Prospect of gastroenterology and hepatology in the next century

The task of predicting what Gastroenterology and Hepatology may look like in the coming century is a great personal challenge and at the same time an awe-inspiring assignment. Not only have these two medical specialties become very large and diversified but there are so many new discoveries and ideas that it is a capricious undertaking to attempt fore-telling which of them may become part of the next century′s medical practice. I therefore will take the personal privilege of being highly selective, choosing only topics for discussion which I believe have a distinct potential of generating novel scientific concepts, fresh approaches or new therapeutic modalities.