main causes of war-our dependence on oil and religious prejudice.
Will we really, as today’s scientists claim, be able to live for ever or at least cheat the ageing
process so that the average person lives to 150?
Of course, all these predictions come with a scientific health warning. Harvard professor
Steven Pinker says: “This is an invitation to look foolish, as with the predictions of domed
cities and nuclear-powered vacuum cleaners that were made 50 year ago.”
Living longer
Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute in North Carolina, belives failing
organs will be repaired by injecting cells into the body. They will naturally to straight to the
injury and help heal it. A system of injections without needles could also slow the ageing
process by using the same process to “tune” cells.
Bruce Lahn, professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago, anticipates the
ability to produce“unlimited supplies” of transplantable human organs without the needed a
new organ, such as kidney, the surgeon would contact a commercial organ producer, give him
the patient’s immuno-logical profile and would then be sent a kidney with the correct tissue
type.
These organs would be entirely composed of human cells, grown by introducing them into
animal hosts, and alloweing them to deveoop into and organ in place of the animal’s own. But
Prof. Lahn believes that farmed brains would be “off limits”.He says: “Very few people would
want to have their brains replaced by someone else’s and we probably don’t want to put a
human brain ing an animal body.”
Richard Miller, a professor at the University of Michigan, thinks scientist could develop“an
thentic anti-ageing drugs” by working out how cells in larger animals such as whales and
human resist many forms of injuries. He says:“It’s is now routine, in laboratory mammals, to
extend lifespan by about 40%. Turning on the same protective systems in people should, by
2056, create the first class of 100-year-olds who are as vigorous and productive as today’s
people in their 60s”
Aliens
Conlin Pillinger ,professor of planerary sciences at the Open University,says:”I fancy that at
least we will be able to show that life didi start to evolve on Mars well as Earth.”Within
50years he hopes scientists will prove that alien life came here in Martian meteorites(陨石).
Chris McKay,a planetary scientist at NASA’s Ames Research Center.believes that in 50
years we may find evidence of alien life in ancient permanent forst of Mars or on other
planers.
He adds:”There is even a chance we will find alien life forms here on Earth.It mightbe as
different as English is to Chinese.
Priceton professor Freeman Dyson thinks it “likely” that life form outer space will be
discovered defore 2056 because the tools for finding it, such as optical and radio detection and
data processing,are improving.
He ays:”As soon as the first evidence is found,we will know what to look for and additional
discoveries are likely to follow quickly.Such discoveries are likely to have revolutionary
consequences for biology, astronomy and philosophy. They may change the way we look at
ourselves and our place in the universe.
Colonies in space