MICHAEL ROSENWALD

To grasp the power of Toshiba’s new Aquilion ONE computed-tomography (CT) scanner, imagine facing a picturesque beach. Your camera doesn’t have a panoramic function, so you take snapshots pointing to the left, the center, and the right. You tape the photographs together and it looks gorgeous, sure, but you’re missing the action of the waves crashing on the sand.

Could a nasal shot of hormones make a person more compassionate and less socially awkward? Thats the thinking behind new research from scientists at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in New York. Psychiatrist Eric Hollander and psychologist Jennifer Bartz found that inhaling oxytocin, a hormone that occurs naturally in the body, could alleviate the more debilitating symptoms of autism: an inability to recognize emotion, a failure to connect with the world, and a tendency toward repetitive, obsessive behaviors. Children with autism have low blood levels of oxytocin, which could explain their poor social skills. The work could help not only the one in 150 children afflicted by the illness in the U.S. but also perhaps the millions of people who suffer from social phobias.

The Ultimate Operating Room

Brain chips that enable us to control machines with our thoughts. Kidneys and lungs built to order in the lab. Pills to make you smarter and more creative. An implant that gives you a tan and protects against skin cancer. All these innovations are in development; some are already being tested on human subjects.

The next technological frontier will be our own bodies. Genetics, materials science, tissue engineering and nanotechnology are already yielding products to help the sick and injured, including a Band-Aid-like heart patch and the C-leg prosthesis for amputees.

We charged one worrywart writer, Michael Rosenwald, with getting as many different DNA tests as he could to find out what his future—or, more specifically, his genes—had in store for him. In a search for everything from cancer to narcolepsy, Rosenwald sent blood samples or cheek swabs to genetic-testing labs across the country. The DNA in the harvested cells was then extracted from the cells’ nuclei to undergo PCR amplification, essentially molecular photocopying.

What´s left of the General Tso´s chicken is on the coffee table. The sauce that eluded my mouth is congealing on my T-shirt. American Idol just started. And Megan, my fiance of three days, is getting ready to swab the inside of my mouth with Q-Tips that are nearly as long as chopsticks. â€OK, open that mouth,†she says. â€Wider.†She is a doctor. I do as I´m told. â€You know, these look like little Pap-smear brushes,†she muses. My mouth snaps closed. â€C´mon, open up,†she says. I stall.