Future science could end need to eat food by 2030, experts say

By Dick Pelletier

     In their best-selling book, Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever, futurist Ray Kurzweil and nutritionist Terry Grossman see a bold future ahead that could eventually eliminate our need for food and eating. “If we look a couple of decades into the future,” the authors claim, “we will be able to reengineer the way we provide nutrients to our trillions of cells.”

     Today’s method of eating food, then allowing the digestive system to select only the nutrients our body needs and discard the rest as waste, is not working well. Many people suffer from obesity, and some find it nearly impossible to achieve proper nutrition with our maze of confusing food choices.

     In the pioneering field of Nutrigenomics, the study of how nutrition and genes interact, scientists are discovering links between foods and disease. Some food never gets metabolized; instead, it changes into molecules that bind to proteins which “turn on” certain genes that sometimes cause harm. A diet that’s out of balance, doctors say, allows these genes to nudge us toward heart disease, cancer, obesity, or other sicknesses, unless we employ a “gene-smart” diet.

     To determine exactly which foods can cause harm requires a personal genome analysis, which today, is far too expensive for the average budget. The world’s first personal genomic map was created recently for DNA co-discoverer James Watson, but it cost a cool million bucks.

     Although experts predict that by 2015, a comprehensive personal genome is expected to be available for under a $1,000, scientists point out that even a complete gene-compatible diet will not guarantee perfect health. To feed each of our trillions of cells the precise formula of nutrients needed throughout the day requires advance computer-crunching technologies not expected until late 2020s.

     In this “magical future” time, the exact nutritional needs to meet each body’s requirements will be clearly understood. These include a menu of energy-bearing substances such as glucose from carbohydrates, phytochemicals, and other ingredients that provide building blocks and can facilitate enzymes for all necessary metabolic processes.

     To implement this forward technology, Kurzweil and Grossman suggest we would wear a special “garment belt” loaded with nutrient-bearing ‘bots, which would enter our body non-obtrusively through the skin. The nutrients could be produced inexpensively with nano-replicators, expected by mid-2020s.

     But acceptance of this futuristic concept may not come readily. Some connoisseurs may want to hang on to their food-eating pleasures for a few more years. So scientists propose a solution – create a special digestive tract to receive real food, but bar those nutrients from entering the blood stream.

     After enjoying a meal, nanobots would immediately convert the processed food into odor-free molecules and route it into the “garment belt” which we would replace periodically with a fresh one.

     Positive futurists believe that after accepting this radical technology, we will begin to rely on it more comfortably. By 2030, we could be enjoying fantastic meals, or spoiling ourselves with sinfully-delicious goodies, without ever gaining an ounce or harming our body in any way. And there’s another huge benefit – no more bathroom trips – just strap on a new “belt” every few days and you’re good to go.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.