Update on Exponential Technologies

A Cholesterol Shot; Electronic Skin; and New Organ Transplants

Here are some of the most fascinating new innovations coming our way. 200 million people take Lipitor or other statins every day to lower their LDL. That's bad cholesterol. Now a biotech company is developing an injection, just one shot that would permanently reduce your LDL. No more daily pills. They're doing this using CRISPR gene editing technology. They would replace a single letter of DNA for another to regulate your LDL levels. The shot in tests cut cholesterol in monkeys by 60%, and human tests are now underway.

Researchers are developing skin, electronic skin. It recreates the functions of the human epidermis in prosthetics that would give people who wear artificial limbs a sense of touch. In robotics, it would make robots look and feel like humans. Pretty soon we'll not only have robots everywhere, but you’re also not going to be able to distinguish them from real people.

Scientists have revived organs from deceased pigs. Yeah, this could help with organ transplants, but it blurs the line between life and death. See, if your heart stops beating, you're legally dead, but your organs can be recovered. An hour later, they still work. So are you dead? Or is it that your heart is dead? It's showing how medical ethicists are wrestling with the challenges brought about by technological innovation. I talk about all of it in my book, The Truth About Your Future.