This is not an endorsement of the venture capitalist (VC) approach to things, nor is biotech directly related to edtech - yet - but it's always a good idea to keep an eye on the future, even if viewed from outside the usual frame of reference. And this article is an important glimpse into the future. As it reports, "From the molecular to the mundane, the biotech industry's wide-ranging appetite for science-native SaaS tools is accelerating and will modernize how medicines are discovered, developed, and distributed." So why does this matter? Education is fundamentally about the human being, which is the focus of biotech.
I'm not proposing that biotech will produce 'instant knowledge' drugs a la the Matrix. The outcomes will be much more subtle and interesting. For example: we know that certain drugs can change your personality, for better or worse, though calibration is very crude and imprecise. But imagine being able to change personality cheaply, predictably, and without side effects. You could put on your business face along with your power suit, shift to relaxed and accepting along with your meditation robes, and become analytical and persistent when you put on your lab coat. This is one small glimpse of what may be possible in, say, 20 to 40 years. If I were in high school today, this is one of the fields of the future I'd be looking at.
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