4 Ways The World Could End In Your Lifetime (And 3 Ways We Can Stop It)

1. New Ways To Treat Disease

So, for all of our hand-wringing earlier about diseases and antibiotic resistance, there could well be hope yet.

You might have heard by now about how CRISPRs are potentially the future of genome editing technology, capable of everything from the production of biofuels to the curing of debilitating genetic diseases, but they could also be the answer to the looming problem of antibiotic resistance.

The things is that using CRISPRs to kill bacteria is essentially turning one of bacteria's own immune system against it. Bacteria are constantly exposed to viruses called phage - viruses that inject their own genes into the bacterial cells in the hope of hitching a ride - and bacteria use CRISPRs to bind to the invading phage genes and deactivate them.

By turning this process to our own advantage, we could use CRISPR-Cas systems to attack the acquired resistance in bacterial genes and, what's more, specifically target them at harmful bacteria (as opposed to that "good bacteria" that yoghurt adverts are always talking about).

So, we could reverse climate change, mitigate antibiotic resistance and even perhaps dodge deadly gamma ray bursts but, if someone decides to pull the plug on our simulated universe, that's probably it for us. Unless you happen to be The One, if so speak up.

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