Part 15 (1/2)

One example of a conceptual design for such a system, called Primo Posthuman, was created by artist and cultural catalyst Natasha Vita-More.3 Her design is intended to optimize mobility, flexibility, and superlongevity. It envisions features such as a metabrain for global-net connection with a prosthetic neocortex of AI interwoven with nan.o.bots, solar-protected smart skin that has biosensors for tone and texture changeability, and high-acuity senses. Her design is intended to optimize mobility, flexibility, and superlongevity. It envisions features such as a metabrain for global-net connection with a prosthetic neocortex of AI interwoven with nan.o.bots, solar-protected smart skin that has biosensors for tone and texture changeability, and high-acuity senses.

Although version 2.0 of the human body is an ongoing grand project that will ultimately result in the radical upgrading of all our physical and mental systems, we will implement it one small, benign step at a time. Based on our current knowledge, we can describe the means for accomplis.h.i.+ng each aspect of this vision.

Redesigning the Digestive System. From this perspective, let's return to a consideration of the digestive system. We already have a comprehensive picture of the components of the food we eat. We know how to enable people who cannot eat to survive, using intravenous nutrition. However, this is clearly not a desirable alternative, since our technologies for getting substances in and out of the bloodstream are currently quite limited. From this perspective, let's return to a consideration of the digestive system. We already have a comprehensive picture of the components of the food we eat. We know how to enable people who cannot eat to survive, using intravenous nutrition. However, this is clearly not a desirable alternative, since our technologies for getting substances in and out of the bloodstream are currently quite limited.

The next phase of improvement in this area will be largely biochemical, in the form of drugs and supplements that will prevent excess caloric absorption and otherwise reprogram metabolic pathways for optimal health. Research by Dr. Ron Kahn at the Joslin Diabetes Center has already identified the ”fat insulin receptor” (FIR) gene, which controls acc.u.mulation of fat by the fat cells. By blocking the expression of this single gene in the fat cells of mice, Dr. Kahn's pioneering research has demonstrated that the animals were able to eat without restriction yet remain lean and healthy. Although they ate far more than the control mice, the ”FIR knockout” mice actually lived 18 percent longer and had substantially lower rates of heart disease and diabetes. It's no surprise that pharmaceutical companies are hard at work to apply these findings to the human FIR gene.

In an intermediate phase nan.o.bots in the digestive tract and bloodstream will intelligently extract the precise nutrients we need, order additional nutrients and supplements through our personal wireless local-area network, and send the rest of the matter on to be eliminated.

If this seems futuristic, keep in mind that intelligent machines are already making their way into our bloodstream. There are dozens of projects under way to create bloodstream-based BioMEMS for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.4 As mentioned, there are several major conferences devoted to these projects. As mentioned, there are several major conferences devoted to these projects.5 BioMEMS devices are being designed to intelligently scout out pathogens and deliver medications in very precise ways. BioMEMS devices are being designed to intelligently scout out pathogens and deliver medications in very precise ways.

For example, nanoengineered blood-borne devices that deliver hormones such as insulin have been demonstrated in animals.6 Similar systems could precisely deliver dopamine to the brain for Parkinson's patients, provide blood-clotting factors for patients with hemophilia, and deliver cancer drugs directly to tumor sites. One new design provides up to twenty substance-containing reservoirs that can release their cargo at programmed times and locations in the body. Similar systems could precisely deliver dopamine to the brain for Parkinson's patients, provide blood-clotting factors for patients with hemophilia, and deliver cancer drugs directly to tumor sites. One new design provides up to twenty substance-containing reservoirs that can release their cargo at programmed times and locations in the body.7 Kensall Wise, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of Michigan, has developed a tiny neural probe that can provide precise monitoring of the electrical activity of patients with neural diseases.8 Future designs are also expected to deliver drugs to precise locations in the brain. Kazus.h.i.+ Is.h.i.+yama at Tohoku University in j.a.pan has developed micromachines that use microscopic spinning screws to deliver drugs to small cancer tumors. Future designs are also expected to deliver drugs to precise locations in the brain. Kazus.h.i.+ Is.h.i.+yama at Tohoku University in j.a.pan has developed micromachines that use microscopic spinning screws to deliver drugs to small cancer tumors.9 A particularly innovative micromachine developed by Sandia National Laboratories has microteeth with a jaw that opens and closes to trap individual cells and then implant them with substances such as DNA, proteins, or drugs.10 Many approaches are being developed for micro- and nanoscale machines to go into the body and bloodstream. Many approaches are being developed for micro- and nanoscale machines to go into the body and bloodstream.

Ultimately we will be able to determine the precise nutrients (including all the hundreds of phytochemicals) necessary for the optimal health of each individual. These will be freely and inexpensively available, so we won't need to bother with extracting nutrients from food at all.

Nutrients will be introduced directly into the bloodstream by special metabolic nan.o.bots, while sensors in our bloodstream and body, using wireless communication, will provide dynamic information on the nutrients needed at each point in time. This technology should be reasonably mature by the late 2020s.

A key question in designing such systems will be, How will nan.o.bots be introduced into and removed from the body? The technologies we have today, such as intravenous catheters, leave much to be desired. Unlike drugs and nutritional supplements, however, nan.o.bots have a measure of intelligence and can keep track of their own inventories and intelligently slip in and out of our bodies in clever ways. One scenario is that we would wear a special nutrient device in a belt or unders.h.i.+rt, which would be loaded with nutrient-bearing nan.o.bots that could enter the body through the skin or other body cavities.

At that stage of technological development, we will be able to eat whatever we want, whatever gives us pleasure and gastronomic fulfillment, exploring the culinary arts for their tastes, textures, and aromas while having an optimal flow of nutrients to our bloodstream. One possibility to achieve this would be to have all the food we eat pa.s.s through a modified digestive tract that doesn't allow absorption into the bloodstream. But this would place a burden on our colon and bowel functions, so a more refined approach would be to dispense with the conventional function of elimination. We could accomplish that by using special elimination nan.o.bots that act like tiny garbage compactors. As the nutrient nan.o.bots make their way into our bodies, the elimination nan.o.bots go the other way. Such an innovation would also enable us to out grow the need for the organs that filter the blood for impurities, such as the kidneys.

Ultimately we won't need to bother with special garments or explicit nutritional resources. Just as computation will be ubiquitous, the basic metabolic nan.o.bot resources we need will be embedded throughout our environment. But it will also be important to maintain ample reserves of all needed resources inside inside the body. Our version 1.0 bodies do this to only a very limited extent-for example, storing a few minutes' worth of oxygen in our blood and a few days' worth of caloric energy in glycogen and other reserves. Version 2.0 will provide substantially greater reserves, enabling us to be separated from metabolic resources for greatly extended periods of time. the body. Our version 1.0 bodies do this to only a very limited extent-for example, storing a few minutes' worth of oxygen in our blood and a few days' worth of caloric energy in glycogen and other reserves. Version 2.0 will provide substantially greater reserves, enabling us to be separated from metabolic resources for greatly extended periods of time.

Of course, most of us won't do away with our old-fas.h.i.+oned digestive process when these technologies are first introduced. After all, people didn't throw away their typewriters when the first generation of word processors was introduced. However, these new technologies will in due course dominate. Few people today still use a typewriter, a horse and buggy, a wood-burning stove, or other displaced technologies (other than as deliberate experiences in antiquity). The same phenomenon will happen with our reengineered bodies. Once we've worked out the inevitable complications that will arise with a radically reengineered gastrointestinal system, we'll begin to rely on it more and more. A nan.o.bot-based digestive system can be introduced gradually, first augmenting our digestive tract, replacing it only after many iterations.

Programmable Blood. One pervasive system that has already been the subject of a comprehensive conceptual redesign based on reverse engineering is our blood. I mentioned earlier Rob Freitas's nanotechnology-based designs to replace our red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells. One pervasive system that has already been the subject of a comprehensive conceptual redesign based on reverse engineering is our blood. I mentioned earlier Rob Freitas's nanotechnology-based designs to replace our red blood cells, platelets, and white blood cells.11 Like most of our biological systems our red blood cells perform their oxygenating function very inefficiently, so Freitas has redesigned them for optimal performance. Because his respirocytes (robotic red blood cells) would enable one to go hours without oxygen, Like most of our biological systems our red blood cells perform their oxygenating function very inefficiently, so Freitas has redesigned them for optimal performance. Because his respirocytes (robotic red blood cells) would enable one to go hours without oxygen,12 it will be interesting to see how this development is dealt with in athletic contests. Presumably the use of respirocytes and similar systems will be prohibited in events like the Olympics, but then we will face the prospect of teenagers (whose bloodstreams will likely contain respirocyte-enriched blood) routinely outperforming Olympic athletes. Although prototypes are still one to two decades in the future, their physical and chemical requirements have been worked out in impressive detail. a.n.a.lyses show that Freitas's designs would be hundreds or thousands of times more capable of storing and transporting oxygen than our biological blood. it will be interesting to see how this development is dealt with in athletic contests. Presumably the use of respirocytes and similar systems will be prohibited in events like the Olympics, but then we will face the prospect of teenagers (whose bloodstreams will likely contain respirocyte-enriched blood) routinely outperforming Olympic athletes. Although prototypes are still one to two decades in the future, their physical and chemical requirements have been worked out in impressive detail. a.n.a.lyses show that Freitas's designs would be hundreds or thousands of times more capable of storing and transporting oxygen than our biological blood.

Freitas also envisions micron-size artificial platelets that could achieve homeostasis (bleeding control) up to one thousand times faster than biological platelets do,13 as well as nanorobotic ”microbivores” (white-blood-cell replacements) that will download software to destroy specific infections hundreds of times faster than antibiotics and will be effective against all bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, as well as cancer, with no limitations of drug resistance. as well as nanorobotic ”microbivores” (white-blood-cell replacements) that will download software to destroy specific infections hundreds of times faster than antibiotics and will be effective against all bacterial, viral, and fungal infections, as well as cancer, with no limitations of drug resistance.14

Have a Heart, or Not. The next organ on our list for enhancement is the heart, which, while an intricate and impressive machine, has a number of severe problems. It is subject to a myriad of failure modes and represents a fundamental weakness in our potential longevity. The heart usually breaks down long before the rest of the body, often very prematurely. The next organ on our list for enhancement is the heart, which, while an intricate and impressive machine, has a number of severe problems. It is subject to a myriad of failure modes and represents a fundamental weakness in our potential longevity. The heart usually breaks down long before the rest of the body, often very prematurely.

Although artificial hearts are beginning to be feasible replacements, a more effective approach will be to get rid of the heart altogether. Among Freitas's designs are nanorobotic blood cells that provide their own mobility. If the blood moves autonomously, the engineering issues of the extreme pressures required for centralized pumping can be eliminated. As we perfect ways to transfer nan.o.bots to and from the blood supply, we will eventually be able to continuously replace them. Freitas has also published a design for a complex five-hundred-trillion-nanorobot system, called a ”vasculoid,” that replaces the entire human bloodstream with nonfluid-based delivery of essential nutrients and cells.15 Energy for the body will also be provided by microscopic fuel cells, using either hydrogen or the body's own fuel, ATP. As I described in the last chapter, substantial progress has been made recently with both MEMS-scale and nanoscale fuel cells, including some that use the body's own glucose and ATP energy sources.16 With the respirocytes providing greatly improved oxygenation, we will be able to eliminate the lungs by using nan.o.bots to provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. As with other systems, we will go through intermediate stages where these technologies simply augment our natural processes, so we can have the best of both worlds. Eventually, though, there will be no reason to continue with the complications of actual breathing and the burdensome requirement of breathable air everywhere we go. If we find breathing itself pleasurable, we can develop virtual ways of having this sensual experience.

In time we also won't need the various organs that produce chemicals, hormones, and enzymes that flow into the blood and other metabolic pathways. We can now synthesize bio-identical versions of many of these substances, and within one to two decades we will be able to routinely create the vast majority of biochemically relevant substances. We are already creating artificial hormone organs. For example, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and California-based Medtronic MiniMed are developing an artificial pancreas to be implanted under the skin. It will monitor blood glucose levels and release precise amounts of insulin, using a computer program to function like our biological pancreatic islet cells.17 In human body version 2.0 hormones and related substances (to the extent that we still need them) will be delivered via nan.o.bots, controlled by intelligent biofeedback systems to maintain and balance required levels. Since we will be eliminating most of our biological organs, many of these substances may no longer be needed and will be replaced by other resources required by the nanorobotic systems.

So What's Left? Let's consider where we are, circa early 2030s. We've eliminated the heart, lungs, red and white blood cells, platelets, pancreas, thyroid and all the hormone-producing organs, kidneys, bladder, liver, lower esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, and bowel. What we have left at this point is the skeleton, skin, s.e.x organs, sensory organs, mouth and upper esophagus, and brain. Let's consider where we are, circa early 2030s. We've eliminated the heart, lungs, red and white blood cells, platelets, pancreas, thyroid and all the hormone-producing organs, kidneys, bladder, liver, lower esophagus, stomach, small intestines, large intestines, and bowel. What we have left at this point is the skeleton, skin, s.e.x organs, sensory organs, mouth and upper esophagus, and brain.

The skeleton is a stable structure, and we already have a reasonable understanding of how it works. We can now replace parts of it (for example, artificial hips and joints), although the procedure requires painful surgery, and our current technology for doing so has serious limitations. Interlinking nan.o.bots will one day provide the ability to augment and ultimately replace the skeleton through a gradual and noninvasive process. The human skeleton version 2.0 will be very strong, stable, and self-repairing.

We will not notice the absence of many of our organs, such as the liver and pancreas, since we do not directly experience their operation. But the skin, which includes our primary and secondary s.e.x organs, may prove to be an organ we will actually want to keep, or we may at least want to maintain its vital functions of communication and pleasure. However, we will ultimately be able to improve on the skin with new nanoengineered supple materials that will provide greater protection from physical and thermal environmental effects while enhancing our capacity for intimate communication. The same observation holds for the mouth and upper esophagus, which const.i.tute the remaining aspects of the digestive system that we use to experience the act of eating.

Redesigning the Human Brain. As we discussed earlier, the process of reverse engineering and redesign will also encompa.s.s the most important system in our bodies: the brain. We already have implants based on ”neuromorphic” modeling (reverse engineering of the human brain and nervous system) for a rapidly growing list of brain regions. As we discussed earlier, the process of reverse engineering and redesign will also encompa.s.s the most important system in our bodies: the brain. We already have implants based on ”neuromorphic” modeling (reverse engineering of the human brain and nervous system) for a rapidly growing list of brain regions.18 Researchers at MIT and Harvard are developing neural implants to replace damaged retinas. Researchers at MIT and Harvard are developing neural implants to replace damaged retinas.19 Implants are available for Parkinson's patients that communicate directly with the ventral posterior nucleus and subthalmic nucleus regions of the brain to reverse the most devastating symptoms of this disease. Implants are available for Parkinson's patients that communicate directly with the ventral posterior nucleus and subthalmic nucleus regions of the brain to reverse the most devastating symptoms of this disease.20 An implant for people with cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis communicates with the ventral lateral thalamus and has been effective in controlling tremors. An implant for people with cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis communicates with the ventral lateral thalamus and has been effective in controlling tremors.21 ”Rather than treat the brain like soup, adding chemicals that enhance or suppress certain neurotransmitters,” says Rick Trosch, an American physician helping to pioneer these therapies, ”we're now treating it like circuitry.” ”Rather than treat the brain like soup, adding chemicals that enhance or suppress certain neurotransmitters,” says Rick Trosch, an American physician helping to pioneer these therapies, ”we're now treating it like circuitry.”

A variety of techniques is also being developed to provide the communications bridge between the wet a.n.a.log world of biological information processing and digital electronics. Researchers at Germany's Max Planck Inst.i.tute have developed noninvasive devices that can communicate with neurons in both directions.22 They demonstrated their ”neuron transistor” by controlling the movements of a living leech from a personal computer. Similar technology has been used to reconnect leech neurons and coax them to perform simple logical and arithmetic problems. They demonstrated their ”neuron transistor” by controlling the movements of a living leech from a personal computer. Similar technology has been used to reconnect leech neurons and coax them to perform simple logical and arithmetic problems.

Scientists are also experimenting with ”quantum dots,” tiny chips comprising crystals of photoconductive (reactive to light) semiconductor material that can be coated with peptides that bind to specific locations on neuron cell surfaces. These could allow researchers to use precise wavelengths of light to remotely activate specific neurons (for drug delivery, for example), replacing invasive external electrodes.23 Such developments also provide the promise of reconnecting broken neural pathways for people with nerve damage and spinal-cord injuries. It had long been thought that re-creating these pathways would be feasible only for recently injured patients, because nerves gradually deteriorate when unused. A recent discovery, however, shows the feasibility of a neuroprosthetic system for patients with long-standing spinal-cord injuries. Researchers at the University of Utah asked a group of long-term quadriplegic patients to move their limbs in a variety of ways and then observed the response of their brains, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although the neural pathways to their limbs had been inactive for many years, the patterns of their brain activity when attempting to move their limbs was very close to those observed in nondisabled persons.24 We will also be able to place sensors in the brain of a paralyzed person that will be programmed to recognize the brain patterns a.s.sociated with intended movements and then stimulate the appropriate sequence of muscle actions. For those patients whose muscles no longer function, there are already designs for ”nanoelectromechanical” systems (NEMS) that can expand and contract to replace damaged muscles and that can be activated by either real or artificial nerves.

We Are Becoming Cyborgs. The human body version 2.0 scenario represents the continuation of a long-standing trend in which we grow more intimate with our technology. Computers started out as large, remote machines in air-conditioned rooms tended by white-coated technicians. They moved onto our desks, then under our arms, and now into our pockets. Soon, we'll routinely put them inside our bodies and brains. By the 2030s we will become more nonbiological than biological. As I discussed in chapter 3, by the 2040s nonbiological intelligence will be billions of times more capable than our biological intelligence. The human body version 2.0 scenario represents the continuation of a long-standing trend in which we grow more intimate with our technology. Computers started out as large, remote machines in air-conditioned rooms tended by white-coated technicians. They moved onto our desks, then under our arms, and now into our pockets. Soon, we'll routinely put them inside our bodies and brains. By the 2030s we will become more nonbiological than biological. As I discussed in chapter 3, by the 2040s nonbiological intelligence will be billions of times more capable than our biological intelligence.

The compelling benefits of overcoming profound diseases and disabilities will keep these technologies on a rapid course, but medical applications represent only the early-adoption phase. As the technologies become established, there will be no barriers to using them for vast expansion of human potential.

Stephen Hawking recently commented in the German magazine Focus that computer intelligence will surpa.s.s that of humans within a few decades. He advocated that we ”urgently need to develop direct connections to the brain, so that computers can add to human intelligence, rather than be in opposition.”25 Hawking can take comfort that the development program he is recommending is well under way. Hawking can take comfort that the development program he is recommending is well under way.

There will be many variations of human body version 2.0, and each organ and body system will have its own course of development and refinement. Biological evolution is only capable of what is called ”local optimization,” meaning that it can improve a design but only within the constraints of design ”decisions” that biology arrived at long ago. For example, biological evolution is restricted to building everything from a very limited cla.s.s of materials-namely, proteins, which are folded from one-dimensional strings of amino acids. It is restricted to thinking processes (pattern recognition, logical a.n.a.lysis, skill formation, and other cognitive skills) that use extremely slow chemical switching. And biological evolution itself works very slowly, only incrementally improving designs that continue to apply these basic concepts. It is incapable of suddenly changing, for example, to structural materials made of diamondoid or to nanotube-based logical switching.

However, there is a way around this inherent limitation. Biological evolution did create a species that could think and manipulate its environment. That species is now succeeding in accessing-and improving-its own design and is capable of reconsidering and altering these basic tenets of biology.

Human Body Version 3.0. I envision human body 3.0-in the 2030s and 2040s-as a more fundamental redesign. Rather than reformulating each subsystem, we (both the biological and nonbiological portions of our thinking, working together) will have the opportunity to revamp our bodies based on our experience with version 2.0. As with the transition from 1.0 to 2.0, the transition to 3.0 will be gradual and will involve many competing ideas. I envision human body 3.0-in the 2030s and 2040s-as a more fundamental redesign. Rather than reformulating each subsystem, we (both the biological and nonbiological portions of our thinking, working together) will have the opportunity to revamp our bodies based on our experience with version 2.0. As with the transition from 1.0 to 2.0, the transition to 3.0 will be gradual and will involve many competing ideas.

One attribute I envision for version 3.0 is the ability to change our bodies. We'll be able to do that very easily in virtual-reality environments (see the next section), but we will also acquire the means to do this in real reality. We will incorporate MNT-based fabrication into ourselves, so we'll be able to rapidly alter our physical manifestation at will.

Even with our mostly nonbiological brains we're likely to keep the aesthetics and emotional import of human bodies, given the influence this aesthetic has on the human brain. (Even when extended, the nonbiological portion of our intelligence will still have been derived from biological human intelligence.) That is, human body version 3.0 is likely still to look human by today's standards, but given the greatly expanded plasticity that our bodies will have, ideas of what const.i.tutes beauty will be expanded upon over time. Already, people augment their bodies with body piercing, tattoos, and plastic surgery, and social acceptance of these changes has rapidly increased. Since we'll be able to make changes that are readily reversible, there is likely to be far greater experimentation.

J. Storrs Hall has described nan.o.bot designs he calls ”foglets” that are able to link together to form a great variety of structures and that can quickly change their structural organization. They're called ”foglets” because if there's a sufficient density of them in an area, they can control sound and light to form variable sounds and images. They are essentially creating virtual-reality environments externally (that is, in the physical world) rather than internally (in the nervous system). Using them a person can modify his body or his environment, though some of these changes will actually be illusions, since the foglets can control sound and images.26 Hall's foglets are one conceptual design for creating real morphable bodies to compete with those in virtual reality. Hall's foglets are one conceptual design for creating real morphable bodies to compete with those in virtual reality.

BILL (AN ENVIRONMENTALIST): On this human body version 2.0 stuff, aren't you throwing the baby out-quite literally-with the bathwater? You're suggesting replacing the entire human body and brain with machines. There's no human being left. On this human body version 2.0 stuff, aren't you throwing the baby out-quite literally-with the bathwater? You're suggesting replacing the entire human body and brain with machines. There's no human being left.

RAY: We don't agree on the definition of human, but just where do you suggest drawing the line? Augmenting the human body and brain with biological or nonbiological interventions is hardly a new concept. There's still a lot of human suffering. We don't agree on the definition of human, but just where do you suggest drawing the line? Augmenting the human body and brain with biological or nonbiological interventions is hardly a new concept. There's still a lot of human suffering.

BILL: I have no objection to alleviating human suffering. But replacing a human body with a machine to exceed human performance leaves you with, well, a machine. We have cars that can travel on the ground faster than a human, but we don't consider them to be human. I have no objection to alleviating human suffering. But replacing a human body with a machine to exceed human performance leaves you with, well, a machine. We have cars that can travel on the ground faster than a human, but we don't consider them to be human.