Bioengagement - Spring 2018

Issues:
No items found.
Tags:
No items found.
Back to Dignitas Issue

The promise and perils of advances in technology, science, and medicine have long been fertile fodder for creative works in literature and cinema. Consequently, a variety of resources exist exploring the realm of medical humanities as well as those providing in-depth analysis of a given cultural medium or particular artifact. This column seeks to offer a more expansive listing of contemporary expressions of bioethical issues in the popular media (fiction, film, and television)—with minimal commentary—to encompass a wider spectrum of popular culture. It will be of value to educators and others for conversations in the classroom, over a cup of coffee, at a book club, or around the dinner table. Readers are cautioned that these resources represent a wide spectrum of genres and content, and may not be appropriate for all audiences. For more comprehensive databases of the various cultural media, please visit our website at cbhd.org/resources/reviews. If you have a suggestion for us to include in the future, send us a note at msleasman@cbhd.org.

BioFiction

Larry Niven, The Ringworld Series

  • Ringworld (Ballantine, 1970).
  • The Ringworld Engineers (Phantasia, 1980).
  • The Ringworld Throne (Del Rey, 1997).
  • Ringworld’s Children (Tor Books, 2005).
  • Fate of Worlds with Edward Lerner (Tor Science Fiction, 2013).

Artificial Intelligence, Neuroethics, Radical Life Extension, Regenerative Medicine.

James Patterson, Humans, Bow Down

(Little, Brown and Company, 2017).

Artificial Intelligence, Personhood, Robotics.

Alastair Reynolds, Terminal World

(Ace, 2010).

Human Enhancement, Transhumanism/Posthumanism.

Alastair Reynolds, The House of Suns

(Ace, 2009).

Artificial Intelligence, Cloning, Neuroethics, Posthumanism/Transhumanism, Radical Life Extension.

Jeff Somers, The Avery Cates Series

  • Electric Church (Orbit, 2007).
  • Digital Plague (Orbit, 2008).
  • The Eternal Prison (Orbit, 2009).

Artificial Intelligence, Cyborgs, Cognitive Upload, Human Enhancement, Nanotechnology, Neuroethics, Personhood, Radical Life Extension, Transhumanism/Posthumanism.

Dystopian future vision of emerging technologies run amok, complete with nanotech zombie epidemics, cognitive uploading, and a religion espousing digital immortality. The series follows Avery Cates as he transitions from run-of-the-mill killer-for-hire to international assassin to washed-up criminal embroiled in a battle for the future and survival of humanity.

Ned Vizzini, Be More Chill

(Disney-Hyperion, 2005).

Human Enhancement, Cognitive Enhancement, Neuroethics.

Jeremy is your classic high school student struggling with self-esteem. Enter Rich, someone who until the not so distant past was just like Jeremy, but now is the epitome of cool. The secret to Rich’s transformation is a black market pill (“squip”) that he promises will solve all of Jeremy’s problems by means of a little brain boosting.

Primetime Bioethics

3%

(2016-present).

Disaster Ethics, Regenerative Medicine, Research Ethics.

Agents of Shield

(2016, Season 4).

Artificial Intelligence, Cyborg, Human Enhancement, Neuroethics, Personhood, Radical Life Extension, Transhumanism/Posthumanism, Virtual Reality.

Altered Carbon

(2018-present).

Artificial Intelligence, Cyborg, Human Enhancement, Neuroethics, Radical Life Extension, Regenerative Medicine, Transhumanism/Posthumanism, Virtual Reality.

Anon

(2018).

Augmented Reality, Cognitive Enhancement, Neuroethics. Privacy, Technology & Society.

Ascension

(2014).

Consent, Eugenics, Population Control, Research Ethics.

Blacklist

(2013-present).

Bioterrorism, Cryogenics, Disaster Ethics, Organ Trafficking, Radical Life Extension, Surrogacy.

Dark Matters

(2015-present).

Artificial Intelligence, Genetic Engineering, Human Enhancement, Nanotechnology, Personhood, Robotics.

Luke Cage

(2016-present).

Human Enhancement, Research Ethics, Transhumanism.

Orphan Black

(2016, Season 4).

Designer Babies, Genetic Engineering, Human Cloning, Human Enhancement, Regenerative Medicine, Research Ethics.

The Rain

(2018-present).

Bioterrorism, Disaster Ethics, Genetic Engineering, Pandemics, Research Ethics.