Self-driving cars will drive human beings. The Internet of Things will create smarter homes and offices. Space travel to Mars will spark galactic tourism. Automation will replace tedious work and free people to be creative. 3D printing machines will make it easy to manufacture anything we need from home.
These forward-thinking ideas were part of the conversation in 2019. They arose because 2020 appeared poised to usher in a new decade of breakthrough science that would change the world as we knew it. A sci-fi future appeared to be just around the corner.
Now all that optimism has disappeared. We suddenly find ourselves in uncertain times. Before the coronavirus pandemic showed up unpredictably to disrupt the normal flow of our lives, the world of science and technology promised an exciting new world. Everyone in the modern world expected more spectacular innovations, one marvelous invention following another.
Will Humanity Survive?
The coronavirus is not unstoppable. In countries around the world a massive lockdown effort is being made to limit travel and social gatherings to stop the spread of the virus. In scientific laboratories all around the world, some of the sharpest minds right now are analyzing virus samples to brainstorm ideas for a vaccine.
It is not unrealistic at all to hope that one branch of science, medical science, will develop a solution. It is not unrealistic at all to hope that political efforts will slow the spread of the virus. And it is not unrealistic at all to hope that economies will recover and return to their full strengths. Such hopes are not unrealistic because humans have survived pandemics for centuries. What's more, we have never known as much about microbiology. Our current level of scientific knowledge would have shocked those who survived earlier pandemics.
Renewing Our Faith in Medical Science
Since medical science is not easily accessible to the layperson because of its depth and layers of meaning, it's easy to forget many of the marvels of scientific discovery that have already shaped our world for the better.
Here are three reminders of how the search for the truth about the natural world has resulted in astonishing new breakthrough cures.
1. Better Diagnosis for Rare Diseases
Genetic mutation cause rare diseases, and about 7,000 rare diseases have affected millions of the world's population. Because of the rarity of these disorders, doctors have misdiagnosed them far more often than recognized them. Fortunately, scientists may have come up with a solution to this diagnostic problem. According to the Nature Reviews Drug Discovery journal, data scientists working with rare disease specialists have developed a system to identify rare diseases and make information about their characteristics available to physicians around the world.
2. A Potential Cure for Alzheimer's Disease
Before Professor John Hardy's speech at the Royal Society in London, any discussion of an Alzheimer cure bordered on wild speculation. Now the University College London Professor is awaiting the results of key trials and hopes to come up with new therapies in five years.
3. A Laser Pen That Seals Wounds
Star Trek has had many memorable scenes where doctors on board a starship sealed wounded humans or aliens with a pen-like device. While we viewed this idea as the stuff of good science fiction, a portable laser pen that instantly seals wounds now exists.
Has the world as we know it come to a grinding halt? Has science and technology begun its descent? Although apocalyptic philosophies and conspiracy theorists might promulgate this grim scenario online, it seems far more likely that medical scientists are quietly working behind the scenes to save the world.
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