Monday, August 13, 2012

Quote on the life sciences industry


“Many industries will be disrupted by the wave of advances in life sciences. Genome sequencing will, despite ethical considerations, turn the life insurance industry on its head. Youth-oriented industries will be squeezed at the expense of those that cater to the elderly, such as nutrition, clothing and entertainment. People looking at the long-term future of their profession should have an eye out for the disruptive trends that are about to change many industrial landscapes.”

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I think the life sciences industry is an important one to learn about as it will be quite significant over the next several decades. Remember the quote from Steve Jobs that I’ve posted a couple of times: “I think the biggest innovations of the twenty-first century will be the intersection of biology and technology. A new era is beginning, just like the digital one when I was his age.”

I’ve only just begun to read the book above, but the amount of work the authors put into it and the simplicity in vocabulary that they have attempted to use make me think it’ll be a great introduction. The authors do seem to have the belief that technological innovation and ingenuity of the human mind will solve the major problems of the world today, such as energy needs, adequate food production, population problems, etc…..the things Jeremy Grantham discussed and was less optimistic about in his latest letter.

So to keep a balanced perspective but still read about and learn what I think are important ideas, I think it might be interesting to also read Garrett Hardin’s Living within Limits: Ecology, Economics, and Population Taboos at the same time, as well as Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan for the extra emphasis on being careful of narratives and long-term predictions.

I think combining reading things together like this is an interesting way to learn, and one I hope to explore further in other areas as well.