Sooner or later, I foresee a world with out pandemics, most cancers changing into a factor of the previous, and developments that allow bionic variations to our our bodies, resulting in a life expectancy of simply over 100 years.
Whereas a few of these developments could appear distant, we’re on the cusp of constructing them a actuality throughout the subsequent few many years. Nonetheless, it’s important to query whether or not human greed may hinder technological progress, as I’ve already witnessed in some situations.
Rising up in Los Angeles, I rode the Crimson Automotive, traditionally the world’s largest electrical railway system. However what occurred to it? Rumor has it that tire producers, in collaboration with the auto trade, lobbied for the growth of the freeway system, which finally led to the demise of the Crimson Automotive in 1961. This resolution boosted their income whereas leaving Los Angeles and its neighboring communities grappling with street congestion, air pollution, time delays, and elevated gas consumption. Even now, LA Metro is struggling to catch up in creating satisfactory public transportation. These previous rumors might maintain some fact.
Equally, may precious expertise be shelved to the detriment of sufferers on account of greed within the medical subject? Is it attainable that greed exists within the medical-industrial advanced? As somebody who suffers from hip arthritis, I’m hopeful in regards to the potential of stem cell analysis. Though it’s nonetheless in its infancy, we will already replicate joint synovial fluid within the laboratory. This opens up the opportunity of injecting it into sufferers sooner or later to offer a cushion for arthritis. Nonetheless, may this development be hindered by the medical trade’s vested pursuits?
Joint replacements, particularly for hips and knees, are profitable for hospitals, medical doctors, rehabilitation services, and steel, ceramic, and plastic joint producers. These procedures generate billions of {dollars} in income, which they is probably not keen to surrender, significantly if another resolution like limitless synovial fluid derived from stem cells could possibly be achieved by way of a easy injection.
This raises the vital query of how a lot progress could be made within the medical subject if greed holds us again. Will developments be extended to the following century, leading to a slowdown in enhancing our high quality of life? It’s essential for the general public to acknowledge the presence of greed in society and inside human nature, and take motion towards it.
We should attempt to make sure that stopping pandemics, conquering most cancers, and enhancing our high quality of life grow to be the legacy we go away for the long run generations of kids and grandchildren. Due to this fact, we should do all the things in our energy to place greed apart and prioritize the frequent good. Solely then can we unlock the total potential of expertise and really remodel the observe of drugs for the higher.
Gene Uzawa Dorio is an inner drugs doctor who blogs at SCV Physician Report.
