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"Tokyo homeless people reiterate the whole nature of living in Tokyo in cardboard boxes, they're only slightly smaller than Tokyo apartments, and they have almost as many consumer goods. It's a nightmare of boxes within boxes."
- William Gibson

Panatrope  
  A device that modifies human dna to ensure survival in harsh alien environments.  

This technovelgy lets the author imagine a future that contains "people" who are barely recognizable as human.

"The panatropes make adaptations, not gods. They take human germ-cells - in this case, our own, since our bank was wiped out in the crash - and cydify them toward creatures who can live in any reasonable environment. The result will be manlike and intelligent. It usually shows the donor's personality, too.
From Surface Tension, by James Blish.
Published by Galaxy in 1952
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