Science fiction often predicts modern technology. Characters in the 1927 motion picture Metropolis engaged in video chats with one another. Many years before we did the same in our living rooms, Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, mounted flat-screen colour monitors on the walls of the Enterprise. Science fiction frequently emphasises artificial intelligence, communication, and transportation as the most prominent aspects of technology. But sci-fi writers also value futuristic chemistry. 2016 saw the discovery of a microbe that ate plastic bottles by Japanese researchers. Since then, other research teams have isolated digestive enzymes and improved their functionality. The structure was fed into a neural network by a team in Austin, Texas, and artificial intelligence suggested the ideal areas of the enzyme to modify. More like brewing, but with animal cells in place of yeast, is the process of growing meat in a vat. The benefit is that you can consume something that has the appearance, flavour, and nutritional value of meat without the slaughter. In just over five minutes, a research team at Stanford University in 2022 read the complete human genome. This might shorten the time it takes to diagnose uncommon diseases from years to hours. These incredible advancements in food, recycling, and diagnostics are just a few chemistry-related fields that were once regarded as science fiction. Many more are already in the works, including high-density batteries that enable quicker and fewer charges, atmospheric cleaning technology that eliminates CO2, and 3D "printed" customised medications. Just let's hope that the dystopias that are so frequently portrayed in science fiction do not come to be with the technologies they describe.