Week 6: BioTech + Art

Week 6 BioTech + Art

13 May 2018

Movie Cover for Gattaca

This week we focused on biotechnology and art which is a rapidly advancing field in the modern world. Most people think of the manipulation of biology as a very scary aspect of the scientific community, since it tends to focus on eradicating flaws in genetic biology. As a flawed species, this manipulation seems to go against what many people perceive to be the natural order of things. There is also an argument to be said that it goes against natural environmental selection. An interesting movie that explores this concept is Gattaca, which is a 1997 science fiction film discussing the idea of genetic discrimination and eugenics. I really enjoyed the movie and the themes it played on, and the fact that it explored the mental tole it has on a person to be genetically modified. The movie ends on a note of warning, showcasing that perfection is not all it is cracked up to be and that manipulation does not guarantee a winning outcome. It was a wonderful artistic example of how genetics can be a force of good or a force of great harm to society.

Wheat Modification:
A Selective Breeding Crop

I think a more interesting focus of genetic modification is food manipulation, which has actually been happening for as long as humans have existed. Crops have been harvested and seeds chosen based on the strength of previous crops for 10,000 years (Ganzel 2009). The biggest changes to this in recent years is the use of gene splicing to make crops resistant to environmental concerns. It truly is a work of art what current scientists are doing by creating appealing or beautiful looking food. What concerns me most with this research is the fact that a lot of our crops are now becoming very resistant to certain strains of bacteria. This resistance could translate to the medical world, and create antibiotic resistant diseases that could one day sicken a good portion of humanity. We rely on antibiotics to attack bacteria, but if we create the tools for the bacteria to use to mutate and become stronger, we could put ourselves in the position of creating a disease that could destroy us. That is what I see as the real danger with a lot of the current genetic modifications and something more people need to be considering instead of trying to make apples larger and a darker shade of red.

Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Development

References

“Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Threat.” The Simmons Voice, 2 Feb. 2017, simmonsvoice.com/2017/02/02/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-threat/.

Entine, Jon. “Gattaca Alert? Or Should We Welcome the New Age of Eugenics?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 27 Nov. 2012, www.forbes.com/sites/jonentine/2012/11/26/gattaca-alert-or-should-we-welcome-the-new-age-of-eugenics/#61206b704324.

Ganzel, Bill. “The GMO Age Begins.” The New Deal Financial Reform Laws, 2009, livinghistoryfarm.org/farminginthe70s/crops_10.html.

“Gattaca (1997).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/.

Jabr, Ferris. “Are We Too Close to Making Gattaca a Reality?” Scientific American Blog Network, 28 Oct. 2013, blogs.scientificamerican.com/brainwaves/are-we-too-close-to-making-gattaca-a-reality/.

Panopoulos, N. “Transgenic Crop Resistance to Bacteria.” Egyptian Journal of Medical Human Genetics, Elsevier, 8 Mar. 1999, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0378429095000984.

Rangel, Gabriel. “From Corgis to Corn: A Brief Look at the Long History of GMO Technology.” Science in the News, 23 Oct. 2016, sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2015/from-corgis-to-corn-a-brief-look-at-the-long-history-of-gmo-technology/.