The Internet of Beings is a new generation of health
technology that uses biobots and digital twins to connect the human body to the
global network.
The idea of digitizing the human body seems both
dreamy and scary. In 1966, the movie Fantastic Voyage told a science fiction
story in which a spacecraft and its crew shrunk and went inside a human body to
remove a blood clot in his brain. What was pure fantasy at the time is now
becoming a reality. We are on the verge of entering the third phase of the
Internet's evolution; after connecting computers and objects, it is now the
turn of the Internet of Beings, in which sophisticated sensors will be connected
directly to our vital organs. You will learn more about this technology and its
applications below.
What exactly is the Internet of Beings?
The Internet of Beings is the third phase of the
Internet's evolution. After connecting computers in the first stage and
everyday objects in the second stage (Internet of Things), it is now time to
connect global information systems directly to the human body. In this technology,
very small and advanced sensors are inserted into or placed on the body to
collect and transmit biological data. In simple terms, the Internet of Beings
turns our body into a part of the World Wide Web so that monitoring and
treatment can take place from the inside.
Applications of the Internet of Beings
Continuous monitoring of health conditions via the
Internet of Beings makes it much easier to diagnose diseases before they
appear. Currently, treating diseases costs much more than preventing them, but
with precise and real-time tracking, many drugs can be replaced with less risky
methods such as changing diets or personalized exercise programs. For example,
in the United States alone, 170,000 “silent heart
attacks” occur every year, without people noticing the
symptoms. By connecting the body to the data network, timely alerts could be
sent, saving millions of lives.
The next-generation sensors, known as “biobots,” are
also likely to be made of gel and do more than just monitor; they could
actively treat the body. These microbots could release a specific dose of
aspirin into the body when they detect a blood clot or activate internal
vaccines in the event of a viral attack. Recent advances in mRNA vaccines and
gene-editing technology have paved the way for biobots equipped with
microscopic protein scissors that can repair damaged DNA without the need for
invasive surgery.
In the age of the Internet of Beings, the process of
drug discovery will be completely reversed, and the pace of development of
treatments will increase. Today, scientists formulate hypotheses and then test
them in expensive experiments. But in the future, huge databases will analyze
patterns in people’s bodies to show what works for a particular problem, and
scientists will use reverse engineering to understand why. This paradigm shift
will lead to the use of “digital twins”—virtual models of each person’s biology
that are updated with their health data, and drugs can be tested on these
simulated versions before being prescribed.
Does connecting the body to the internet put our
security at risk?
Just as this technology enables the dream of universal
healthcare and eradicating cancer, it also brings with it the nightmare of the
human body being hacked. While some Silicon Valley billionaires seek
immortality, cybersecurity experts worry that the risks of hacking biological
systems far outweigh the current cyber threats. The Internet of Beings is
taking us into uncharted territory, where the line between man and machine is
blurring. We are repeating that exploratory journey from the 1960s movie,
except this time what we are exploring is our own bodies.
Reference:
Digiato.