Science of the (Near) Future
I'm writing an urban fantasy story set about eighteen years in the future. My main character is more or less a scientist in a niche fantasy field, but unlike his peers, he also has an interest in "real world" science. I'd like to have him mention some recent discoveries to a friend, but I have no idea what those would be in the future.
Does anyone know what are some issues or theories in biology or chemistry that are in the theoretical stages now but might be coming to fruition in twenty years? I don't want to distract from the fantasy world or really rub it in that this is the future, so I don't want it to be cloning a human or curing cancer or anything to do with climate change. If I were writing it in the present, for instance, I might choose something like the invention of a synthetic chromosome or the research into enzymes that might convert any blood type to type O. Something that would more likely be featured in scholarly journals or science magazines rather than mainstream newspapers.
I've tried Googling various permutations of "science," "biology," "chemistry," "future," "twenty years from now"/"twenty years in the future," "nascent," "research," "infancy," "early stage," "theoretical," etc. However, not being very knowledgeable when it comes to science, it seems like I'd have better luck getting a few suggestions of specific things that I could then research further.
Does anyone know what are some issues or theories in biology or chemistry that are in the theoretical stages now but might be coming to fruition in twenty years? I don't want to distract from the fantasy world or really rub it in that this is the future, so I don't want it to be cloning a human or curing cancer or anything to do with climate change. If I were writing it in the present, for instance, I might choose something like the invention of a synthetic chromosome or the research into enzymes that might convert any blood type to type O. Something that would more likely be featured in scholarly journals or science magazines rather than mainstream newspapers.
I've tried Googling various permutations of "science," "biology," "chemistry," "future," "twenty years from now"/"twenty years in the future," "nascent," "research," "infancy," "early stage," "theoretical," etc. However, not being very knowledgeable when it comes to science, it seems like I'd have better luck getting a few suggestions of specific things that I could then research further.