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The Science of the Future Until recently，the science of the future was supposed to be electronics and artificial intelligence. Today it seems more and more likely that the next great breakthroughs in technology will be brought through a combination of those two sciences with organic chemistry and genetic engineering. This combination is the science of biotechnology. Organic chemistry enables us to produce marvelous syntheticmaterials. However, it is still difficult to manufacture anything that has the capacity of wool to conserve heat and also to absorb moisture. Nothing that we have been able to produce so far comes anywhere near the combination of strength.1ightness and flexibility that we find in the bodies of ordinary insects. Nevertheless, scientists in the laboratory have already succeeded in growing a material that has many of the characteristics of human skin. The next step may well be biotech hearts and eyes which can replace diseased organs in human beings. These will not be rejected by the body, as is the case with organs from humans. The application of biotechnology to energy production seems even more promising. In 1996 the famous science fiction writer，Arthur C. Clarke，many of whose previous predictions have come true, said that we may soon be able to develop remarkably cheap and renewable sources of energy. Some of these power sources will be biological. Clarke and others have warned us repeatedly that sooner or later we will have to give up our dependence on non-renewable power sources. Coal, oil and gas are indeed convenient. However，using them also means creating dangerously high levels of pollution. It will be impossible to meet the growing demand for energy without increasing that pollution to catastrophiclevels unless we develop power sources that are both cheaper and cleaner. | 
