Blue or red pill? Supermedicine, please!

In the Matrix, the choice between the blue pill and the red pill was about reality versus illusion. Today, medicine is presenting us with a different kind of choice. One about whether we want to fundamentally reshape the human body and condition.

GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic or Wegovy are rewriting how we think about obesity, not just as a disease, but as something that can be pharmaceutically managed at scale. At the same time, gene-editing tools like CRISPR are making inherited diseases optional, while longevity drugs in development promise to extend healthy lifespans far beyond what we’ve known. These are not just treatments: they are the first wave of supermedicines. 

And so we face our own pill-choice moment: 

• Health as Lifestyle vs. Obligation. Do these treatments liberate us from stigma, or create new pressures for everyone to conform? 
• Society & Economy. Do we treat enhancement like healthcare or like a privilege for the few? What industries are disrupted when biology itself becomes optional? 
• Identity & Philosophy. Where do we draw the line between therapy and enhancement? What happens to our sense of “normal” when the default body is engineered rather than natural? 

Beyond GLP-1s lie fertility boosters, neuroenhancers, AI-guided personalized therapies. Who will control access — pharma giants, public health systems, or disruptive biotech startups? 

This keynote challenges us to reflect: if the pill is offered, blue, red, or “super”, which one will we take, and what world will that choice create?