I don't think we will ever be able to scientifically explain consciousness. There is a limit to what science can discover and prove. We should not discard science in pursuit of some metaphysical truths, but we should keep in mind that science is just one of the tools to obtain knowledge.

I believe that more and more people are trying to bridge the gap between science and spirituality, and very often successfuly, but I don't think that spirituality will merge into science. They will have to learn to coexist as separate disciplines.

Imagine an example like biology and medicine. As we made more and more discoveries in biology, it helped us improve our medical practices and to lead more people towards health instead of death. But everybody is still aware that biology only informs us about verifiable facts, it never tells us what should we do, how should we behave.

In the same way as a biologist will let the doctor make the decision about his patients, scientists should not take it onto themselves to answer the questions of life, they should leave the task to those who study spirituality.