Biopunk

Aurora Angione

Biopunk

Subgenre of science fiction focusing on the biological advancements possible through technology
Aurora Angione 2026-09-04

Explication

The term biopunk originated in literature as it derives from cyberpunk, the science-fiction subgenre from which it emerges. Although biological science fiction originates with the seminal novel Frankenstein (1818), the moment when the term ‘biopunk’ was first employed cannot be identified (Schmeink, “Biopunk” 73). However, Lars Schmeink associates the emergence of a biopunk sensibility with public attention to “The Human Genome Project” (featured on the cover of Time in 1989), a genetic project aiming to chart and decode the human genome (Biopunk Dystopias 7). Biopunk stories foreground themes related to genetic engineering, such as cloning, food and gene patenting, transgenic experimentation, i.e., insertion of genes from one species into the genome of a different one (“Biopunk 101” 34).

Rather than referring to the distinctive punk atmosphere that characterized early cyberpunk stories, the suffix punk in ‘biopunk’ primarily retains punk’s anti-capitalist and anti-establishment sentiment (Schmeink, “Biopunk 101” 33). Indeed, the punk connotation of biopunk is connected to the emergence of a social order epitomized by the figure of the biohacker (Biopunk Dystopias 25). Biohacking, or do-it-yourself (DIY) biology, refers to practices aimed at manipulating one’s body, brain, or environment to optimize one’s biology (Samuel). Biohackers employ open-source genetic information to conduct experiments in their makeshift laboratories, thus tampering with genetic material outside governmental and corporate control (Schmeink, Biopunk Dystopias 28). An example is Meredith Patterson’s Biopunk Manifesto (2010), which advocates for open and free research and scientific literacy for everybody (Kucukalic 28–30). Biopunk stories retain this subversive ethos and provide critical commentary on the agenda of biotech corporate powers, implications of biotechnological developments, and governmental failure to regulate them (Kucukalic 23). Biopunk narratives are usually dystopic as, in these narratives, social, political, and economic structures do not undergo improvement or transition to a fairer world (Schönbohm et al. 9).

Schmeink identifies two main characteristics of biopunk fiction. First, biopunk engages with new biotechnological innovations and explores their social and environmental consequences. For instance, The Windup Girl imagines the aftermath of the plagues caused by genetically altered food and corporate monopoly of seed patents. Second, biopunk decentres the anthropocentric assumption that subjectivity pertains exclusively to humans. This is exemplified by the pigoons, genetically altered pigs, in the MaddAddam Trilogy. Anthropocentric accounts of the pigoons are destabilized by the creatures’ display culture, social organization and posthuman subjectivity (“Biopunk 101”).

Seminal examples of biopunk narratives include short stories such as Paul J. McAuley’s “Gene Wars” (1991) and Charles Stross’s “Rogue Farm” (2003); novels such as Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy (2003–2013), Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go (2005), Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl (2009), and Richard Powers’ Orfeo (2013) (Schönbohm et al. 7); and biopunk anthologies such as Paul di Filippo’s Ribofunk (1996), Bio-Punk: Stories from the Far Side of Research (2013), edited by Ra Page, and Growing Dread: Biopunk Visions (2011), edited by Erik Scott de Bie and Angel Leigh McCoy (Kucukalic 25). Notable examples of biopunk movies are Gattaca (1997), eXistenZ (1999), The Island (2005), Splice (2009), Repo: The Genetic Opera (2008), Repo Men (2010), Antiviral (2012), Prometheus (2012), and the Resident Evil series (2002–16; 2021) (Schmeink, “Biopunk” 76).

The most significant example of a biopunk game is BioShock (2007). The game is set in the city of Rapture. Its prosperity is owed to the discovery of a sea slug’s secretion called ADAM, which can be processed into genetic-enhancing plasmids. However, conflicts over control of ADAM and genetic mutations caused by plasmid abuse transform Rapture into a posthuman dystopia populated by splicers, genetically mutated humans. While posthuman enhancement is frequently framed as an empowering tool for self-improvement and identity construction, BioShock’s storytelling and game mechanics critique the dark side of this ideology of individualization and self-advancement when pushed to its extreme. For instance, the first plasmid injection of the player-character Jack occurs in a cutscene, i.e., a cinematic scene where the player cannot manoeuvre their avatar. This algorithmic device reinforces the idea that in a society where genetic engineering becomes a commodity used to assert personal agency, the ability to refuse participation is structurally impossible (Schmeink, Biopunk Dystopias 146–78). Other examples of biopunk games include Parasite Eve, System Shock 2, Niche: A Genetics Survival Game, Scorn, Prototype, Cruelty Squad, and Wrought Flesh (Heath).

Works Referenced

Avo Schönbohm, and Isabella Hermann. “Dancing with Biopunks: Innovation in the Life Science Industry and Science Fiction.” Innovation in Life Sciences: The Digital Revolution, edited by Avo Schönbohm, Hans Henning von Horsten, Philipp Plugmann and Moritz von Stosch. Springer, 2024, pp. 3–14.

“Biopunk.” Wikipedia, 8 June 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biopunk

Kłosiński, Michal. “Biopolitical Markers in Digital Games: Life/Health Interfaces.” Er(r)go. Theory–Literature–Culture, vol. 2, no. 42, 2024, pp. 211–30.

---. “Mapping Game Biopolitics.” Games and Culture, vol. 20, no. 8, 2025, pp. 1030–1049.

Kucukalic, Lejla. Biofictions: Literary and Visual Imagination in the Age of Biotechnology. Routledge, 2022.

Samuel, Sigal. “How Biohackers are Trying to Upgrade their Brains, their Bodies — and Human Nature.” Vox, 15 Nov. 2019, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/25/18682583/biohacking-transhumanism-human-augmentation-genetic-engineering-crispr. Accessed 6 June 2026.

Schmeink, Lars. “Biopunk.” The Routledge Companion to Cyberpunk Culture, edited by Anna McFarlane, Graham J. Murphy, and Lars Schmeink, Routledge, 2020, pp. 73–80.

---. Biopunk Dystopias: Genetic Engineering, Society and Science Fiction. Liverpool University Press, 2016.

---. “Biopunk 101.” SFRA Review, no. 309, 2014, pp. 31–36.

Heath, David. “Best Biopunk Games, Ranked.” Game Rant, Sep 29, 2023. https://gamerant.com/best-biopunk-games-ranked/. Accessed 2 Dec 2025.

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Angione, Aurora. "Biopunk." The Living Glossary of Digital Narrative, 2026. https://glossary.cdn.uib.no/terms/biopunk

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Biopunk

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Biopunk

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