What it means to be human has never been more flexible, manipulated, or in question. With the lines crossed between organic and inorganic, and the human and animal, the word "human" may well be replaced by "posthuman." Authors such as Francis Fukuyama argue that we are entering a "posthuman" age, in which liberal humanist definitions of the human are challenged though scientific advances. It may even be injected with genes from another species (Fukuyama 76). The posthuman body can be "a technobody" (Halberstam and Livingston 3). Biotechnology changes the human form and mind, and machines can become part of the human body. Biotechnological feats and possibilities stimulate much discussion about ethics at the heart of these discussions is what it means to be human. Human cloning is close enough to being a reality to keep lawmakers busy "designer babies" created through genetic engineering are on the horizon. What their parents and grandparents had always thought of as science fiction-cloning, genetic engineering, prolongation of life, neuropharmacology-are now realities, or possible realities. The future young adults face is that of a science fiction novel come to life.
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