Foreword

This book takes the reader on a virtual journey into the future, to imagine the consequences of the convergence of life science breakthroughs and information technology advances. We have already seen the impact of this convergence on lengthened life expectancies, thanks to personalized medicine, remote diagnostics, biosensors, tissue engineering, and precision imaging that reveals the disease process. Yet these are still early days. Paul and Joyce Schoemaker provide a splendid “tour of the horizon” that considers the breakthrough consequences of current and future developments.

For each of the possibilities that can be envisioned, there are profound personal (What quality of life will I have?), social (How will family relationships change?), regulatory and ethical (Who decides what should be encouraged?), economic (Can society afford a rapidly aging population?), and business (Who will capture the economic value that is created?) implications. As with any disruptive technology wave, clear business winners and losers will emerge. But especially in this case, we expect that the real beneficiaries will be individuals and their families.