Venomous Lumpsucker

An emphatic endorsement

I dream that the momentum around speculative biology writing will embolden builders to increase the use-case and products which are shaping our world with biotech. In the words of Marian Wright Edelman, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’. Although this quote typically applies to diversity of leadership, there’s an argument to be made that this also applies to society at large. How can we create futures we’re unable to imagine?

Writing theoretical ideas around bio is one form of envisioning a future we want to inhabit, and another is sharing the radical ideas that are already in the ether. Taking the easier route of the latter, I was recently struck by a sci-fi novel’s ability to capture the century of biology, future of crypto, and late-stage capitalism, all in one. 

This book, Venomous Lumpsucker, chronicles an unlikely hero and heroine, fighting nihilism in a near-future, technologized world. Biology products play a core role in everyday lives and also shape the future of the world. I don’t want to spoil the story itself as it’s an entertaining and imaginative read, but I do want to share some of the ideas presented. (Trigger warning that some of these ideas are quite pessimistic but want to emphasize the book isn’t overtly pessimistic as a whole.)

Ideas

Climate/Anti-climate Tech: 

• Autonomous seafaring machines called ‘spindrifters’ which whisks sea water into mist, blocking sun radiation to cool the planet (with some side effects of effecting weather patterns)

• Autonomous mining vehicles (AMVs) which deep sea mine metal, inadvertently destroying the habitats of many deep sea species

Biotech: 

• Cerebral immortalization of nearly extinct species by slicing the brain to expose and catalog every synapse 

• Biobank of extinct species, multimodally preserved which included ‘DNA sequences, microbiota profiles, MRI of the whole body, connectome scans of the brain, recordings of behavior in the wild, descriptions of habitat and diet’

• COVID-24 and importantly contagious fungal pathogens being in circulation 

• Posthumous uploading of people’s connectome for intellectual immortalization

• Therapeutic patches dosing neuropeptides to stop catastrophic survivors from becoming catatonic 

• Genetically modified peat moss which purifies environmental pollutants 

• Genetically modified wood that naturally grows in patterns which are normally cut 

Consumer biotech

• Internet browsing and movie selections based on metabolic and hormonal indicators

• Instead of cosmetic medicine we have today (Ozempic), the book introduces culinary medicine which makes the tasteless (intensive agriculture) food palatable, off-label use of this drug causes its stock to skyrocket

• Virtual reality created by your own brainwaves and emotions

Society 

• Extinction rebellion types hurling teratomas (pieces of undeveloped flesh) of the last giant panda onto highways to stop traffic in protest

• A Praxis-style autonomous cities which are relative uptopias, but don’t follow environmental regulations to the detriment of the planet 

• Extreme laws regarding environmental destruction - giving kids asthma being akin to murder in the court of law

There are many more ideas in Venomous Lumpsucker that aren’t presented. The ones above are very compelling because they’re on a longer time horizon than what tech and funding cycles typically run on (10+ year horizon). However, if technology teaches us anything it’s that progress can be made faster than what we think, especially if it involves semiconductor technology (really rate the Enchippening thesis related to this).

Crucially, the 10+ year consequences of our actions today are discussed in more nebulous terms. Venomous Lumpsucker makes the nebulous, visceral and real - taking technology and consumerism to its final conclusion. I’m keen to discuss this book and other bio-inspired sci-fi books with those who are also interested in the space. 

Don’t hesitate to reach out (shelby@compound.vc) + you should read Venomous Lumpsucker!

Also thanks to my good friend and former lab mate, Ellen Harrison, who gifted this book to me.