In science fiction, biological uplift is a common but by no means universal term for the act of an advanced civilization helping the development of another species by bringing a non-sapient one into sentience, or by giving a sapient one spacefaring capabilities. The best-known use of the term is in David Brin's Uplift series, which may have popularized it. Orion's Arm uses the term provolve to avoid possible copyright issues with David Brin.
Uplifting also refers to the theoretical prospect of endowing non-human animals with greater capacities, including and especially increased intelligence. It is highly likely that biological uplifting would be accomplished through the application of genetic and transgenic technologies, and possibly even artificial intelligence.
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SF Sub-Genre Definitions
RandomAre you a budding sci-fi author? Do you need the many different sub genres of SF defined? A lot of people do so if you're one of them... this is where you need to look!
