Exploring the wide reach of modern biotechnology, from the genetic modification of plants and animals to medical genetics, assisted reproduction and human cloning, it suggests that we are losing sight of the human being in favour of adapting that being to an inhuman world."--BOOK JACKET.

With the astounding advances in biotechnology, superhuman powers that were once the stuff of legend or comic-strip fantasy now seem within our reach. Science fiction is fast becoming science fact, and many believe that the cyborg, an organism enhanced by mechanical, electronic, or chemical means, will produce the next leap forward in human evolution. Ever since Daedalus strapped on wings, human beings have invented countless ways of overcoming their bodily limitations. Today silicone or collagen implants and plastic joints and valves cheat the aging process. Sophisticated medicines, pacemakers, and organ transplants defy death; and genetic engineering promises to bring major breakthroughs. With the harnessing of brain waves, paralyzed limbs will move again, and artificial limbs will do exactly what the wearer wants. Marie O'Mahony is the guide on this amazing and excitingly illustrated voyage through metamorphoses, fictional and factual, from werewolves to cloning, from Frankenstein's monster to the scientist whose arm is controlled by another's thoughts, from the enhanced humans of science fiction to Cog, the robot sensitive to human moods. The implications of the innovations to come, whether for good or evil, are also considered. What would it mean to be human if robots could do all the work? If our brains could be transplanted or uploaded, our worn-out bodies rejuvenated and beautified, and our natural powers and senses enhanced or manipulated? What if we could live forever?

Simians, Cyborgs and Women is a powerful collection of ten essays written between 1978 and 1989. Although on the surface, simians, cyborgs and women may seem an odd threesome, Haraway describes their profound link as "creatures" which have had a great destabilizing place in Western evolutionary technology and biology. Throughout this book, Haraway analyzes accounts, narratives, and stories of the creation of nature, living organisms, and cyborgs. At once a social reality and a science fiction, the cyborg--a hybrid of organism and machine--represents transgressed boundaries and intense fusions of the nature/culture split. By providing an escape from rigid dualisms, the cyborg exists in a post-gender world, and as such holds immense possibilities for modern feminists. Haraway's recent book, Primate Visions, has been called "outstanding," "original," and "brilliant," by leading scholars in the field. (First published in 1991.)

The Gendered Cyborg explores the relationship between representation, technoscience and gender, through the metaphor of the cyborg. The contributors argue that the figure of the cyborg offers ways of thinking about the relationship between culture and technology, people and machines which disrupt the power of science to enfore the categories through which we think about being human: male and female. Taking inspiration from Donna Haraway's groundbreaking Manifesto for Cyborgs, the articles consider how the cyborg has been used in cultural representation from reproductive technology to sci-fi, and question whether the cyborg is as powerful a symbol as is often claimed. The different sections of the reader explore: * the construction of gender categories through science * the interraction of technoscience and gender in contemporary science fiction film such as Bladerunner and the Alien series * debates around modern reproductive technology such as ultrasound scans and IVF, assessing their benefits and constraints for women * issues relating to artificial intelligence and the internet.

Would you become a cyborg just to survive? I did, and it ended the world. In 2040, three factions went to war over the creation of artilects—sentient androids indistinguishable from human beings. Five years later, Ailith wakes to find the Artilect War over and the modern world destroyed. Her only connection to the life she once knew is Tor, a stranger who protected her as she slept. A cyborg. Like her. They believed they were the only ones; they were wrong. Others of their kind are alive—and facing execution. Their deaths must be prevented at all costs, for if they die, humankind will become extinct. But as Ailith and Tor face off against old enemies and a self-proclaimed god, they begin to doubt the true nature of their design. They can trust no one—not even each other, despite the passion that binds them together. Humanity fought a war to annihilate us. Now their future depends on our survival. We are the seed. The Seeds of Winter is the first book in the Artilect War saga. If you like dystopian science fiction with cyborgs, heroines, and a dash of meta, you'll love this series!

The idea of human-nonhuman combinations has been a recurrent theme throughout the history of humanity. From the myths of the Minotaur and the centaurs in ancient Greece to the dogheads of the Middle Ages right through to the monsters of modern science fiction, these beings have always been a source of fascination. In recent years, however, biomedical advances have demonstrated the potential to make these entities a reality through the creation of inter-species combinations. As a result, pressing and perplexing ethical questions arise. Introducing the reader to the historical context of human-nonhuman experimentation and potential future developments, this volume offers clarification, analysis and a thorough overview of the ethical challenges relating to human-nonhuman chimeras, true hybrids, cybrids and other combinations. This book is the first accessible survey of the different ethical dilemmas facing contemporary society in the creation of human-nonhuman embryonic, foetal and postnatal entities. These include important cultural, legal, philosophical and religious perspectives. As such it will act as a springboard for future debate.