I was going through some notes scribbled on an old passport and I found these words:

"Not Necessarily"

It took me a while to remember where it came from. An then it struck me.
Oh, how could I forget it in the first place!

Rewind.


Precisely one year ago, Cafe 976, San Diego California. It's the middle of Summer. I'm sitting in my usual spot, with my usual cup of coffee doing my usual after lunch tasks.

As usual, a beautiful girl walks in and my eyes get drawn away from the screen for a couple of seconds. I look around to make my peeking a little less obvious and, without really meaning it, I end up dead staring at the guy right next to me for a little longer than I should have.

He had a friendly invitational smile in his face, and I was very intrigued by his evidently intelectual look. So I just jumped in and asked... "Hey, what are you working on?"

The guy next to me was Dr. Todd Ovokaitys, and he was working on a patent application.

Luckily, I used to study Medicine and I have always been fascinated by biochemistry and genetics, so I could relate to what he said from that point on. Dr Todd was also kind enough to bring things down to my level when necessary and the conversation went through smoothly and developed for hours.

It was an extremely interesting conversation ( for me at least ;) and we touched on many different things.

Well, I guess I cannot tell you exactly what we talked about, but just for the sake of completeness, and because I think he has one the coolest jobs on earth, I will give you a brief summary of what I understand Dr. Todd is doing today ( from what is publicly disclosed ):

First of all, he is working with Laser Technology. If you consider that the word "laser" can even make "skin imperfection removal" sound cool, then imagine how interesting it can be to use Lasers to play around with the fundamental biological building blocks: Proteins and DNA.

In specific terms, he is using laser electromagnetic resonance to modify the structural ( and therefore functional ) properties of biologically relevant proteins. This process has all sorts of ramifications and applications. Some of these applications have simple and immediate practical uses, such as the enhancement of transport, specificity and delivery of nutrients through the modification or combination of vitamins and other dietary elements with selected co-factors.

You can actually buy these laser-boosted supplements from his company: Gematria.

The core invention that enables this process is formally called: a "holographic temporal displacement prism for the non-fringing phase conjugate interference of light".
Now, if you think that such a name is overkill for nutritional supplements.... you're probably right ;)

This is actually a generic process that may well go way beyond vitamins.

For anyone who has spent hours in a lab working with proteins and complex sequential enzimatic processes ( unfortunately, I have ) to activate cell surface receptors, this kind of "a la carte" structural modification tool is not short of a holy grail.

In fact, given that the actual process is induced through a very specific and highly penetrating kind of laser ( thanks to a novel wave structure ) and requires no infiltration or chemical processing, it apparently can be applied in-vivo as well. This means that some proteins could even be modified, or cells' surface chemistry altered, without removing them from your blood stream! And this is where imagination takes off... so many possibilities ( AIDS? ).

Quoting, from their website:

This new laser optical technology has been patented worldwide as U.S. 6064500 and worldwide patent WO 09722022A1.

When ordinary laser light in the visible spectrum interacts with tissue there is intense scattering such that a coherent signal cannot penetrate more than 5mm. Sparse constructive nodes are ultra-brief wave summation signals that spark in and out of existence deeply in tissue or an otherwise scattering medium, with 6-20cm projection even through bone predicted. The duration of the pulse is just long enough to excite specific desired molecular stimulation, yet brief enough not to nonspecifically heat target molecular structures.

Global applications patents have been submitted for "The Use of Sparse Constructive Nodes (of electromagnetic energy) for the Selective Modulation of Cell Surface Chemistry." This general applications patent covers the use of the laser technology to activate and enhance desired cell chemistries in vitro and in vivo.

Ah. I almost forgot.
What does all this have to do with the words in my passport?

It turns out that at some point in the conversation I asked him if he wasn't afraid that his technology could someday be used for evil. After all, it is not hard to think how enhanced cofactors or in-vivo modifications of bio-protein structure and function can be used with not-so-good purposes.

Specifically, I asked him if he was considering what might happen if he lost direct control of his legacy. Which is something that, we all know, is inevitable in the long term.

-"Someday", I said, "You are going to die, aren't you"

( To which he smiled, and replied slowly )

-"Not Necessarily..."

And that's when I remembered:
These are very interesting times!