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Could a futuristic society of humans with the power to control their own biological functions ever become reality?

It's not as out there as it sounds, now the technical foundations have been laid. Researchers have created a link between thoughts and cells, allowing people to switch on genes in mice using just their thoughts.

"We wanted to be able to use brainwaves to control genes. It's the first time anyone has linked synthetic biology and the mind," says Martin Fussenegger, a bioengineer at ETH Zurich in Basel, Switzerland, who led the team behind the work.

They hope to use the technology to help people who are "locked-in" – that is, fully conscious but unable to move or speak – to do things like self-administer pain medication. It might also be able to help people with epilepsy control their seizures.

In theory, the technology could be used for non-medical purposes, too. For example, we could give ourselves a hormone burst on demand, much like in the Culture – Iain M. Banks's utopian society, where people are able to secrete...