From ‘superhumans’ to sequencing: How the next 50 years of science could shape our world

Our world has been transformed over the past 50 years through scientific discoveries once thought to be impossible. 

Developments such as the rise of the internet, the decoding of the human genome and the rapid advances in artificial intelligence have all changed how we understand the universe.

But what comes next? 

To mark the 50th anniversary of Quirks & Quarks, CBC Radio’s science show, host Bob McDonald spoke to six of Canada’s leading scientists in front of a live audience at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont.

Their mission was to imagine what the next 50 years of science might bring. From new ways of growing food to decoding the cosmos’ secrets, here’s what they said are the new frontiers. 

Modernization of farming

Being able to feed everyone without pushing the planet past its breaking point will be “one of the big challenges of the generation,” said Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph.

The world’s current population is more than 8 billion, and by the mid-2080s, it’s projected to hit 10.3 billion, according to the United Nations.

Food and farming systems, he explained, are responsible for roughly a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Those emissions come from various stages of food production, including rearing livestock, growing crops, waste treatment and transportation. 

So, after 50 years of focusing almost exclusively on “producing more food per acre,” Fraser said the next era of agriculture must take a broader lens — one that emphasizes not just production, but also sustainability, nutrition and climate mitigation. 

That shift is already underway. On some Canadian farms, said Fraser, drones are being used to scan fields for weeds just hours after they sprout. A second drone then follows, spraying “a minute amount of herbicide,” which cuts down on chemical use and protects crops.

Innovation is also happening in the soil, he said.  Some new fertilizer uses microorganisms to help plants make their own nitrogen, slashing the massive energy costs of traditional factory-made fertilizers. 

Meanwhile in the lab, “precision fermentation” is gaining traction. Like yeast turning sugar into alcohol, engineered microbes can produce proteins like milk, pork fat and whey, said Fraser. This method uses less land, water and energy than traditional agriculture does to make the same product, and it helps boost food security.

Beating climate change

When it comes to climate change, it’s easy to “picture [an] apocalypse,” said Laura Tozer, assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough.

But the reality, she said, is more hopeful, as many of the tools needed to fight climate change already exist.

She says the path forward involves ditching fossil fuels and leaning into renewable energy. Wind and solar offer what she calls free fuel, but unlocking their full potential means modernizing the power grid to better support clean electricity.

“A lot of them need innovation to become cheaper, easier, smaller, more accessible,” said Tozer.

She envisions a future where clean energy is seamlessly integrated in the homes of all Canadians, with both rural farmhouses and suburban apartment buildings being powered by solar energy. 

Another revolution in genetics

Advancements made in the field of genetics have been “bountiful,” said Yvonne Bombard, a scientist and genomics health service researcher at Unity Health St. Michael’s Hospital. 

Bombard says this rapid progress has ushered in a new era of personalized medicine — where treatments, particularly for complex diseases like cancer, can be tailored to an individual’s unique genetic code.

The future, Bombard said, lies in making this kind of testing part of everyday health care. Doctors could one day use a patient’s genetic profile to fine-tune drug dosages or recommend specific lifestyle changes, helping to catch or even prevent a disease before it starts.

But she also noted most existing genetic data comes from people of European descent, meaning results are often less accurate for other populations.

“We need to have full participation of society so that [all] societies can benefit from the realization of genomic medicine,” said Bombard, who also holds the Canada Research Chair in Genomics Health Services and Policy. 

Bionic humans

 Ana Luisa Trejos says that future robotics could make people “superhuman.”

Trejos works on wearable exoskeletons, which are robotic systems designed to support or enhance a human body, and are tailored to the individual. 

According to Trejos, a professor in electrical and computer engineering at Western University, some of these exoskeletons will use brain implants to detect a person’s movement intent, making prosthetics feel like natural limbs. She also says future devices could replace any part of our body. 

The next step, she says, is to power these systems using the wearer’s own energy. She envisions soft, sensor-filled garments that not only assist with movement but amplify it.

“It could even enhance our performance [to] go beyond our natural abilities and create a superhuman that allows us to perform way beyond,” said Trejos. 

Origins of the universe

We still don’t know what 95 per cent of the universe is made of, according to the European Space Agency. 

That mystery fuels the work of Katie Mack, a theoretical astrophysicist at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont.

At the centre of the unknown, she said, are two mysterious forces: dark matter and dark energy.

“[Dark matter] seems to be holding the galaxy together,” Mack said. “It seems to be the foundation upon which all of the matter we see is built.” 

According to Mack, dark matter makes up about 85 per cent of the universe’s mass. Even though it’s invisible, its presence is revealed through the way it influences star movement and bends light. 

Still, scientists have yet to uncover what it’s actually made of. 

Then, there’s dark energy, said Mack, a force believed to be behind the universe’s accelerating expansion.

From deep underground labs to massive particle colliders, scientists around the world are racing to solve the mystery, said Mack, who’s also Hawking Chair in Cosmology and Science Communication. 

“I really think we’re going to find something amazing,” she said. 

What about AI?

Artificial intelligence is “very in vogue right now,” from their integration in cars and phones to fridges and talkative chatbots like ChatGPT, said Luke Stark, assistant professor at the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University. 

Still, he’s doubtful that machines with human-level reasoning and problem-solving abilities will emerge in the next 50 years. 

Though tools like ChatGPT might seem human, that’s no accident. Stark explains that companies like OpenAI deliberately design these systems to speak in the first person and mimic natural conversation. 

He says that over the next 50 years, there will be many discussions over who has the right to develop and control AI, and who gets to decide what role these tools will have in our society. 

“The people who create it often want us to think it’s like science fiction, right?” said Stark. 

“I think the question is, ‘Can we pay attention to the ways these tools are disrupting things, and can we make sure they’re disrupting things in a way that is positive for everybody?’”