Plenary Session III

Shaping Prospects for Improved Health & Longevity -

Into the Future

2007 IWF World Leadership Conference

Chicago, IL, USA

What will be the biggest health and life-breakthroughs of the next 50 years? New Scientist magazine editors asked over 70 of the world's most brilliant scientists for their ideas – some of whom are featured in this roundtable. In the coming decades, will we discover that we are not alone in the universe? Unravel the physiological basis for consciousness? Routinely have false memories implanted in our minds? Begin to physically evolve in new directions? And will physicists finally hit upon a universal theory of everything? Facilitated by Andrea Dunaif, MD, Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Molecular Medicine, Northwestern University.

Featuring:

•  Elizabeth Loftus, Distinguished Professor, Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California , Irvine – “Imagine a world where anyone with the correct technique and the right pharmaceuticals can implant false memories into anyone they choose.”

•  Ellen Heber-Katz, Professor of Molecular & Cellular Oncogenesis Program, the Wistar Institute – “The day is not far off when we will be able to prescribe drugs that cause severed spinal cords to heal and hearts to regenerate.”

•  Carolyn Porco, Leader of the Cassini Imaging Team – “The most significant development in the next 50 years will be the discovery of extraterrestrial life forms, extant or fossilized, on another solar system body.”

•  Irene Pepperberg, Harvard University Psychologist – “By 2056, we will use birds to understand how human language evolved.”

•  Mina Teicher, Professor of Mathematics, Bar-Ilan University; Chief Scientist, Israeli Ministry of Sciences & Technology; and Chairman, Council for Advancement – “The most intriguing question for the 21 st century is how does the brain work? Will women be instrumental in solving its mysteries using their interdisciplinary, multi-tracking skills, and how will it impact women's lives?”