Scientific American

Tomorrow's Medicine Scientific American

One hundred years ago, most of the medical treatments and technologies that we take for granted hadn't even been imagined or were found in the pages of science fiction novels rather than medical journals. Today, on the other hand, medical research often sounds like science fiction.

This audiobook, Tomorrow's Medicine, looks at some of the more fascinating areas where technology that could transform health is being developed, including cybernetics, regenerative medicine, nanotechnology, and genetically tailored treatments. Although many of these advances may not be ready to treat humans for many years, some of them may someday profoundly change--and extend--our lives. As exciting as the possibilities are to extend both the length and quality of life, immortality--or at least agelessness--may be forever out of our reach.

Even so, the doctors of a century past would surely be impressed by what medical science has accomplished in the past hundred years: antibiotics, organ transplants, and the elimination of smallpox, to name but a few. The next century should be equally impressive, and with the various types of new technologies on the horizon, many of us have a good chance of seeing it happen.