Abstract
As a highly promising interdisciplinary field in the life sciences, synthetic biology bridges such diverse disciplines as molecular biology, organic chemistry, IT, and engineering in order to create biological systems which do not exist in nature. As any emerging technology, synthetic biology is accompanied by many hopes and fears, amongst which the way in which it connects to medicine, and specifically how the biological body is viewed and treated, is equally rousing and provoking. The reality of the lab is one thing, another is the vision(s) of the future which synthetic biology inspires: equally fantastic and fundamentally human. Here we analyse several short films from the repository of the BIO·FICTION Science Art Film Festival, a festival which focuses on synthetic biology. The selected films engage with the human body and cover themes such as fantastical cross-species imaginations, the development of new organs, and future forms of geriatric care. Our analysis of these (semi)fictional films, which illustrate cultural reflections of the technological advances brought forth by synthetic biology, serves as a first exploration of how corporeality and the human body is imagined and displayed in these imaginary worlds, and what that might imply about how we view the human body in the present.
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