Live very long and prosper? Transhumanist visions and ambitions in 2021 and beyond…
Abstract
In 2005 the lead guest editor of this special issue came upon a book by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman entitled Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever. The title borrows from the 1966 science fiction adventure film later novelised by Isaac Asimov in 1966 which, to be completely honest, was why she chose to purchase it. Excitedly she began reading its contents on the subjects of genomics, biotechnology, nanotechnologies, life extension and health preservation strategies and took, what she thought, was her first plunge into the world of transhumanist visions and ambitions, conveniently forgetting teenage years spent consuming vast amounts of futuristic science narratives crammed with superhuman characters. In the film Fantastic Voyage (1966), a team of scientists, against a backdrop of international political intrigue, are miniaturised and injected into the bloodstream of a critically ill, comatose researcher in order to remove a blood clot from his body with a laser device. During this perilous, nanotech expedition they are under constant threat of being attacked by the body’s white corpuscles but, against all odds, end up succeeding; they eliminate the clot and heal the patient. Asimov’s fascination with miniaturisation, as argued by Kurzweil and Grossman (2005) and the guest editors of this special issue, was prophetic. Today, scientists are using nanobots, (robots whose key features are measured in nanometres or billionths of a metre) for highly effective drug…
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