FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe

What does it mean for a robot to be conscious? Can a robot have feelings? Will we make robots that take care of one another, upgrade themselves, and reproduce?
I discussed these and other mind-bending questions about the future of robots with Hod Lipson, the brilliant founder of Columbia University’s Creative Machines Lab.
Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, we're looking at the extraordinary future lives of robots with Hod, a global pioneer in both the ‘hard’ mechanics and the ‘soft’ AI underpinnings of robotics. A Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Data Science and founder and director of the Creative Machines Lab at Columbia University, Hod lives to push the boundaries of what robots can be and should be. He has BIG ideas about the future, and he and his colleagues prove out those ideas with real-world prototypes.
We met at his lab, and as he walked me through the happy chaos of robot limbs, spare parts and experiments-in-progress, it struck me that not one experiment was trivial. Each represented a potential game-changer.
Hod took me in unexpected directions and introduced me to many new possibilities. I particularly enjoyed his knack for distilling complex ideas into simple one-liners. We covered plenty of ground and could have gone on for hours. All the laughter on the recording gives you some idea of all the fun we were having!
I hope you enjoy listening to the podcast as much as we did making it.
For additional comments, and to read the interview transcript, check out the FutureBites post on the website.
Learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.
See you in the future!

Can lawyers save the planet? I asked the world’s foremost climate lawyer.
Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker. In this episode, instead of examining science and technology pathways to a better future, we're looking at the role of litigation.
Michael Gerrard is a globally-recognised leader in environmental law and a passionate lifelong advocate for sustainability. He is Professor at the Columbia Law School and Founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, has tried numerous cases in Federal and State courts, and is the author or editor more than 13 books on climate law, the most recent of which is Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States.
In his book-lined office at Columbia University we discussed the current status of climate litigation, the delaying tactics of defendants, what's next, future scenarios, and the role litigation can realistically play in curbing the behaviours of greenhouse gas emitters and securing a pathway to a better future for the planet.

We also canvassed his personal journey, which goes back to the high levels of air and water pollution he encountered as a child in Charleston, West Virginia, courtesy of the petrochemical industry. Ever since, he has dedicated his entire professional life to environmental advocacy.
What a privilege it was to spend time with him!
For additional comments, and to read the interview transcript, check out the FutureBites post on the website.
Learn more about Bruce's work as a futurist speaker.
See you in the future!

Designer babies, agricultural mishaps, extinction via gene-drive. Now CRISPR has placed into our hands the awesome power to "edit life" in all its forms, how to keep the good while preventing the bad? How to safeguard our future? Is this even possible?
Welcome to FutureBites with Dr. Bruce McCabe, futurist and keynote speaker, where we interview scientists and explore pathways to a better future. In this episode, I ask Jennifer Kuzma, global expert on biotech responsibility, to shed light on one of the most important governance challenges of our time: how to put guardrails around CRISPR.
Jennifer is Distinguished Professor in the Social Sciences and co-founder of the Genetic Engineering and Society Center at NC State University, and contributes frequent public commentary in the New York Times, Wired magazine and countless other magazines and journals. She cares, and she’s working hard to create a better future!
It’s such an important topic and our conversation covered a lot of ground, so I’ve put compiled a fulsome post on the website with links to the examples and case-studies we discussed, and tons of further reading to explore. You’ll also find the full interview transcript there.
Learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.
See you in the future!

Imagine a future where, based on a diagnostic in your teens, your doctor gives you a customized infusion with a top-up every 5 to 10 years that “dials down” your genetic risk factors for all kinds of diseases WITHOUT making permanent changes to your DNA.

Welcome to the world of epigenetic editing, a frontier that will unlock a new universe of gene therapies that are both potent and reversible.

My guest today is Dr Ben Oakes, Co-founder, President and CEO of Scribe Therapeutics, a company that’s focused on designing and applying CRISPR-derived tools that, not only edit genes directly and permanently, but also control and fine tune the conditions that decide whether a gene is turned on or off.

How does epigenetic editing work? What are the advantages and disadvantages? What are the current and future disease targets? If we think about the long-term future of medicine and healthcare, what might be possible? I asked Ben these questions and more. In a fascinating exploration, he discusses the journey to effective interventions, and why multipurpose genetic editing tools will revolutionize the future of medicine.
And it’s NOT far off. While complexity challenges are high, this is an active and vibrant field with many players and many pathways forward. The science is moving fast. We’ve come a long way with DNA editing in 12 years; I expect FDA-approved epigenetic therapies will transform the lives of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, in 10-15 years. Ultimately, therapies that target multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease have the potential to help billions.

You’ve been hearing a lot lately about gene therapies based on editing DNA. Now hear about the ‘next-level’ in gene therapies.

The future of medicine is truly an amazing place!

And as always, you'll find my personal takeaways, links to some of my related blog posts so you can take a deeper dive, and a full transcript of our conversation on the FutureBites page, where you can also learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.

The story of cancer medicine is multi-threaded. It’s a story of early detection, of surgical removal, of radio- and chemo-therapies, of understanding lifestyle factors, of sequencing and pinpointing genetic factors, and lately of immunotherapies, but instead of one succeeding the other, each overlaps and complements and adds more weapons to the armory, and many of these weapons can be deployed in series or in combination.
In this episode of FutureBites, I’m talking to Dr Ben Stanger about adding three more entire armories.
Dr Ben Stanger is the Hanna Wise Professor in Cancer Research at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He’s also Director the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center and a member of half a dozen other prestigious Institutes. What a guy! In addition to his many prestigious academic positions, he still practices AND makes time to write science for a popular audience. We met in his office, and in our half-hour conversation, he shared his optimism for three new frontiers in cancer medicine: the advancement from liquid to solid tumors, the development of mRNA cancer vaccines, and the latest work being undertaken in ‘cancer interception.’
As always, I’ll add a post to the FutureBites page soon with additional thoughts and further reading, as well as a copy of the full interview transcript. Enjoy!
Ben's latest book is From One Cell – a Journey Into Life’s Origins and the Future of Medicine. I've enjoyed every page and thoroughly recommend it.

Learn more about my work as a futurist speaker.
See you in the future!