There was a time when literature and religion dealt largely with super powered beings of holy origin. We marvelled at the feats of Gods and Demi Gods, and we wrote tales about magic and sorcery. Today though these power fantasies seem to focus more on science and on human achievement. Superheroes and science fiction dont herald powerful beings that come from the skies, but rather normal humans that have amazing abilities thanks to the wonders of science.

Either way we have dreamed about overcoming the limitations of the human condition for millennia now, and its something that has always been a part of our culture. But thanks to the recent rate of technological progress and innovation, it might well be that were finally on the cusp of getting to experience that fantasy for real. Ever played the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution? It has a plot about transhuman technology resulting in the augmentation of half of society people giving themselves incredible abilities by implanting bionic arms and altering their DNA. Of course this leads to various political problems and revolutions and hence you are entered into the fray as a high-tech warrior. But the amazing thing? Were quite possibly only a few years away from just such a revolution and it might be even more dramatic than that too. Take a look at some of these medical breakthroughs and you may see what I mean

One of the most science fiction concepts imaginable is the idea of bionic robotic arms that we might one day be able to replace our limbs with robotic ones capable of incredible feats of strength and speed. This is almost already commonplace with blade runners in the Special Oympics such as Oscar Pistorious essentially being real life bionic men (and women). But a recent breakthrough took this much further when Jan Schuermann a 52 year old quadriplegic was given mental control over a robotic arm via two 96-channel microelectrodes implanted into her brain. She could use the arm almost as easily as though it were her own to open rappers and feed herself chocolate bars, and thanks to the remarkable ability of the brain to adapt she has been steadily gaining increased reaction speed and dexterity too.

Now theres no reason to think that one day this couldnt be used to replace a missing limb and to grant someone superhuman strength. In fact, combine this with the X1 Exoskeleton developed by NASA and you could grant someone the ability to run super-fast and lift incredible weights.

Perhaps even more amazing is current research into gene doping. Gene doping is what happens when new DNA is injected into the nucleus of a cell in order to alter its expression. This can then lead to permanent and profound changes to the human body with unthinkable implications. For instance, with a single injection its possible to reduce the amount of myostatin that the body produces a chemical that suppresses the development of muscle. This then in turn can give the recipients several times more muscle mass and less body fat with no obvious side effects its essentially a real-life super soldier serum.

Now you might be thinking that all this is a long way off, but in fact these injections have already been successful in mice and gene doping has been used on human patients in other capacities. Scariest of all, its no actually that difficult for a hobbyist with a degree and a few thousand dollars worth of equipment to reproduce these results in their basement. So even if gene doping is never offered by medical institutions to treat muscle wasting diseases you can best that it will find its way onto the black market for use by athletes and people who just want to increase their strength.

And in fact some of thats already going on as we speak. Search for biohacking on Google and youll find forums and chat rooms where people are already discussing the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation to increase their intelligence and the use of subdermal implants to give themselves extra sensory capabilities

The future is nearly here, and when it arrives, its going to be more amazing and disruptive than any science fiction could imagine

This post has been contributed by Jack Turner, a technician at Freedom Lift Systems which specializes in porch wheelchair lifts. He is a passionate individual and he enjoys challenging himself at accomplishing new feats.

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A Glimpse Into Medical Research And A Transhuman Future