Information technology is nothing short of godsend from heaven. It has revolutionised our life, learning, and knowledge. It has also challenged our brain's capacity, or competence, to coping with the enormous glut of information available at the click of the mouse. It isn't that our brain is not endowed with the wherewithal to filter, organise, or selectively disregard information that is not required, yet the fact is most people are glued to devour and expand on the higher powers of the brain with insignificant information. While it is obvious that we are bombarded with more than 40,000 thoughts on any given day, the point actually is our brain filters more than 99 per cent of such sensory inputs before it reaches our conscious awareness. What's more, since the brain is smart, it will, by way of reflex, 'sieve' whatever information is repetitive, boring, or redundant, while retaining new, pertinent, and essential information. Interestingly, the brain is better equipped than the most advanced computer. It is not only exceptionally good at remembering remote facts, it is also dazzling at organising and associating thoughts with ideas. This is what that provides it with 'that' innate, natural ability to handle new information without being encumbered with too much of a surplus. More than information, there is a stunning, definitive biology at work inside the brain. Although the brain has an enormous appetite to storing information, information technology has made 'relative' the need for long-term memory in the brain. This, as new research augurs, will call for greater use of our working memory - not so much our storage memory. Just think of it. Our memories in the future may emerge in the form of a pill - a pill that expands our 'normal' memory. Such a pill, 'now in the works,' has already been used in patients with Alzheimer's disease with encouraging outcomes. Picture this - as our ability to access and share information will only accelerate, our brains would be challenged to think and make decisions at the speed of thought. Anyone who falls short of it will be 'doomed,' unless one musters one's intuition and 'gut' feelings, with expanded gusto. Add to this yet another type of memory that occurs in the form of genetic material, the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the blueprint for the body, for traits passed down from generation to generation, and you have the human genetic map. A 'chart' that will help locate biomarkers for diagnosis, preventative, and curative treatment of a host of hereditary disorders - including diseases of the brain. You get the idea - gene therapy. Gene therapy is directed towards replacing defective genes with 'unspoiled' genes. This therapy is far from perfect yet, but what takes the cake is a revolutionary, innovative strategy - 'targeted gene correction' - in which a cell is stimulated to refurbish its own defective genes. Yes, the road to the future is too exciting as genetic information will lead to tests in the mother's womb, or early in life. This will be a boon to detect markers that suggest genetic predispositions to conditions, such as obesity and addiction, not to speak of emotional disorders. The scientific spin-off would be imminent as one would have the 'magic wand' to devise lifestyles that integrate medical analyses with pre-emptive, corrective treatment to stay in optimal health and wellness. It is not that everything will be hunky-dory with such advances - one must be realistic of possibilities, not eventualities, because genetic medicine will not inevitably enable us to predict an individual's phenotype, or body structure. This is because our phenotype is not just the expression of genetic information, but it is also the outcome of environmental influences and life experiences. Let us highlight a relevant example - the phenotype for brain disorders could range anywhere from 'zero-symptoms' to complete disability, although one cannot 'tap' identical twins with 100 per cent 'zero-error,' in such an instance. Nature is a temple of surprises, also enigma. To state the obvious - neither health nor any 'make-up' of the human brain and body is predestined, or predictable. To cut a long story short - our environment and behaviour can modify our brains, just as much as autonomy and creative licence can augment our behaviour. Yet another downside is gene treatment that alters one gene. This could impinge on different qualities, including behaviours that we don't want to change. For instance, the same gene linked to heart disease could influence our brainpower, intellect, or creativity. It all, therefore, boils down to risks - that altering a gene may not be a good idea for disorders associated with multiple genes. While medicine has 'engineered' the advent of wonderful drugs, or miracle drugs, being replaced by the more miraculous drugs of tomorrow, medical sceptics, by themselves, are 'aiming their perceptive guns' while substantiating the credo that drugs, in any form, only ease symptoms, not the disease. This is bound to change, as research overwhelms disorders with trophic factors, or specific substances, that 'fuel' and replace degenerated cells. When computer designed molecules are 'lodged' precisely into specific receptors for the purpose of treating disease, the transcendent idea of genetically engineering plants to produce 'pharmaceuticals' will take medical treatment to its acme - absorbing drugs by simply eating plant food. This would be blasphemy for sceptics, because the human body is not a machine operating independently of the mind. This also brings us to the big question that has begun to haunt research more than ever before. Will 'tweaking' our brain, or body system, rob us of our ability to cultivate warm, loving relationships, or influence longevity and the capacity to live in harmony with ourselves and others? This is an uneasy question that calls for answers far beyond our new-found talent to replacing our vision and hearing with light and sound detectors, or computer chips, that transmit appropriate signals to our brain. Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher, and author