Who wants to live forever? Until recently, the quest to slow ageing or even reverse it was the stuff of legends – or scams. But, today, an evidence-based race to delay or prevent ageing is energising scientists worldwide. Scientists say there are already a number of things we can do to extend life and health, while promising that current and ongoing large-scale trials of drugs and other interventions mean the once-mythical goal of healthy, longer-lived lives is not far away. "Death is inevitable but ageing is not," said Dr Nir Barzilai, founding director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.

There's no question that artificial intelligence (AI) will be widespread in five years. Yet we don't know exactly what it will look like.

Chatbots are just the beginning of how AI will reshape customer service. Rowan Trollope, CEO of Five9, a cloud contact center software provider, foresees AI conducting call analysis in real time and delivering proactive product suggestions. A B2B software firm might use it to create content that addresses leads' most common sticking points. Internally, customer service staff could use it to learn which phrases tend to agitate callers and which calm them.

LONDON – Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology's wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrializing the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesizing whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Matt Ocko, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist whose past investments include Facebook, Uber and Zynga, believes the emerging industry has passed the "epiphany" moment needed to prove it can deliver economic value. "Synthetic biology companies are now becoming more like the disruptive, industrial-scale value propositions that define any technology business," he said.

Scientists are getting closer to building life from scratch and technology pioneers are taking notice, with record sums moving into a field that could deliver novel drugs, materials, chemicals and even perfumes. Despite ethical and safety concerns, investors are attracted by synthetic biology's wide market potential and the plummeting cost of DNA synthesis, which is industrialising the writing of the genetic code that determines how organisms function. While existing biotechnology is already used to make medicines like insulin and genetically modified crops, synthesising whole genes or genomes gives an opportunity for far more extensive changes. Alexander the friendly robot visits the Indoor Park in London (file pic). Technology pioneers are investing huge sums of money in all manner of innovative ideas.

"The intersection of biology and technology is a difficult place to be because of different cultures and languages, but I think we are breaking through some of those barriers," said Thomas Bostick, former head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who now leads biotech firm Intrexon's environment unit.