Session 6

This week's topic was about the BioBusiness revolution. There was an interesting presentation about the medical tricorder, which is supposed to be able to diagnose illnesses in humans. This technology has the potential to allow people to be able to diagnose illnesses at home with accuracy, which is a lot more efficient than having to see a doctor. In cases where the person is just mildly ill, it might also remove the need for the patient to visit the doctor at all, which will then  create greater efficiency in the healthcare system. There was also some discussion in class about whether such technology will someday render doctors redundant. I think that doctors will still be needed even with this kind of technology. Although machines are able to give us more accurate readings and diagnoses based on the symptoms that the patients have, they are unable to handle exceptional cases. In such situations, the flexibility of a human mind is still needed. Also, technology (as of now) is unable to diagnose new or mutated illnesses without people first putting this information into a database. Hence, doctors will still be needed to deal with these new illnesses. However, as many more people are able to self-diagnose with the help of this machine, the number of doctors required in the future may be significantly lower than the number now. 

The medical tricorder will be especially beneficial to people living in remote areas of developing countries, where they sometimes have little or no access to medical help. It might even allow people to self-medicate which will greatly reduce the number of people dying from illnesses that are actually really easy to cure. However, this can only be done if people have access to medication, because having a diagnosis without medication is of little help. 

Rating: 8/10
I saw how new technology can possibly create a higher standard of living for the poor.