The future of our species.

Abstract

We start this special issue of EMBO reports with the most ‘distant’ prospect for humanity: space travel to other stars and planets. “Curiosity is probably the best [explanation]: exploration is, metaphorically speaking, in our genes,” writes Marc Heppener about why humans want to leave the Earth and reach out into space. This curiosity is unlikely to change, no matter how much we evolve in the meantime: we want to know how the Earth and our neighbouring planets were created, and, ultimately, whether we are alone in the universe. With current technology, Mars is the most likely destination: it would take a minimum of 520 days for a manned mission to Mars, including one month spent on the Martian surface. If we want to travel to our nearest star, which is Alpha Centauri, we will need to devise ways in which to extend the human lifespan and overcome space‐flight boredom, or develop artificial hibernation. Only time will tell whether any of this is feasible. Yet, in the time that it would take us to send even a small group of humans to Mars, the surface of our planet could change beyond all recognition—because of us. We face a range of pressing biological problems that will test our ingenuity to its limits, but we also face the problem of managing our own technological progress and socio‐cultural evolution. More than ever before, our survival and well‐being depend on the generation of new wisdom through transdisciplinary approaches that involve the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. In the articles that follow, the experience of a broad range of professionals from these areas is brought to bear on the question of the future of our species. As we enter the twenty‐first century, infectious diseases account for 32% of deaths worldwide and 68% of deaths in …