Are we on the cusp of a transhumanist future? One sign of such a trend may be the proliferation of extreme body modification. New and more intensive modification techniques are giving rise to startup industries that are expanding the creative and sometimes radical applications of tattooing, body piercings and bodily alterations — some using implantable devices — from a subculture to popular culture status. Some say it’s about building on old traditions, other see potential danger. Some forms of modification are touted as the path to inevitable transhumanism, enabled by the use of body enhancement technologies to overcome human biological limitations.  While that may bring benefits in some ways, Fulton Schools Professor Katina Michael, who studies emerging implantable tech, says it could also create social and ethical dilemmas, and blur the line between medical correction and performance enhancement.