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"We [science fiction writers] always wanted to believe in "private sector" space -- hucksters make better characters than a government does."
- Larry Niven
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| Joeboy (Muscle Grafts) | ||
| Additional muscle tissue added through surgery. |
Surgical alteration is a repeated theme in this book. Others have facial grafts, unusual dentition and even selected melanin boosting.
| Case turned his head and looked up into Wage's face. It was a tanned and forgettable mask. The eyes were vatgrown sea-green Nikon transplants. Wage wore a suit of gunmetal silk and a simple bracelet of platinum on either wrist. He was flanked by his joeboys, nearly identical young men, their arms and shoulders bulging with grafted muscle. |
| Technovelgy from Neuromancer,
by William Gibson. Published by Phantasia Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
Muscle grafts or transplants are used to repair damage to existing tissue. For example, in 2001 a seven year-old boy almost lost his leg in a car accident. The biggest problem was the damage to the muscle tissue.
Surgeons transplanted the latissimus dorsi, a muscle in the upper back which is not vital to everyday movement. The operation was successful; the boy plays soccer with friends today.
Of course, the heart is a muscle, and heart transplants are not quite routine, but the survival rate is getting better every year.
I'm not aware of this kind of surgery being done to enhance strength in an otherwise healthy person. But compared with body modification on the scale in Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17, this may not seem so extreme. See the entry for decorative implant.
(Thanks AJU for help on this one.)
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Additional
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More Ideas
and Technology from Neuromancer
More Ideas
and Technology by William Gibson
Tech news articles related to Neuromancer
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
Joeboy (Muscle Grafts)-related
news articles:
- Bioengineered Muscle Grows In Mice
| MouthPad Supports Head And Tongue Tracking |
| Drug Induces Hibernation-Like State In Humans |
| Drug To Regenerate Teeth In Humans |
| Illustrating Classic Heinlein With AI |
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'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.'
'... the glittering little rocket bolted to the black iron behind him.'
'The slender stalks of a sunshade-photocell collector...'
'The operation that had transformed half his body... had located the control switchboard in his teeth.'
