True, brain plasticity is awesome, and it will probably be enough to get the job done for the younger generations.
Biotech engineering requires a lot of capital to get into for the moment, but that's starting to change. I believe a rethink of the concept of GMO's is on the horizon, from their rather negative use nowadays (Monsanto, engineered pesticide resistance, etc...) to more positive, non-toxic ways of solving problems.
I can imagine a few, but they are pretty far fetched (there's no pests eating the fruit on the tree if, say, the fruit has an external skin with the resistance of metal, but that then degrades completely when the fruit is no longer connected to the tree/bush)
Honestly, I am just at the start of my education. I've got a Bachelor's in biology, and just finished the first year of a Master's in bioinformatics mainly aimed at teaching biologists basic tech skills (more or less of a breeze at times, as I always was good with computers. But very informative nonetheless !).
Bioinformatics will most probably evolve from it's current form of prediction/analysis of data to a more programmatic role.
There's already 1 or 2 "programming" languages for creating modified organisms, but they are VERY complicated (I tried the tutorial for Cello last year... The tutorial application...that they made.... failed to work properly in their system XS).
I believe we're going towards basic manufacturing of components made of metals and conductive of electricity (so most every kind of electronic equipment really) coming from 3d printing and atom-manipulating tech, and all the complex molecules (perfumes, medicines, food of known and unknown variants, etc...) coming from systems of modified bacteria.
And we'll have ways to program bacteria to perform different tasks. We'll probably even have "workhorse"-style bacteria programmed to move products to and from other bacteria to keep them fed and move products along a kind of biological assembly line at cell level...
To put it lightly, I have MANY ideas as to how everything might go XS
One of the most prominent branches that I think will hit the markets very soon is anything related to personalized medicine to treat chronic conditions or "cure" them completely by using information coming from the DNA of a person to solve their specific problems.
Woah... that writing spree went on for WAY longer than I thought XO
Now that I think about it... I'm supposed to be at the end of my education,
seeing as I'm not sure if I'll do a Doctorate degree... Hmm...
Maybe if I can figure out a way to spin my bioinformatics knowledge, using the 6 months Internship I have next March, towards the programming and neuroscience part of BMI's... Hm....
They'll need algorithms to read the electrical potentials from the neurons and feed them to AI systems, and ways for the AI to feed information back to the brain...
There's potential there ! (this is a neuroscience joke... I can already make these so I'm on the right path XD)
Ha I love the writing spree man, that's what I expected! I hear you, I'm in full agreement, and I think personalized medicine will indeed blow up in the future, especially with the increasingly smaller cost of running entire genome screens for individuals on a commercial basis and the new techniques. Very lucrative and interesting field (in fact I have urged my sister, who is a very well educated pharmacist, to keep tabs on the field for future work).
For bioengineered bacterias, yeah I remember reading about the bioprogramming languange that came out of MIT, super super promising field too. Actually here's a commercial idea: bioengineered bacteria that you apply to your mouth, they kill the pathogenic germs, live symbiotically in your mouth without harming your health, and also releasing whitening substances. Keeping your mouth healthy and your teeth white 24/7, say goodbye to brushing. Ha I think it's a sexy idea :P
Man so many cool things are to come in the future, so so excited! Let's share cool stories with each other as they come :)