Audacious Futures

"Only those who dare to pursue the boldest of visions and the most outrageous of goals ever achieve the greatest of outcomes!"

So I'm preparing the first post in my new series, "The Big Future" - it's about the rapid advances having to do with "regenerative medicine."

The key point:

"We are quickly learning how to grow replacement tissues and organs in a lab, and how to stimulate the body's own repair mechanisms to deal with disease or accident driven tissue damage.

The acceleration of regenerative medicine is perhaps the most exciting, and most staggering of all trends in the world of healthcare science - leading us to a world that involves significant new opportunities to deal with disease, aging, accidents and more."

I originally visited this topic years ago for a medical conference, and then again when I keynoted the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons - it's a topic that has been unfolding at a steady pace for years. (The image above is from my keynote for that organization in Nashville.) I also just covered this in trend #7 of my 23 Trends for 2023 series - "Crazy Ideas Go Mainstream." I'm trying not to duplicate my efforts, but this is perhaps one of the most important trends of our time - and the research I'm undertaking for this new trends piece indicates that the science of regenerative technology is evolving even faster than expected, in part, driven by big, bold goals.

And then, while catching up on my research yesterday, I came across the National Eye Institute's Audacious Goals Initiative. This phrase immediately captured my attention and imagination!

The Audacious Goals Initiative (AGI) for Regenerative Medicine is an effort by the National Eye Institute (NEI) to push the boundaries of vision science and restore vision through regeneration of the retina.

Audacious goals! 

For someone like me, regularly covering the issues of the future and the innovation necessary to get there, the idea of an 'audacious goal' is perfect! It captures the bold vision, big ideas, and perhaps outrageous concepts that can often lead to fantastic results!

Overall, the field of regenerative medicine is full of big, bold, audacious goals. Research is underway to determine how to repair damaged heart tissue to deal with cardiovascular disease, which would include developing lab-grown blood vessels and heart valves. In the field of neurological science, research is underway into repairing damaged spinal cord tissue and brain injuries to help deal with stroke and spinal cord injuries. The concept of regenerating insulin-producing cells in the pancreas might help to provide a pathway to cure diabetes.  Techniques are being explored as to how to use regenerative science to accelerate the healing of wounds. The National Eye Institute?  A recent press release suggested that they might see real results providing significant vision solutions within the decade.

I like the idea of audacious goals - it implies big thinking, big ideas, big concepts, and big initiatives. All the things necessary to get to a 'big future' - and so it fits in perfectly with my Big Future series that is now unfolding.

Bottom line? Anyone who has ever succeeded at disruption or innovation has been audacious in their actions, bold in their thinking, and brave in their efforts!

You should be too!

It's pretty certain that the phrase 'audacious goals' is going to become a regular part of Jim Carroll's vocabulary going forward.

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