Law and policy in an era of cyborg-assisted-life1: The implications of interfacing in-the-body technologies to the outer world2

Medical technology verges on incorporating directly into our anatomy processors with the computational power of the famous Watson IBM computer and Internet-like communications. As the size of computers spiral downward, their wholesale use (as well as RFID-type technology) will extend lifetimes, enhance our intellect, and assist in controlling technology outside the body via digital I/O and thought. This includes the eventual merging of synthetic DNA and artificial intelligence that together will bring new diagnostics, medical treatment and smart nano-prosthetics well within the horizon of the next generation. A prosthetic genome hastens the day when enhanced life forms, such as human organs, can be made entirely from a fusion of living organisms and non-living materials. Widespread diffusion of this technology into populations risk creating a world of “haves” that can afford and “have nots,” that cannot afford enhanced intellect and longevity. Without changes to current U.S. patent law, commercial interests might jeopardize our well-being through patent monopolies, market forces might squeeze out efficiencies at the expense of performance and reliability, and wrongdoers might dare to unleash digital viruses into a world filled with anatomically installed biomedical devices receptive to Internet-style communications. Overtime artificially altered and controlled metabolisms may begin to alter the progression of natural biological evolution and force an examination about what the notion of “human” means in the age of human cyborgs.