The branches
Seven things about a person that can be changed
Every upgrade on the tree sits under one of these. The count on the home page adds them all up; this page shows them one branch at a time.
- 1 of 76 upgradesSensesSeeing, hearing, touch, and senses we were not born with.Furthest stage: in wide use
- 2 of 75 upgradesMovement and bodyLimbs, muscle, bone, and the machines that move with us.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 3 of 74 upgradesMemory and thinkingRemembering, learning, attention, and the quiet merge with always-on tools.Furthest stage: in wide use
- 4 of 74 upgradesMood and driveHow we feel, what we want, and whether that can be set on purpose.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 5 of 75 upgradesLifespan and repairLiving longer, healing faster, and replacing what wears out.Furthest stage: first human
- 6 of 74 upgradesInheritanceWhat we pass to our children, chosen rather than left to chance.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 7 of 77 upgradesThe link to machinesA direct connection between a brain and a computer, and how much can pass through it.Furthest stage: in wide use
The stages
Each upgrade sits on one rung of a five-rung ladder. It moves up when a public record shows the next thing has happened, and it never moves down: if a device is later withdrawn, the record says so, but the rung it reached stays.
- Idea only. Proposed or worked on, but not yet shown to work in any living animal.
- Shown in animals. Shown to work in a living animal, in a peer-reviewed report.
- First human. At least one person has had it, with a public record of that. Approval is not required.
- In clinical use. A regulator somewhere has approved it, or it is in routine use in a named clinical setting.
- In wide use. Available to the general public in at least one country and taken up by many people.
35 upgrades on the tree, 28 at a first human or beyond. How a stage is decided: how the numbers are worked out.