bioneer

English

Etymology

Blend of biological +‎ pioneer or biological +‎ engineer, possibly coined by Kenny Ausubel.

Noun

bioneer (plural bioneers)

1. (neologism) A biological pioneer, an inventer of environmental solutions and biotechnology; a crafter of creative solutions to environmental and sociocultural problems.
   • 2009, Gary D. Libecap, Frontiers in Eco-Entrepreneurship Research, →ISBN, page 140:

     A high environmental impact of an industry significantly reduces the likelihood of a firm to be classified as a bioneer or ecopreneur.

2. (chiefly science fiction) A biological engineer, an engineer of creatures, especially partially artificial/mechanical ones.
   • 2002, Trent Jamieson, Garry Nurrish, Redsine, 7, →ISBN, page 13:

     Beneath the coat, a metal frame of gears and levers and wheels: living bone, tendon, sinew holding it together. A bioneer’s wet dream.

Related terms

• biotechnology

Verb

bioneer (third-person singular simple present bioneers, present participle bioneering, simple past and past participle bioneered)

1. (neologism) To pioneer biologically.
   • 2006, John Logan, NASA physician, at the Space Frontier Foundation's "New Space Return to the Moon Conference" (2006): Panel SFF1484 at 1:15:25:

     The only thing you can truly say, and I think this is a very safe statement, is if you can't figure out how to bioneer, bioneer with a b, you're not going anywhere.

2. (chiefly science fiction) To engineer biologically.
   • 1975, Thomas F. Monteleone, edited by Roger Elwood, Dystopian visions, page 3:

     Lost beneath her abundant flesh was a vestigial skeleton which floated disconnected and unmoving in a gelatinous sea. Her bioneered organs were swollen to immense proportions and hundreds of liters of blood pumped through her extensive circulatory system.

   • 2002, Trent Jamieson, Garry Nurrish, Redsine, 7, →ISBN, page 11:

     Devon scowled. "This is clever bioneering. A muttie that dies before it lives."

   • 2002, L. E. Modesitt, Jr., The Octagonal Raven, →ISBN, page 90:

     […] an open space that would not have been possible a millennium earlier, before the development of sophisticated bioneering.

   • 2007, Peter Jay Shippy, How to build the ghost in your attic: a book-length poem, page 21:

     The cows were bioneered
     so urbs could have fresh milk, laced
     with graces — vitamins and serums conveyed in compact, pet-like packages. Even their shit is boutiqued. It falls in uniform pellets and smells like Zen.

References

• Chris Collet and David Wyatt, Education + Training (2005), "Bioneering" - teaching biotechnology entrepreneurship at the undergraduate level, 47(6): 408-421 (retrieved on 2007-03-20)
• Kenny Ausubel and J. P. Harpignies (editors), Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies (2004), The Bioneers Series (Sierra Club Books)