The Top 12 Technologies to Watch in 2022
Some will scare you, most will blow your mind
“The future is already here,” William Gibson once wrote. “It’s just not evenly distributed.”
Some of you, dear readers, might live well into your 150s — and even keep your brains and curves till the very end. Not bad, eh? Wait until you discover that your granddaughter could spend her summer internship on the Moon and that her son might upload his mind into a computer to cheat death.
I’m not even exaggerating; I might be underestimating the technological leaps we’ve witnessed over the last year. Below you’ll find a list of those achievements and what to expect in the near future.
1. CRISPR edits DNA to beat genetic diseases
CRISPR is a technology that relies on two key molecules to edit DNA. The first molecule, called Cas9, works like biological scissors. It can cut DNA in specific locations allowing for edits (removal, change, or addition). The second molecule is an enzyme that acts as a GPS, giving the Cas9 scissors the exact coordinates of where to edit DNA.
CRISPR’s main use case is to turn off or replace bad genes to cure disease. The changes do not spread to the patients’ children, eliminating the worrisome risk of messing up the human genome.
In September 2021, two separate CRISPR experiments managed to reverse blindness. One of the patients was able to re-see colors for the first time in years when he noticed a red car driving past him roughly a month after the treatment. Even more impressive, the experiments used injections for the first time. Usually, researchers remove sick cells from patients’ bodies, edit them in a lab, and infuse them back in. The breakthrough promises significantly less painful treatments for those who suffer from an unfair gene distribution.
Now the scary part.
CRISPR can be used to design superhuman babies. It’s now possible to edit embryos to give them…
