Where will science take us in this next century?
The year is 1924. It would be four more years until Alexander Fleming fortuitously discovers that penicillin is a powerful antibiotic. Seven more years until the first electron microscope is created. Thirty more years until the double-helix structure of DNA is unveiled, and sixty more until smallpox is eradicated. Roughly eighty until the human genome is fully sequenced.
One hundred years until Scripps Research would mark its centennial and celebrate life-changing discoveries across neuroscience, chemistry, personalized medicine, infectious diseases, cancer treatment and much more.
2025 marks the beginning of a new century for Scripps Research. Today, we live in a world where universal vaccines are within reach. Where we could halt—or perhaps even reverse—ailments associated with aging. Where gene editing holds the potential to cure disease, and where individualized medicine is becoming more of a reality with each passing day.
With so many promising scientific advancements nearing the horizon, what will these next 100 years have in store? We asked Scripps Research scientists their predictions for where the future of biomedicine will lead us.
Here’s what they had to say >>
“With the remarkable progress in life science and multimodal artificial intelligence, the ability to accurately medically forecast a person’s future arc of health is emerging—that will lead us to exceptional opportunities to prevent the major diseases (cardiovascular, cancer, neurodegenerative and metabolic) in the future.”
Eric Topol, MD
Executive vice president, Scripps Research; director and founder, Scripps Research Translational Institute; professor; the Gary and Mary West Chair of Innovative Medicine
“I can envision a connected medical community where expert clinicians, drug discovery enthusiasts, engineers, computer scientists and brilliant scientists communicate each day in real time across a global network, who collectively have accelerated the development of new therapeutics for unmet medical needs to limit the suffering and expand healthspan for millions of patients.”
Kristen Johnson, PhD
Senior director, Discovery Biology, Calibr-Skaggs Institute for Innovative Medicines
“I’m excited that in the next 100 years, my colleagues and I will have educated, mentored and empowered the next several generations of young scholars from diverse backgrounds around the world, enabling them to invent a future of science and medicine beyond our wildest dreams.”
Keary Engle, PhD
Professor; Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences
“Many health conditions unfold 10 or 20 years before they turn into their permanent disease states. In the future, I predict we will be able to harness molecular data to intervene in these pre-disease states early—almost as they arise—and ameliorate the disease potential for each individual. That’s the great excitement: to benefit humanity not just collectively, but individually.”
Supriya Srinivasan, PhD
Professor
“While we’re living longer, our quality of life hasn’t kept pace—simply put, more years don’t always equate to better years. However, recent advancements offer hope. We are gaining a deeper understanding of how cellular processes malfunction as we age. Alongside this, we are developing affordable, non-invasive technologies for early detection of harmful aging-related diseases.”
“Furthermore, revolutionary non-invasive therapies, such as gene editing, are being developed. These innovations hold the promise not only to slow down aging processes but potentially even reverse them, ensuring that in the next 100 years we can all enjoy longer and healthier lives.”
Keren Lasker, PhD
Assistant professor
“I am excited by the progress in developing treatments for addiction, which affects the lives of millions of people around the world. Looking ahead, I anticipate continued growth through collaboration among pioneering researchers and the integration of innovative technologies with traditional methods, propelling the field forward into the next era.”
Marisa Roberto, PhD
Professor; Paul and Cleo Schimmel Endowed Chair
“Over the next century, regenerative medicine holds incredible promise for addressing the root causes of organ failure and aging-related diseases—offering us the potential to not just treat symptoms but to fundamentally repair and rejuvenate tissues at the cellular level.”
Michael Bollong, PhD
Associate professor; Early Career Endowed Roon Chair for Cardiovascular Research
“The process of scientific understanding is like constructing a gothic cathedral—brick by brick, the stone masons put in the structure over hundreds of years, some of them building walls, some of them building flying buttresses, some of them putting in the keystones to those remarkable arches. We don’t necessarily know where new research fits in, but it’s placed into that overall structure.”
“In modern chemistry and biology, we now have higher resolution of that structure. With succeeding generations of scientists over the next 100 years, that resolution will continue to get finer and finer, and science will change life.”
Hugh Rosen, MD, PhD
Professor; Pearson Family Chair
“Like the computer revolutionized the 20th century, science over the next 100 years will catalyze an era of unprecedented progress. From averting climate catastrophes and preventing future pandemics to enhancing global health and well-being, science will redefine who we are as a species: integrating its discoveries into the fabric of daily life, transforming how we interact with each other and the world around us.”
Sumit Chanda, PhD
Professor
