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Article: Cyborgs and atomic microscopes.(Forum on Science & Technology)
- Article from:
- Phi Kappa Phi Forum
- Article date:
- March 22, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Much discussion is currently taking place about the ethics of intentionally modifying the human species. Fifty years ago, this same discussion was taking place, but it was not about intentional modification of DNA (the structure of which had just been discovered by Crick, Franklin, Watson, and Wilkins to be the basis of life); instead, it was about creating a hybrid of man and machine--that is, a cyborg.
The word "cyborg," shorthand for Cybernetic Organism, was introduced by Manfred Clynes in 1960. Nowadays we seldom hear the word, and we are even less likely to hear about cybernetics, although advances in nanotechnology may someday make cyborg a household word. ...