The Body Builders

Book excerpt: A Fareed Zakaria GPS Book of the Week: “An exhilarating look at the cutting edge of bioengineering. . . . a mind-bending read.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) For millennia, humans have tried—and often failed—to master nature and transcend our limits. But this has started to change. The new scientific frontier is the human body: The greatest engineers of our generation have turned their sights inward, and their work is beginning to revolutionize mankind. In The Body Builders, Adam Piore takes us on a fascinating journey into the field of bioengineering—which can be used to reverse engineer, rebuild, and augment human beings—and paints a vivid portrait of the people at its center. Chronicling the ways new technology has retooled our physical expectations and mental processes, Piore visits people who have regrown parts of their fingers and legs in the wake of terrible traumas; tries on a muscle suit that allows him to lift ninety pounds with his fingertips; dips into the race to create “Viagra for the brain”; and shadows the doctors trying to give mute patients the ability to communicate telepathically. As science continues to lay bare the mysteries of human performance, it is helping us to see—and exist—above our expectations. The Body Builders goes beyond the headlines and the hype to reveal the inner workings and the outer reaches of our bodies and minds, and explore how new developments are changing, and will forever change, what is possible for humankind. Weaving powerful storytelling with groundbreaking science, The Body Builders explores the current revolution in human augmentation, which is helping us triumph over the limitations and constraints we’ve long accepted as an inevitable part of being human. “Piore writes gracefully, and with deep insight, about complex scientific endeavors that could ease human suffering but are fraught with myriad ethical perils.” —Publishers Weekly