new opportunities september 2003 export america 17 these days few topics can ignite the imagination more than dramatic developments taking place in medical science while advances information technologies seemingly dominated previous decade biotechnology and now appear to have taken over limelight announcements of progress that allow for earlier detection diseases effective treatment options are almost daily occurrences recent breakthroughs cardiac research example led coro nary stents implantable defibrillators minimally invasive bypass surgery which together helped reduce death rate from heart disease by 40 percent past 25 years advanced diagnostics like gene based testing computer generated assess ments saving thousands lives detecting a variety illnesses at treatable stages decades however only relatively modest precursor amazing develop will follow next 10 30 some future predictions boggle mind if you believe ray kurzweil s age spiritual machine may well be rebuilding human body parts