Biopunk
Encyclopedia
Biopunk is a term used to describe:
and other aspects of genetics
. A biohacker (or "wetware hacker") is similar to a computer hacker who creates and modifies computer software
or computer hardware
as a hobby, but should not be confused with a bioterrorist
, whose sole intent is the deliberate release of virus
es, bacteria
, or other germ
s used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants (in the same way a computer hacker should not be confused with the more popular, yet erroneous, use of the term, describing someone who spreads computer viruses or breaks into computers systems
for malicious purposes).
Pat Mooney, executive director of ETC Group
, is a critic of biohacking who argues that—using a laptop
computer, published gene sequence information, and mail-order synthetic DNA—just about anyone has the potential to construct genes or entire genomes from scratch (including those of the lethal pathogens) in the near-future. He warns that the danger of this development is not just bio-terror, but "bio-error".
s who are organizing to create public awareness of how genomic information, produced by bioinformatics
, gets used and misused. On the basis of a presumed parallel between genetic and computational code, science journalist Annalee Newitz
has called for open-sourcing
of genomic databases and declared that "Free our genetic data!" is the rallying cry of the biopunk. Biological Innovation for Open Society
is an example of an open-source initiative in biotechnology
aiming to apply open license for biological innovation.
Self-described "transgenic artist" Eduardo Kac
uses biotechnology and genetics to create provocative works that concomitantly revel in scientific techniques and critique them. In what is likely his most famous work, Alba
, Kac collaborated with a French laboratory to procure a green-fluorescent rabbit: a rabbit implanted with a green fluorescent protein
gene
from a type of jellyfish in order for the rabbit to fluoresce green under ultraviolet light. The members of the Critical Art Ensemble
have written books and staged multimedia performance interventions around this issue, including The Flesh Machine (focusing on in vitro fertilisation
, surveillance of the body
, and liberal eugenics
) and Cult of the New Eve
(analyzing the pseudoreligious discourse around new reproductive technologies
). Contributors to Biotech Hobbyist Magazine have written extensively on the field.
Biologist
, speculative-fiction
author, and self-described biopunk, Meredith L. Patterson
is known for her work on yogurt bacteria
within the DIYbio
community, as well as being the author of "A Biopunk Manifesto", which she delivered at the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics' symposium, "Outlaw Biology? Public Participation in the Age of Big Bio". This manifesto is modeled after "A Cypherpunk Manifesto" by Eric Hughes
, which states the goals of the cypherpunk
movement. The influence of the cypherpunks (a cyberpunk derivative like the biopunk subculture) on the biopunk community does not end there; Patterson's husband and long-time collaborator Len Sassaman
was a cypherpunk contemporary of Hughes. Patterson and Sassaman have worked together on a number of biohacking projects and heavily promoted the continued legality of citizen science
, both on moral and practical grounds.
The biopunk movement is also a political dissident
movement to the extent that the arrest and prosecution of some members for their work with harmless microbes, such as artivist Steve Kurtz
, has been denounced as political repression
by critics who argue the U.S. government has used post-9/11 anti-terrorism powers
to intimidate artists and others who use their art to criticize society.
that focuses on the near-future unintended consequences
of the biotechnology revolution following the discovery of recombinant DNA
. Biopunk stories explore the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a backdrop of totalitarian governments and megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control
and profiteering. Unlike cyberpunk, it builds not on information technology
, but on synthetic biology
. Like in postcyberpunk fiction, individuals are usually modified
and enhanced
not with cyberware
, but by genetic manipulation
. A common feature of biopunk fiction is the "black clinic", which is a laboratory, clinic, or hospital that performs illegal, unregulated, or ethically-dubious biological modification and genetic engineering
procedures. Many features of biopunk fiction have their roots in William Gibson
's Neuromancer
, one of the first cyberpunk novels.
One of the prominent writers in this field is Paul Di Filippo
, though he called his collection of such stories ribofunk, a portmanteau word synthesizing "ribosome
" and "funk
". In RIBOFUNK: The Manifesto, Di Filippo wrote:
Di Filippo argues that precursors of ribofunk fiction include H. G. Wells
' The Island of Doctor Moreau
; Julian Huxley
's The Tissue Culture King; some of David H. Keller
's stories, Damon Knight
's Natural State and Other Stories; Frederik Pohl
and Cyril M. Kornbluth
's Gravy Planet; novels of T. J. Bass
and Varley; Greg Bear
's Blood Music and Bruce Sterling
's Schismatrix
.
- A hobbyHobbyA hobby is a regular activity or interest that is undertaken for pleasure, typically done during one's leisure time.- Etymology :A hobby horse is a wooden or wickerwork toy made to be ridden just like a real horse...
ist who experiments with DNADNADeoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
and other aspects of geneticsGeneticsGenetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
. - A technoprogressiveTechno-progressivismTechno-progressivism, technoprogressivism, tech-progressivism or techprogressivism is a stance of active support for the convergence of technological change and social change...
movement advocating open access to genetic information. - A science fiction genre that focuses on biotechnology and subversivesSubversionApache Subversion is a software versioning and a revision control system distributed under a free license. Developers use Subversion to maintain current and historical versions of files such as source code, web pages, and documentation...
.
Biohacker
Biopunk is a synonym for biohacker, a term used to describe a hobbyist who experiments with DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
and other aspects of genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
. A biohacker (or "wetware hacker") is similar to a computer hacker who creates and modifies computer software
Computer software
Computer software, or just software, is a collection of computer programs and related data that provide the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it....
or computer hardware
Computer hardware
Personal computer hardware are component devices which are typically installed into or peripheral to a computer case to create a personal computer upon which system software is installed including a firmware interface such as a BIOS and an operating system which supports application software that...
as a hobby, but should not be confused with a bioterrorist
Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...
, whose sole intent is the deliberate release of virus
Virus
A virus is a small infectious agent that can replicate only inside the living cells of organisms. Viruses infect all types of organisms, from animals and plants to bacteria and archaea...
es, bacteria
Bacteria
Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...
, or other germ
Microorganism
A microorganism or microbe is a microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters, or no cell at all...
s used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants (in the same way a computer hacker should not be confused with the more popular, yet erroneous, use of the term, describing someone who spreads computer viruses or breaks into computers systems
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
for malicious purposes).
Pat Mooney, executive director of ETC Group
ETC Group
ETC Group is an international organization dedicated to "the conservation and sustainable advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human rights." The full legal name is Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration...
, is a critic of biohacking who argues that—using a laptop
Laptop
A laptop, also called a notebook, is a personal computer for mobile use. A laptop integrates most of the typical components of a desktop computer, including a display, a keyboard, a pointing device and speakers into a single unit...
computer, published gene sequence information, and mail-order synthetic DNA—just about anyone has the potential to construct genes or entire genomes from scratch (including those of the lethal pathogens) in the near-future. He warns that the danger of this development is not just bio-terror, but "bio-error".
Movement
The biopunk movement is a small intellectual and cultural movement, which encompasses a growing number of scientists, artists, and cultural criticCultural critic
A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis. There is significant overlap with social and cultural theory.-Terminology:...
s who are organizing to create public awareness of how genomic information, produced by bioinformatics
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics is the application of computer science and information technology to the field of biology and medicine. Bioinformatics deals with algorithms, databases and information systems, web technologies, artificial intelligence and soft computing, information and computation theory, software...
, gets used and misused. On the basis of a presumed parallel between genetic and computational code, science journalist Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz
Annalee Newitz is an American journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology. She received a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, and in 1997 published the widely cited book, White Trash: Race and Class in America. From 2004–2005 she was a policy analyst...
has called for open-sourcing
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
of genomic databases and declared that "Free our genetic data!" is the rallying cry of the biopunk. Biological Innovation for Open Society
Biological Innovation for Open Society
BiOS is an international initiative to foster innovation and freedom to operate in the biological sciences. BiOS was officially launched on 10 February 2005 by Cambia, an independent, international non-profit organization dedicated to democratizing innovation...
is an example of an open-source initiative in biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
aiming to apply open license for biological innovation.
Self-described "transgenic artist" Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac is an American contemporary artist internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He lives and works in Chicago....
uses biotechnology and genetics to create provocative works that concomitantly revel in scientific techniques and critique them. In what is likely his most famous work, Alba
Alba (rabbit)
Alba was the name of a genetically modified "glowing" rabbit created as an artistic work by contemporary artist Eduardo Kac based on one of the experiments with rabbits led by French geneticist Louis-Marie Houdebine....
, Kac collaborated with a French laboratory to procure a green-fluorescent rabbit: a rabbit implanted with a green fluorescent protein
Green fluorescent protein
The green fluorescent protein is a protein composed of 238 amino acid residues that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to blue light. Although many other marine organisms have similar green fluorescent proteins, GFP traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the...
gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
from a type of jellyfish in order for the rabbit to fluoresce green under ultraviolet light. The members of the Critical Art Ensemble
Critical Art Ensemble
Critical Art Ensemble is an award-winning collective of five tactical media practitioners of various specializations including computer graphics and web design, film/video, photography, text art, book art, and performance. For CAE, tactical media is situational, ephemeral, and self-terminating...
have written books and staged multimedia performance interventions around this issue, including The Flesh Machine (focusing on in vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation
In vitro fertilisation is a process by which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the body: in vitro. IVF is a major treatment in infertility when other methods of assisted reproductive technology have failed...
, surveillance of the body
Biometrics
Biometrics As Jain & Ross point out, "the term biometric authentication is perhaps more appropriate than biometrics since the latter has been historically used in the field of statistics to refer to the analysis of biological data [36]" . consists of methods...
, and liberal eugenics
Liberal eugenics
Liberal eugenics is an ideology which advocates the use of reproductive and genetic technologies where the choice of enhancing human characteristics and capacities is left to the individual preferences of parents acting as consumers, rather than the public health policies of the state.-History:The...
) and Cult of the New Eve
Clonaid
Clonaid is a human cloning company founded in 1997. It has philosophical ties with the Raëlian sect, which sees cloning as the first step in achieving immortality. On December 27, 2002, Clonaid's chief executive, Brigitte Boisselier, claimed that a baby clone, named Eve, was born. Media coverage of...
(analyzing the pseudoreligious discourse around new reproductive technologies
Reproductive technology
Reproductive technology encompasses all current and anticipated uses of technology in human and animal reproduction, including assisted reproductive technology, contraception and others.-Assisted reproductive technology:...
). Contributors to Biotech Hobbyist Magazine have written extensively on the field.
Biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
, speculative-fiction
Speculative fiction
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as...
author, and self-described biopunk, Meredith L. Patterson
Meredith L. Patterson
Meredith L. Patterson is an American technologist, science fiction author, and journalist. She has spoken at numerous industry conferences on a wide range of topics...
is known for her work on yogurt bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria
The lactic acid bacteria comprise a clade of Gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally non-sporulating, non-respiring rod or cocci that are associated by their common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bacteria, usually found in decomposing plants and lactic products, produce...
within the DIYbio
DIYbio
Founded by Mackenzie Cowell and Jason Bobe, DIYbio is a network of individuals from around the globe that aims to help make biology a worthwhile pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists, and do-it-yourself biological engineers who value openness and safety...
community, as well as being the author of "A Biopunk Manifesto", which she delivered at the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics' symposium, "Outlaw Biology? Public Participation in the Age of Big Bio". This manifesto is modeled after "A Cypherpunk Manifesto" by Eric Hughes
Eric Hughes
Eric Hughes was a rugby league footballer for the Widnes Vikings, Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and for the Great Britain national side. He unwittingly added confusion to the Canterbury side as he played at the same time as the three Hughes brothers Garry, Graeme and Mark.Hughes coached Rochdale...
, which states the goals of the cypherpunk
Cypherpunk
A cypherpunk is an activist advocating widespread use of strong cryptography as a route to social and political change.Originally communicating through the Cypherpunks electronic mailing list, informal groups aimed to achieve privacy and security through proactive use of cryptography...
movement. The influence of the cypherpunks (a cyberpunk derivative like the biopunk subculture) on the biopunk community does not end there; Patterson's husband and long-time collaborator Len Sassaman
Len Sassaman
Len Sassaman was an advocate for privacy, maintainer of the Mixmaster anonymous remailer code and remop of the randseed remailer.He was employed as the security architect and senior systems engineer for Anonymizer...
was a cypherpunk contemporary of Hughes. Patterson and Sassaman have worked together on a number of biohacking projects and heavily promoted the continued legality of citizen science
Citizen science
Citizen science is a term used for the systematic collection and analysis of data; development of technology; testing of natural phenomena; and the dissemination of these activities by researchers on a primarily avocational basis...
, both on moral and practical grounds.
The biopunk movement is also a political dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
movement to the extent that the arrest and prosecution of some members for their work with harmless microbes, such as artivist Steve Kurtz
Steve Kurtz
Steve Kurtz is a professor of art at the SUNY Buffalo, former professor of art history at Carnegie Mellon University and a founding member of the performance art group, Critical Art Ensemble. He is known for his work in BioArt, and Electronic Civil Disobedience, and because of his arrest by the FBI...
, has been denounced as political repression
Political repression
Political repression is the persecution of an individual or group for political reasons, particularly for the purpose of restricting or preventing their ability to take political life of society....
by critics who argue the U.S. government has used post-9/11 anti-terrorism powers
USA PATRIOT Act
The USA PATRIOT Act is an Act of the U.S. Congress that was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 26, 2001...
to intimidate artists and others who use their art to criticize society.
Science fiction
Biopunk science fiction is a subgenre of cyberpunk fictionCyberpunk
Cyberpunk is a postmodern and science fiction genre noted for its focus on "high tech and low life." The name is a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk, and was originally coined by Bruce Bethke as the title of his short story "Cyberpunk," published in 1983...
that focuses on the near-future unintended consequences
Unintended Consequences
Unintended Consequences is a novel by John Ross, first published in 1996 by Accurate Press. The story chronicles the history of the gun culture, gun rights and gun control in the United States from the early 1900s through the late 1990s...
of the biotechnology revolution following the discovery of recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA molecules are DNA sequences that result from the use of laboratory methods to bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be found in biological organisms...
. Biopunk stories explore the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a backdrop of totalitarian governments and megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control
Social control
Social control refers generally to societal and political mechanisms or processes that regulate individual and group behavior, leading to conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state, or social group. Many mechanisms of social control are cross-cultural, if only in the control...
and profiteering. Unlike cyberpunk, it builds not on information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, but on synthetic biology
Synthetic biology
Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering. It encompasses a variety of different approaches, methodologies, and disciplines with a variety of definitions...
. Like in postcyberpunk fiction, individuals are usually modified
Body modification
Body modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
and enhanced
Human enhancement
Human enhancement refers to any attempt to temporarily or permanently overcome the current limitations of the human body through natural or artificial means...
not with cyberware
Cyberware
For other uses; see Cyberware Cyberware is a relatively new and unknown field...
, but by genetic manipulation
Human genetic engineering
Human genetic engineering is the alteration of an individual's genotype with the aim of choosing the phenotype of a newborn or changing the existing phenotype of a child or adult....
. A common feature of biopunk fiction is the "black clinic", which is a laboratory, clinic, or hospital that performs illegal, unregulated, or ethically-dubious biological modification and genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
procedures. Many features of biopunk fiction have their roots in William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's Neuromancer
Neuromancer
Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy...
, one of the first cyberpunk novels.
One of the prominent writers in this field is Paul Di Filippo
Paul Di Filippo
Paul Di Filippo is an American science fiction writer. He has been published in Postscripts...
, though he called his collection of such stories ribofunk, a portmanteau word synthesizing "ribosome
Ribosome
A ribosome is a component of cells that assembles the twenty specific amino acid molecules to form the particular protein molecule determined by the nucleotide sequence of an RNA molecule....
" and "funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
". In RIBOFUNK: The Manifesto, Di Filippo wrote:
Di Filippo argues that precursors of ribofunk fiction include H. G. Wells
H. G. Wells
Herbert George Wells was an English author, now best known for his work in the science fiction genre. He was also a prolific writer in many other genres, including contemporary novels, history, politics and social commentary, even writing text books and rules for war games...
' The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Island of Doctor Moreau
The Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells. It is told from the point of view of a man named Edward Prendick who is shipwrecked, rescued by a passing boat, and then left at the ship's destination by the crew along with the ship's cargo of exotic animals...
; Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
's The Tissue Culture King; some of David H. Keller
David H. Keller
David H. Keller was a writer for pulp magazines in the mid-twentieth century who wrote science fiction, fantasy and horror. He was the first psychiatrist to write for the genre, and was most often published as David H...
's stories, Damon Knight
Damon Knight
Damon Francis Knight was an American science fiction author, editor, critic and fan. His forte was short stories and he is widely acknowledged as having been a master of the genre.-Biography:...
's Natural State and Other Stories; Frederik Pohl
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl, Jr. is an American science fiction writer, editor and fan, with a career spanning over seventy years — from his first published work, "Elegy to a Dead Planet: Luna" , to his most recent novel, All the Lives He Led .He won the National Book Award in 1980 for his novel Jem...
and Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth
Cyril M. Kornbluth was an American science fiction author and a notable member of the Futurians. He used a variety of pen-names, including Cecil Corwin, S. D. Gottesman, Edward J. Bellin, Kenneth Falconer, Walter C. Davies, Simon Eisner and Jordan Park...
's Gravy Planet; novels of T. J. Bass
T. J. Bass
T. J. Bass, real name Thomas J. Bassler, MD is an American science fiction author and doctor, having graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine...
and Varley; Greg Bear
Greg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear is an American science fiction and mainstream author. His work has covered themes of galactic conflict , artificial universes , consciousness and cultural practices , and accelerated evolution...
's Blood Music and Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
's Schismatrix
Schismatrix
Schismatrix is a science fiction novel by Bruce Sterling, originally published in 1985. The story was Sterling's only novel-length treatment of the Shaper/Mechanist universe. Five short stories preceded the novel...
.
Books
- Ribofunk by Paul Di FilippoPaul Di FilippoPaul Di Filippo is an American science fiction writer. He has been published in Postscripts...
- The Movement of Mountains and The Brains of Rats by Michael BlumleinMichael BlumleinMichael Blumlein, M.D. is a fiction writer and a physician. Most of his writing is in or near the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. His novels include The Healer, The Movement of Mountains and X, Y. He has been nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award...
- CladeClade (novel)Clade is a science fiction novel written by Mark Budz, published in 2003. In Clade, an environmental disaster called the Ecocaust has caused sea levels to rise and causing additional strains on human resources...
and Crache by Mark BudzMark BudzMark Budz is an American science fiction writer. Budz was born on November 1, 1960 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey into a family that traveled prodigiously. In the late 1980s, Mark moved to Oregon to become a full-time writer... - White Devils by Paul J. McAuley
- The XenogenesisXenogenesisLilith's Brood is a collection of three works by Octavia Butler. The three volumes of this science fiction series were previously collected in the now out of print volume, Xenogenesis...
trilogy by Octavia E. ButlerOctavia E. ButlerOctavia Estelle Butler was an American science fiction writer, one of the best-known among the few African-American women in the field. She won both Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant.- Background :Butler... - The Windup GirlThe Windup GirlThe Windup Girl is a biopunk science fiction novel written by Paolo Bacigalupi and published in September 2009. It was named as the ninth best fiction book of 2009 by TIME magazine, and as the best science fiction book of the year in the Reference and User Services Association's 2010 Reading List...
by Paolo BacigalupiPaolo BacigalupiPaolo Tadini Bacigalupi is an American science fiction and fantasy writer.He has won the Hugo, Nebula, Compton Crook, Theodore Sturgeon, and Michael L. Printz awards, and was nominated for the National Book Award...
Film and television
- GattacaGattacaGattaca is a 1997 science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol. It stars Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin....
(1997) - Dark AngelDark Angel (TV series)Dark Angel is an American biopunk/cyberpunk science fiction television series created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. The show premiered in the United States on the Fox network on October 3, 2000, and was canceled after two seasons...
(2000)
Comics and manga
- Doktor SleeplessDoktor SleeplessDoktor Sleepless is a monthly comic book series written by Warren Ellis with art by Ivan Rodriguez that is published by Avatar Press, launched in July 2007...
comic by Warren EllisWarren EllisWarren Girard Ellis is an English author of comics, novels, and television, who is well-known for sociocultural commentary, both through his online presence and through his writing, which covers transhumanist themes... - Fluorescent BlackFluorescent Black (comics)Fluorescent Black is a comics story published between 2008 and 2010 in Heavy Metal Magazine. It is one of the more popular series published in the magazine and is strikingly different in tone and style from many of the other stories Heavy Metal publishes.-Publication history:The story appeared in...
by M.F. Wilson and Nathan Fox
External links
- The Biopunk Directory, a comprehensive directory of biopunk resources
- Biopunk.org, a community for bio-hackers
- DIYbio.org, a community for DIY biological engineers
- Hackteria.org, a community for bio-artists
- OpenWetWare, an open-source resource for synthetic biology researchers
- OpenPCR, an open-source design for a building a thermal cycler