The promise and perils of advances in technology, science, and medicine have long been 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 thus 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.
Oryx and Crake (Anchor, 2004).
The Year of the Flood (Anchor, 2010).
MaddAddam (Nan A. Talese, 2013).
Animal-Human Hybrids, Bioterrorism, Biotechnology, Egg Donation, Euthanasia, Genetic Engineering, Human Enhancement, Personhood, Posthuman, Research Ethics.
The trilogy explores the aftermath of a cataclysmic bioterror pandemic that eradicates most of the human species. In the first volume, the main character Jimmy is the unwitting accomplice to the bioterror event for which his friend Crake/ Glen is responsible. As Jimmy realizes the scope of what has happened he seeks to protect a humanoid species (the Crakers) that Crake has genetically-engineered, with a group referred to as the MaddAddamites. The second volume follows an environmental cult, God’s Gardeners, and two of their members—Toby and Ren—as they seek to survive in the aftermath of a landscape infested with genetically-engineered intelligent creatures. The final volume brings the survivors together as they seek to rebuild some semblance of civilization in the midst of threats from other humans who have seemingly lost their humanity.
Fever Crumb (Scholastic, 2009).
Web of Air (Scholastic, 2011).
Scrivener’s Moon (Scholastic, 2012).
Genetic Engineering, Human Enhancement, Nanotechnology, Neuroethics, Personhood.
An expected tetralogy, the first three volumes follow Fever Crumb, a once-thought orphan who is trained as the first female engineer in a far distant post-apocalyptic, steampunk future. The novels are set some thousand years after nuclear war has reshaped the physical world and destroyed human civilization, a world in which 21st century technology has become “old tech” that exists only through the maintenance of the pseudo-scientist guild of engineers and the less scientifically inclined technomancers. The protagonist, Fever Crumb, finds herself on a journey of self-discovery as she learns of her half-Scriven ancestry, and realizes that she is the sole remaining descendant of an enhanced humanoid race. Her journey woven through the sociopolitical conflicts that result from an immense technological undertaking, leads her beyond the biotechnological inventions of her grandfather Auric Godshawk to the origins of the Scriven as a race.
(2013, R for language, sexual content, and brief graphic nudity).
Artificial Intelligence, Personhood.
(2013, PG-13 for sci-fi action violence, brief strong language, and some sensuality/nudity).
Cloning, Personhood.
(2013, R for sexuality, nudity, violence and language).
Clinician-Patient Relations, Neuroethics, Pharmaceutical Ethics.
