biopunk

thumb|right|200px|Cover of Ribofunk by Paul Di Filippo, a seminal biopunk story collection Biopunk (a portmanteau of "biotechnology" or "biology" and "punk") is a subgenre of science fiction that focuses on biotechnology. It is derived from cyberpunk, but focuses on the implications of biotechnology rather than mechanical cyberware and information technology. Biopunk is concerned with synthetic biology. It is derived from cyberpunk and often involves bio-hackers, biotech megacorporations, and oppressive organizations that engineer DNA. Most often keeping with the dark atmosphere of cyberpunk, biopunk generally examines risks and downsides of genetic engineering and illustrates potential perils of biotechnologies.

==Description== Biopunk is a subgenre of science fiction closely related to cyberpunk that focuses on the near-future (most often unintended) consequences of the biotechnology revolution following the invention of recombinant DNA. Biopunk stories explore the struggles of individuals or groups, often the product of human experimentation, against a typically dystopian backdrop of totalitarian governments or megacorporations which misuse biotechnologies as means of social control and profiteering. Often, the fruits of biotechnology, such as human enhancement and extended longevity, are not evenly distributed and are controlled by corporations. Unlike cyberpunk, it builds not on information technology, but on synthetic biology. Like in postcyberpunk fiction, individuals are often modified and enhanced not with cyberware, but by genetic manipulation. A common feature of biopunk fiction is the "black clinic", which is a laboratory, clinic, or hospital that performs illegal, unregulated, or ethically dubious biological modification and genetic engineering procedures.