In the blockbuster sequel to a 1982 sci-fi thriller, Blade Runner 2049 tells a story where synthetic human “replicants” are the enslaved labor force that runs the world—or at least, what’s left of it. Meanwhile, one replicant, a cop named K, tries to understand both his origin, and what it means to be human. But exactly how close are we to building … or growing … something that walks and talks and bleeds like us? And should we? Roboticist Angelica Lim of Simon Fraser University and bioengineer Terry Johnson at the University of California, Berkeley weigh in.
