated. All people are factory-made from 96 clones, and separated into one of five social classes based on their genetic makeup. Free time is spent in the pursuit of mindless pleasure, and the drug Soma removes any lingering discontent.

Today, our technological capabilities are far ahead of Huxley's timeline. Antidepressants and other mood-altering drugs have been widely used for decades, and some would argue that we rely on them to a dangerous degree. More recently, advances in genetics and reproductive technology have raised urgent questions about how far we should go to gain control of our own genetic destinies.

The Blueprint for a Person

Each person's genetic makeup holds the answer to many questions, including "How long can I expect to live?" and "Which diseases should I watch out for?" Then there are riddles that concern the entire human race, such as "How much of who we are comes from nature and how much from nurture?" "What makes one person different from another?" and "What makes us human?"

We came closer to the answers with the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003. Through an immense international effort, all of the three billion base pairs that make up human DNA were sequenced, and the 20,000 to 25,000 genes that make up the blueprint of human life identified. The project took 13 years to complete, and the information is being used to determine the genetic basis of diseases, analyze similarities and differences among populations, and for numerous other research and medical applications.

Engineering Baby

Thou shall not create human-animal hybrids.

Thou shall not make changes to human DNA that can be passed from one generation to the next.

Thou may use human stem cells and embryos in the pursuit of science and medicine, but thou shall not grow human embryos for research purposes.

These are not the governing edicts of some futuristic society, but paraphrases of actual laws from Canada's Bill C-13: Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Adopted in 2003, the bill is an attempt to regulate existing practices such as IVF, and possible future technologies, such as human cloning.

Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, was born on July 25, 1978. Since that time, advances in assisted reproductive technology have helped hundreds of thousands of people, and changed some time-honored notions of fertility and parenthood. For example, freezing eggs and sperm can potentially offer a safeguard for people who face infertility due to disease or its treatment, can allow women to bank healthy eggs from their youth for later use, and can even enable deceased people to become biological parents.

In addition to creating babies, techniques such as egg harvesting, IVF, and surrogacy have also spawned some interesting headlines. For instance, a Japanese woman gave birth to her own grandchild in 2005, and an American woman gave birth to her twin grandchildren in 2006.

Every parent wants a child who is healthy, smart, and beautiful. Currently, prenatal testing can already determine the sex of the fetus before birth, along with the presence of diseases such as Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, and spina bifida. But what if you want a "perfect" baby, and not just one who is disease-free? Further study of the human genome will likely reveal the genetic basis for physical traits like height and skin color, along with genetic predispositions for traits like intelligence, athleticism, and creativity. Combine that with existing technologies like genetic screening, blastocyst cloning, and intracytoplasmic sperm injection, and we may soon be able to determine a person's genetic makeup before they're even conceived.

However, both history and speculative fiction warn us against putting too much faith in genes alone. If perfect health were a prerequisite for existence, then the world would never have known Julius Caesar (epileptic), Ludwig van Beethoven (deaf), or Stephen Hawking (ALS sufferer). Movie buffs can turn to Gattaca for a cautionary tale of genetic discrimination. In this futuristic world, a person's DNA determines their occupation and station in life. Despite his supposed genetic inferiority, the protagonist fools the genetic screeners and defies the odds to become a space traveler. Even if we one day unlock all the secrets of our genes, we shouldn't allow genetics to determine our destiny.

Cloning

Cloning is one of the most controversial forms of genetic engineering. A.E. Van Vogt's 1945 novel The World of Null-A was one of the first books to explore the topic. Other works quickly followed, including Arthur C. Clarke's Imperial Earth, Richard Cowper's Clone, Nancy Freedman's Joshua, Son of None, and Ira Levin's The Boys from Brazil, which was made into a movie of the same name. For something a little more lighthearted, check out the movie Multiplicity, in which a man clones himself to cope with the stress of everyday life.

The possibility of human cloning exploded onto headlines around the world in 1996. The catalyst was the birth of Dolly the sheep, the first mammal successfully cloned from a mature cell. In 2005, British researchers successfully created cloned human embryos, and an American team managed to clone human embryos from skin cells in 2008.

Although cloning is useful in the creation of stem cells and other procedures, many countries are moving towards banning human cloning research for safety and ethical reasons. On March 8, 2005, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding declaration against all forms of human cloning. Canada's Bill C-6 states: "No person shall knowingly create a human clone by using any technique." And in the United States, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and other organizations have made public statements suggesting that human reproductive cloning should be banned.

Nonhuman Genetic Engineering

Bacteria that make diesel fuel, mice engineered to develop human diseases, and pet fish that glow in the dark – sometimes truth really is stranger than fiction!

Nonhuman genetic engineering is already commonplace in medical and biological research, drug development, agriculture, and other disciplines. Researchers frequently add, remove, or modify the function of genes to test hypotheses about how they work. Some laboratory animals are genetically manipulated to acquire certain medical conditions, so that they can serve as experimental models for studying human diseases and their treatments. In fact, in my former job as a research lab tech, I used to screen 50 transgenic mice a day. My favorite strain was our lab's glow-in-the-dark mice, which contained the jellyfish green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Humble bacteria can serve as medicine-making factories in the pharmaceutical industry. For example, Lantus insulin is made by E. coli bacteria which have been genetically modified to produce a human insulin analog.

Think you've never seen a genetically modified organism? Try looking in your sandwich or rice bowl! According to a January 21, 2006 article in New Scientist, genetically modified (GM) crops are cultivated by about 8.5 million farmers in 21 countries. Foreign genes are inserted into crop plants, creating new varieties that grow faster, produce higher yields, or resist disease or insects.

Medical Imaging

In the 1966 movie Fantastic Voyage, a group of scientists and their submarine shrank to miniature proportions, and traveled through a man's body to save him from a lethal blood clot. Younger people may remember The Magic School Bus, which once journeyed Inside Ralphie for an inside look at how the body battles a cold.

Although medical imaging can't transport mini doctors around your body, the views provided by modern equipment are just as detailed and astonishing. Endoscopy allows physicians to examine virtually any area of the patient's insides, and is used in diagnosis, biopsy, and minimally invasive surgery. Medical devices can also see what the naked eye cannot. MRI provides detailed views of the body's internal workings, and functional MRI (fMRI) can track the flow of blood inside the brain to see how a person thinks and feels. Physicians can even gain a form of enhanced vision with the aid of an auto-fluorescent laparoscope. Rather than use visible light, the organ is illuminated with short wavelengths (380–450 nanometers) of blue light. Since different types of tissue give off different amounts of light, healthy tissue remains dark while diseased tissue glows bright green.

What might be next on the horizon? How about using viruses as "nanocameras" to look inside living cells? An existing technique called Raman spectroscopy paints a picture of the cell's interior by bombarding it with laser light. The image is improved fivefold when the cell contains gold nanoparticles, but it's extremely difficult to prevent the cell from immediately expelling the gold. Since viruses are already adapted to enter and occupy living cells, researchers have turned them into cameras by replacing their viral RNA with gold nanoparticles. If the technique is successful, scientists will be able to generate cellular maps with a resolution of 30 nanometers, or 15 times the width of a single strand of DNA. Next to these tiny nanocameras, the microscopic travelers of the Fantastic Voyage seem like hulking giants!

Bionics and Cybernetics

Remember Steve Austin from the 70s TV series The Six Million Dollar Man? Following a near-fatal accident, bionic technology transformed him from "a man barely alive" to a super-agent who was "better, stronger, faster" than any mere mortal.

Real bionics won't give you superhuman powers, but they can restore function and extend lives. Technologies that are currently on the market include artificial hearts, robotic suits to boost strength, cochlear implants to restore hearing, and a bionic hand that responds to electrical signals from the wearer's own muscles.

Recently, researchers from the University of South Carolina have come one step closer to restoring vision to the blind. According to a February 16, 2007 article on BBC News, the group has received FDA approval to conduct human trials for their Argus II bionic eye system. Volunteers will have 60 electrodes surgically implanted onto their retinas. A camera mounted on a pair of glasses captures images from the outside world and transmits them to a computerized processing unit. The processing unit interprets the signals, then wirelessly transmits them to the electrodes of the retinal implant. The electrodes send signals to the brain, and the whole system allows the patient to see in real-time. An earlier version of the Argus system has already restored some sight to six patients, who were able to make out shapes and avoid obstacles. If the current trials are successful, then the bionic eye implant system may become widely available within two years.

Are you a fan of the Terminator movies or sci-fi thrillers like The Terminal Man? For a few researchers, exceeding human abilities through cybernetics isn't a mere fantasy, but something they're willing to try firsthand.

Engineering professor Steve Mann of Toronto has lived as a cyborg since 1979. He perceives the world through his WearComp (wearable computer) and WearCam (glasses containing an EyeTap camera and computer display). Both the computer and eye camera are linked to a system of wires and sensors that enhance Mann's vision, augment his memory, and connect him to the internet and other networks. Mann uses the system to "mediate reality" by programming the computer to "see" objects behind him, change the way he perceives colors, or project his email messages onto billboards and other outside objects. He also uses the system for more mundane purposes such as reading his lecture notes from the WearCam monitor. In fact, the system has become such an integral part of Mann's body that he has difficulty functioning without it. In February of 2002, airport security "unplugged" Dr. Mann by making him turn off his computer and remove his special glasses. According to a March 14, 2002 article from The New York Times, the experience caused Mann severe disorientation which resulted in him needing a wheelchair. Mann also argues that being abruptly separated from his system caused him physical and mental damage. Dr. Mann has published numerous scientific papers and the book Cyborg. His life and work was also the subject of a 2001 documentary called Cyberman.

Professor Kevin Warwick of Reading, England, is another cyborg. In 2002, he had a microchip array of 100 electrodes surgically implanted in the nerve fiber of his left arm. By relaying signals from his microchip through the internet, Warwick remotely controlled an electric wheelchair and a robotic hand simply by moving his own arm. Warwick was also able to create artificial sensations by stimulating single electrodes within his implant, and transmit those sensations to his wife Irena, who had a simpler version of the implant connected to her nervous system.

Does all this technology scare you? If you're more comfortable seeing such advanced technology in a fictional realm than in the real world, rest easy: While The Six Million Dollar Man has yet to be resurrected, a reworked, updated version of the 1976–1978 series The Bionic Woman premiered on NBC on September 26, 2007. But keep in mind that like the protagonists of any sci-fi thriller, we must strive to understand and adapt to our Brave New World full of stunning possibilities.

Discuss This Article

Have something you'd like to say? Tell us what you think! Read and post comments for this article.

Find a Job

Choose your career:

MedHunters is the world's biggest healthcare job board. Our job directory has 16,641 jobs with 2,422 hospitals and other direct employers.

We want you to find your next job on MedHunters. Need Help? Call us at 1-888-884-8242, email us at info@medhunters.com or sign up now.