by Claire O'Neill

In Partnership With National Geographic

A deaf baby can now hear; a blind woman can now vaguely see; a quadriplegic can now hold a fork. The January issue of National Geographic tells stories of what has, until now, always been the province of science fiction: bionics.

  • A roadside bomb in Iraq took Lt. Col. Greg Gadson's legs in 2007. He now tests powered limbs to restore mobility.
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    A roadside bomb in Iraq took Lt. Col. Greg Gadson's legs in 2007. He now tests powered limbs to restore mobility.
    Mark Thiessen/National Geographic
  • With bionic vision, Jo Ann Lewis recognizes objects she knew before losing her sight, although they are blurry and vague. With practice, objects should become increasingly recognizable.
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    With bionic vision, Jo Ann Lewis recognizes objects she knew before losing her sight, although they are blurry and vague. With practice, objects should become increasingly recognizable.
    Max Aguilera-Hellweg/National Geographic
  • Sensors track muscle movements that Amanda Kitts produces in her residual arm thanks to surgically rerouted nerves. This generation of prostheses obeys relayed signals, increasingly working like original limbs.
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    Sensors track muscle movements that Amanda Kitts produces in her residual arm thanks to surgically rerouted nerves. This generation of prostheses obeys relayed signals, increasingly working like original limbs.
    Mark Thiessen/National Geographic
  • Kitts imagines a hand movement, and the muscle activity in her residual arm — decoded by a computer on her back — causes the actual motion. When she straps on the experimental arm, she says, "often it feels like I'm not missing anything."
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    Kitts imagines a hand movement, and the muscle activity in her residual arm — decoded by a computer on her back — causes the actual motion. When she straps on the experimental arm, she says, "often it feels like I'm not missing anything."
    Mark Thiessen/National Geographic
  • Aiden Kenny received cochlear implants when he was 10 months old. The implants — visible in an X-ray — carry electronic signals to his auditory nerves.
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    Aiden Kenny received cochlear implants when he was 10 months old. The implants — visible in an X-ray — carry electronic signals to his auditory nerves.
    Mark Thiessen/National Geographic
  • Motorized springs in a powered ankle push off like a real leg, saving energy and easing joint problems.
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    Motorized springs in a powered ankle push off like a real leg, saving energy and easing joint problems.
    Mark Thiessen/National Geographic

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Amanda Kitts lost her arm in a car accident in 2006. A mere three years later she is doing the impossible: lifting, touching and moving with a prosthetic arm controlled by her brain. Todd Kuiken is the physician who helped develop the technology at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "He knew that nerves in an amputee's stump could still carry signals from the brain," the article reads. To make a long story short, he rewired Kitts' nervous system, connecting her brain to the nerves that would control the arm. Honestly, I don't know how it works. It shouldn't. But it does.

The implications of bionic innovations are both exciting and kinda scary. It's wonderful news for Aiden Kenny, who was born deaf but can now hear the sound of his mother's voice. But where is it headed and what is the end? Will we continually have body parts replaced until we are almost entirely robotic? If you have a human brain and a robotic body, what does that make you? What do you think? Leave your comments, and check out more photos on ngm.com.

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