Gene therapy has gone into business. Two commercial plants are now manufacturing and selling therapeutic cells, derived from human stem cells, that could spark genetic fixes for a range of chronic conditions. Until now, these regenerative cells have only been lab creatures, not merchandise. In March, Osaka-based Sumitomo Dainippon opened a 30,000 square foot, $340-million...
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The buzz….
People born with certain congenital metabolic disorders are unable to make a key enzyme that processes proteins. Those proteins can build up and become toxic, causing mental and developmental disorders. To avoid that fate, sufferers have to be diagnosed early and adhere to a highly restricted diet. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found...
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Man vs. machine…
We’ve already seen artificial intelligence reason its way through data to make savvy medical diagnoses. Now IBM’s Project Debater software has shown its ability to sort through information, to structure persuasive arguments and counter opposing ones. In June, the software squared off with Dan Zafrir, Israel’s national debate champion, to test two topics. The first:...
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Stick it!
New research is creating implants that alert us to cancer and dental disease. At ETH Technical University in Zurich, researchers have created a framework of genes that is integrated with human cells, and then implanted in a particular spot under the skin. The framework constantly checks calcium levels in the blood; unusually high calcium levels...
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Growing crops, farming energy…the multitasking solar panel
It’s called agrophotovoltaics: putting solar panels on stilts above cropland and allowing farmers to gather energy while they grow crops. In experiments in Vietnam and Chile, it’s working pretty well. The method puts solar panels in rows above farm fields. The panels are high enough to let animals and farm equipment pass below, with enough...
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A wild ride into the future
What a year this has been, and there is more to come. We’re only half way there. And among the gloom, doom, survivalist crowd, they fear that with an international cast of lunatics in charge, they won’t be ringing in the New Year. Is this the beginning of the end? Or, is it the end of...
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1: Cryptomania Cash-In
THIS WAS OUR 2018 TREND FORECAST: Crypto growth in 2018 will ignite from three arenas: customized innovations by nations creating their own crypto currencies; the evolution of new technologies, making it easier to trade digital currencies; and launches of crypto futures trading exchanges such as Cboe Global Market’s Futures Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Nasdaq, etc....
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Trend forecast
We maintain our forecast of long-term cryptocurrency growth, and a majority of the wealthiest people in the world agree. According to the Capgemini World Wealth Report 2018, 55 percent of millionaires surveyed said they had moderate to high interest in buying or holding digital currency assets.
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2: Driverless Car Cliff
THIS WAS OUR 2018 TREND FORECAST: The Trends Research Institute forecast that truly autonomous vehicles and driverless taxis flooding the freeways, highways and side streets of a country near you is a geek-fed fantasy for another lifetime. However, we do forecast that autonomous vehicles specifically engineered for mining, trucking, city busing – moving people or...
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Trend forecast
While the Trends Research Institute does not provide financial advice, we forecast trends that identify favorable or unfavorable investment and profit opportunities. The mantra that driverless cars will become the norm by 2030 is simply and overwhelmingly not supported by our trend-line data. We continue to forecast that, for the foreseeable future, self-driving vehicles will be...