Global Cancer Technology is innovating the treatment of deadly diseases like glioblastoma – it’s not science fiction any more!
Pop culture idioms like, “Live long and prosper,” or, “May the force be with you,” need no contextual reference to those who describe themselves as “Trekkies” or “Jedis.” They instantly get it. These are the futurists among us who embrace science fiction and marvel at the uncanny level of accuracy with which television and movie script writers predicted our future. Ideas that were mind-blowing and simply the “stuff of movies or science fiction” are a daily reality for us today.
Remember that fictional prop called a “tricorder” which was frequently used by Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy in Star Trek? Indeed, it was very cool and served as a multifunctional device. It could be used as a scanner, a data collector, a body sensor, or even a hand-held remote communicator. The gadget was highly advanced with sophisticated functionality that could diagnose illnesses and detect infections including the invasion of alien parasites in the bodies of humans and animals.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could use tricorders exactly like its inventor, Wah Chang, envisioned back in 1966? The idea has inspired modern day innovators who are experimenting with “AI-augmented detection” of diseases using a stethoscope connected to a re-imagined tricorder. We’re not joking! It’s real. And millions of dollars have already been invested in the development of such devices.
Science fiction has always sparked innovation and dared us to “boldly go where no one has gone before.” Do you know that the famous science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, accurately predicted back in 1945 that space stations would be used to broadcast television signals? The idea of commercially manufacturing televisions was still alien at that time if you’ll pardon the pun.
In a 1911 book, futuristically titled, “Ralph 124C 41+,” the female protagonist used a video telephone device to talk to someone 4,000 miles away. One century later, video teleconferencing was emerging as a nascent industry. Today, it’s mainstream: to zoom someone has become an immediately recognizable verb.
Within the realm of science fiction, you can say that life imitates art, which, given enough time, circles back to close the loop so that art imitates life. Star Trek was a show clearly ahead of its time: progressive in so many ways, including interracial, intimate relationships with public displays of affection. But they also used flip phones which were also ground-breaking at the time.
Today, flip-phones are passé but Motorola, with its Razr brand, is trying to resurrect the much-loved device. Gadgets and phenomena that seemed like impossible magic 50 years ago are now part of our daily routines; we don’t give them a second thought. The abilities of some superheroes have been realized through robotics, artificial intelligence, and other advances in science. Perhaps plebian life will one day emulate what seems far-fetched on Iron Man.
Being deliberate about turning science fiction into reality is a thing: students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can take a class called, “Pulp to Prototype.” Viewing clips of Sci-Fi movies or reading books from the genre pushes the envelope when it comes to creativity and the art of the possible. Doing so helps students stretch their imaginations beyond what is right in front of their eyes and within reach. It was one of the X-Men movies that inspired students at Stanford University to start working on a healthcare novelty best described as, “rapidly healing skin.”
Transitions from fiction to reality have been numerous. The list goes on and on. Here are five innovations that have jumped out of science fiction into everyday life.
Driverless Cars
From Tesla to Google to even Apple, every major car and technology company is making driverless cars these days. Imbued with artificial intelligence and processing gigabytes of data in a matter of a second, these self-driving cars can navigate through complex routes even in relatively complex traffic situations.
Remember the David Hasselhoff star of “Knight Rider” TV series broadcast in 1982? You may not have heard of it if you are not from that ‘80s generation. It had a car named KITT that had its own mind. It could drive itself and go anywhere on its own. Even the steering wheel of the car was a futuristic controller that is coming as a standard option with today’s cars.
Isaac Asimov wrote about autonomous cars in one of his famous short stories “Sally.” In this futuristic depiction, only autonomous cars are allowed on the roads. We may see such a scenario in 20-30 years, bringing the future back to the present.
Video calls
From sci-fi to fantasy to even magic movies, we have been seeing devices that enable people to talk to each other face-to-face. The first occurrence of a video call was featured in a movie called Metropolis in 1927. The Jetsons was an animated sitcom broadcast in the early 1960s that showed its characters using video calls to talk to each other. In almost every Star Trek episode, they showed people using video to talk to each other even when they were in different galaxies. Finally, the Simpsons had some of the most impressive far-reaching predictions that they normalized into everyday life, like video calls.
Replicators – 3D printers
Houses are being built using 3D printers. 3D printed medical implants and devices are becoming so common that FDA has begun to issue guidelines. Recently, an ear was 3D printed.
In The Jetsons, they showed food items being printed on demand. The NASA astronauts successfully 3D printed a pizza in space. The objective is to enable astronauts and people going on Mars missions to be able to print foods of their liking. Replicators were also featured in Star Trek. Complete replicas of existing objects could be created by inserting an energy pattern and allowing the machine to scan the object that needed to be recreated.
Bionic limbs
In the movie, The Six Million Dollar Man, they created the world’s first completely bionic man. The bionic devices market revenue is going to cross $7.9 billion by 2027.Bionic limbs are fully functional artificial limbs that receive signals from the brain and can maneuver almost like the real limb whether it is a hand or a foot. They even have sensory capabilities.
Smartwatches
Remember the wristwatch Dick Tracy wore? He could receive radio messages. He could immediately contact members of the police force. The idea of a radio receiver worn on the arm was not exactly original as the creator of the comic Chester Gould borrowed it from the inventor, Al Gross, who had recently invented a two-way radio that people could wear on their wrists.
Apple introduced the iWatch in 2015 and ever since then, multiple versions of smartwatches have flooded the market. From checking time to monitoring your heartbeat to making phone calls and receiving messages to making video calls, there is a plethora of tasks you can accomplished using a smartwatch.
In many sci-fi movies you have seen people being treated remotely either through brainwaves or via remotely controlled machines and robotic instruments. Great strides are being made in the field of remote-controlled cancer treatment. This isn’t future – it’s an emerging reality here in 2022.
For example, Global Cancer Technology (GCT), holds numerous patents enabling this San Diego-based biotech to explore treating deadly diseases, like cancer, via remote control. Scintillating nanoparticles – imagine microscopic dots – can be coated with the cancer cell growth inhibitor that GCT is currently testing in animal models. The hypothesis is that a cancer patient could be injected with hundreds of these coated dots which will be designed to attract (like magnets) to the surface of the cancer tumor. Once the coated dots are bound to the tumor, a remote-controlled micro-blast of x-ray activates the dots so that they unload their cancer inhibitor directly into the tumor.
We know, it sounds futuristic but we’re testing this now!
Some of GCT’s innovations include cancer inhibitors, scintillating nanoparticles, and cancer biomarkers. Combined, these technologies have the capabilities to revolutionize pre-cancer and post-cancer treatment.
Cancer is a widespread and serious illness. Almost everyone knows someone affected by cancer, so prevalent it is. *Your small investment not only has the potential for long-term value, but you can help GCT by investing in technology that can change the future game for cancer patients.
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*NOTE: investments in biotechnology are considered high-risk
