Cybernetic Organism

The term cybernetic organism was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. A cyborg is an organism that has both artificial and natural systems.

While science fiction may have a monopoly on the creativity behind the concept, the world today has a number of places where living organism called Ecological Machines, exist and thrive.

"Unlike anything born of the Industrial Revolution, Ecological Machines have the potential to organize, repair and reproduce themselves. They offer a cheaper, cleaner, chemical-free alternative for containing and removing high-strength waste."

"The world is a vast repository of unappreciated or unknown biological strategies that have immense importance for humans if we can develop a science of integrating the stories embedded in nature in the basic systems that sustain us. The survival of civilization may well require that we enter into the natural world and use its teachings to reshape and redefine our tools and technologies."

—John Todd


While this car is anything but a cyborg or an ecological machine, it has, in its own way, become part of nature. The car has been here for so long that the drivers side fender, headlight and bumper have become enveloped by the tree. It kind of makes one wonder how long it might take to complete the process. This image demonstrates that nature is still ahead of man.

Ecological Machines are wastewater treatment systems that use and accelerate nature’s own water purification process and treat sewage and industrial waste to re-useable quality.

The Living Machine mimics nature because it is a natural water restoration system instead of an artificial water treatment plant. Unlike chemically based systems, Ecological Machines incorporate helpful bacteria, plants, snails and fish that thrive by breaking down and digesting organic pollutants. This clean, simple approach efficiently transforms wastewater and sewage into water clean enough to be reused. Its innovative aquatic treatment system restores waste water to near-drinkable quality using native, nutrient-absorbing wetland plants and animals. The water that passes through the system is reputedly more pure than water that comes from municipal water treatment plants.

The key to accomplishing this is combining living organisms chosen specifically to perform certain functions and placing them in a contained environment -- a Living Machine, or what Dr. Todd refers to as "half engineered artifact and half wild nature."

Cyborgs have been developed in a number of fields including Medicine and the Military. While the advances have been slower in reality than in science fiction, it is clear that living machines have the ability to enhance human capacities and extend life.