Until recently, the ‘science of the future’ was supposed to be electronics and artificial intelligence. Today it seems more and more likely that the next breakthrough in technology will be brought about through a combination of those two sciences with organic chemistry and genetic engineering. This science is the combination of biotechnology.
Organic chemistry enables us to produce marvelous synthetic materials. However, it is still difficult to manufacture anything that has the capacity of wool to conserve heat and also to absorb moisture. Nothing that we have been able to produce so far comes anywhere near the combination of strength, lightness, and flexibility that we find in the bodies of ordinary insects.
Nevertheless, scientists in the laboratory have already succeeded in ‘growing’ a material that has many of the characteristics of human skin. The next step may well be ‘biotech heart and eyes’ which can replace diseased organs in human beings. This will not be rejected by the body, as in the case with organs from humans.
The application of biotechnology to energy production seems even more promising. In 1996, the famous science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke, many of whose previous predictions have come true, said that we may soon be able to develop remarkable cheap and renewable sources of energy. Some of these power sources will be biological. Clarke and others have warned us repeatedly that sooner or later we will have to give up our dependence on non-renewable power sources. Coal, oil, and gas are indeed convenient. However, using them also means creating dangerously high levels of pollution. It will be impossible to meet the growing demand for energy without increasing that pollution to catastrophic levels unless we develop power sources that are both cheaper and cleaner.