Revivifying, Repurposing, Reimagining: From Commodification to Kinship in 21st-Century De-Extinction and Xenotransplantation Narratives

Abstract

De-extinction and xenotransplantation represent two key 21st-century biotechnological developments, both of which aim to use genetic engineering to address ecological and medical crises. This dissertation investigates the representation of de-extinction and xenotransplantation by scientific corporations, in the media, and in fiction. In particular, I draw on critical posthumanist theory to investigate how techno-optimistic and transhumanist rhetoric has influenced de-extinction and xenotransplantation narratives; how narratives respond to key issues in bioethics and environmental ethics; the implications that these narratives suggest for how biotechnology is shaping human and nonhuman identity; and the way that they explore possibilities for multispecies care, kinship, and entanglement. My analysis in Part I shows that de-extinction is frequently framed in terms of the biomedical and human health benefits that it can offer. While this biomedical framing is reflected in the Jurassic World films (2015, 2018, 2022) and the novels Ghost Species (2020) and The Neanderthal’s Aunt (2014), these narratives focus on the risks arising from the exploitation and commodification of genetic material. In my analysis of xenotransplantation narratives in Part II, I observed that pigs are frequently framed as an abundant supply of organs that can solve the organ shortage crisis. In contrast, the novel Pig-Heart Boy (1997) and the film We Ate the Children Last (2011) focus on the bioethical risks faced by the first patients to undergo xenotransplantation, such as their vulnerability and the risk of discrimination, while the novels Oryx and Crake (2003) and Chromosome 6 (1998) counter the frame of abundance by depicting the potential for detrimental environmental, political, and economic impacts. Lastly, my analysis in Part III of the short story “The Birdsong Fossil” (2021) and the novel Pighearted (2021) reveals that these narratives prioritize care, kinship, and entanglement, providing possibilities for reimagining the animals created by biotechnology beyond the hype of charismatic megafauna and the spare parts metaphor in de-extinction and xenotransplantation discourse. By drawing on multispecies environmental ethics and posthumanist bioethics, I conclude that these narratives can allow us to envision more ethical applications of biotechnology, which can thereby shape the future of de-extinction and xenotransplantation.