On Warren’s recommendation, I bought an audio copy of this book, Winner of the 2010 Nebula Award for Best Novel.

… Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen’s Calorie Man in Thailand.

Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok’s street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history’s lost calories.

There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok.

Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. …

The Windup Girl

Bio-engineered plagues?

Genetically modified, sterile crops?

Here’s a real news story dated April 21st, 2011:

Vietnam says it will ask for international help to find out what is causing a skin infection that has already killed 19 people. …

BBC – Vietnam seeks foreign help to beat mystery skin disease

Bacigalupi was inspired to write this book after living through the SARS scare in Asia.