From self-help books and nootropics, to self-tracking and home health tests, to the tinkering with technology and biological particles - biohacking brings biology, medicine, and the material foundation of life into the sphere of 'do-it-yourself'. This trend has the potential to fundamentally change people's relationship with their bodies and biology but it also creates new cultural narratives of responsibility, authority, and differentiation. Covering a broad range of examples, this book explores practices and representations of biohacking in popular culture, discussing their ambiguous position between empowerment and requirement, promise and prescription.

Mirjam Grewe-Salfeld, born in 1991, is a researcher in literary and cultural studies. She received her PhD from the Department of American Studies at Universität Potsdam. Her research interests include the cultural representation and history of medicine, body studies and biotechnology.