DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - have begun developing electronic implants that could interact directly with our nervous systems. This would allow them to treat chronic diseases such as arthritis, Crohns disease, PTSD and depression without drugs. The implant would be a closed-loop neural implant that could constantly monitor health and treat problems there and then without you having to lift a finger. The idea is that these would eventually replace pharmaceuticals, and could even treat problems before you even noticed any symptoms. The technology is still in its early stages (like, battery-pack-the-size-of-a-gameboy early), but if we could hone and miniaturise it, we might be able to gain an unbelievable amount of control over our own biology. As well as warding off disease, we could manually control things like heart rate, artificially boost metabolism or even erase and retrieve memories. Where do we sign up?
