The Silver Pen Scholarship 2015 Innovation Caroline Maria Daly
Do you think that it is easier to innovate now with all of the technological advancements? Or, do you think it was easier to innovate without modern advancements and thinking? Innovation at its core is a process that thrives on current ideas and advancements. Isaac Newton once said, If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Newton understood that his work would have been impossible without the groundwork laid before him. Like any building, innovation relies on a solid foundation: the larger and more stable the foundation, the more intricate and impressive the innovation. The world today offers more access to technology than ever before. This access has allowed technology to develop exponentially. Increased access to communication is revolutionizing innovation in the world today, making technological advancements easier than ever before. But as technology advances, we must be ever aware of the moral and ethical implications of it. Many of today s modern advancements are naturally intertwined with communication. From the radio to the telephone and even social media, humans are able to connect with people all over the world instantly. For hundreds of years, major innovation has been limited to the research of universities and major corporations. Today, individuals are able to collaborate with others across the globe in a matter of seconds. Crowdsourcing allows the most brilliant minds from around the world to connect and share ideas. Dr. Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation, reports that this is the key to the shift we have seen from linear growth to exponential growth. With the ability to connect with people anywhere in the world through modern technology, the possibilities of innovation are endless.
Some of the most exciting technological advancements are occurring in the medical field, and I am confident that these developments will reinvent medicine as we know it. Synthetic biology is one area that is experiencing major growth. New technology is introducing microbes that can be injected into the blood stream and used to target cancerous tumors. Dean Ho, a professor at the UCLA School of Dentistry, believes that nanotechnology could be the solution to long-term cancer treatment, but he also notes that achieving this will take a lot of work. New 3D printers are paving the way for the future of medicine as functioning limbs and organs compatible with the human body are being synthesized. In fact, bioengineered blood vessels are already being implanted into people at places like the Duke University Hospital. Truly, the possibilities are endless. With the exponential growth of technology opening an infinite number of doors, we must be ever cautious of the implications. There is a considerable gray area and possibly a dark expanse that threatens this development, especially in medicine. The successful reconstruction of the human body could lead to many less ethical scientific explorations. What if man is successful in cloning himself? What if a society similar to the historical Nazi Germany could create its own super race? These are only a few of the disturbing questions that the world of science may soon face. Very limited success cloning animals has already yielded serious warning signs. These include a high failure rate, deformed offspring, and unstable stem cells. Also, the scientific community must be very careful not to cross certain moral, ethical, and religious boundaries of our society. Perhaps when Mary Shelly s Frankenstein says, Learn from my miseries and do not seek
to increase your own, he is not just warning the aspiring scientist Walton but all future generations.
Works Cited Ho, Dean. "Fighting Cancer with Nanomedicine." The Scientist. N.p., 1 Apr. 2014. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. Newton, Isaac, Sir. Letter to Robert Hook. 15 Feb. 1676. MS. N.p. Shelly, Mary. Frankenstein / Mary Shelly. New York: Pyramid, 1957. Print. "Surgeons at Duke University Hospital Implant Bioengineered Vein." - Duke Medicine. N.p., 6 June 2013. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.