Welcome to the latest Nablai's Nebula, featuring all the genre-related info you could ask for, shared for mothertroopers like me and you by the very special Nablai!
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—Daddy Ooorah
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We hope everyone is doing well as we traverse these unpredictable times. Some may be facing some challenges related to effects of COVID-19. We are aware it can be hard to stay motivated and inspired with all the ongoing changes. And we, at the Ooorah are here to support you through all this.
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This April, I'll take you through the journey of a fascinating sub-genre called bio-punk. With you by my side, I'll delve through its many layers and explore the biopunk.
Biopunk--the name is a combination of biotechnology and punk. It is a biotechnological convergence movement championing open access to genetic information. Their hobbyists or biohackers/grinders experiment with DNA and other facets of genetics.
Biopunk is a subgenre of science fiction closely related to cyberpunk that focuses on the near-future and the unforseen consequences of the biotechnology revolution following the invention of recombinant DNA.
Recombinant DNA is the general name for a piece of DNA that has been created by combining at least two strands. Recombinant DNA molecules are also called chimeric DNA sometimes, because they can be made of material from two different species, like the mythical Chimera.
Biopunk is considered to be a sub-genre of cyberpunk. Biopunk settings often have cyberpunk themes such as virtual reality and artificial intelligence. Some people think of them as separate genres, but I prefer the larger perspective rather than an attitude that could marginalize both genres.
Related biopunk science fiction genre focuses on biotechnology and subversives. They can easily overlap and connect with other non sci-fi related genres outside the main cyberpunk genre like magical realism, superhero, sci-fantasy, low fantasy.
Biopunk stories explore the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a typically dystopian backdrop of authoritarian governments and megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control and to make an excessive profit.
It builds not on information technology, but on synthetic biology. Individuals are usually modified and enhanced 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.
Upcoming genetic and biological enhancements give outcasts the tools necessary to be the virtuous (or villainous) rebels of the future. That is the spirit of biopunk: subversives using futuristic biotech.
The word "punk" is appended to a genre name only when some of the characters are rebels working against what is considered the "norm" of society. Typically, a punk has some anarchist views and is less likely to obey society's laws.
Biopunk literature has existed for a long while. The earliest credible proto-biopunk novel is 'The Island of Dr. Moreau,' written by H.G. Wells in 1896. The "punk" element existed because Doctor Moreau was willing to perform experiments that were considered forbidden by his "normal" scientist colleagues.
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Tevun-Krus #77 - BioPunk
Science FictionBioPunk focuses on biotechnology -- technology that alters the genetics of an organism. Broadly, this can even refer to selective breeding, but for the purposes of BioPunk fiction, it tends to refer to things like bioengineering, or biomods, which a...
