биотек и арт

Not going to lie, this week’s topic and videos made me a bit uncomfortable, but important nonetheless.

In our lecture videos, we were exposed to the idea of physically and genetically altering life forms for various purposes. This concept, as seen in the glowing rabbits, was an important step for humans figuring out how to alter physical traits in organisms and in this case, it was rather harmless. But as we saw with the butterfly with the holes in its wings, these alterations can have serious repercussions, which is why we should not take them lightly. We also saw Joe Davis’ genetically engineered bacteria, Microvenus, and while it is immensely popular, we see that it is not displayed anywhere due to public unease.

Genetically modifying our food is another example of public controversy over bioengineering, this time because it relates directly to what we put in our bodies. GMO in foodstuffs is a bit of a double-edged sword. We can control the degree of variation in each banana and if it has fewer problems than non-GMO counterparts, we can better control its production, health risks, how water-friendly they are, etc. The problem is that when things go awry, GMOs can be life threatening. They can also be dangerous to an environment because they can be so successful at reproducing that they invasively destroy native species and cause all sorts of chain reactions that snowball into chaos.

While I personally do not really see the value of altering other conscious organisms for purposes that do not directly relate to their health, the altering of one’s own body as a means of self-expression is much more understandable to me. Whether it means engineering another ear into your skin, or changing your gender, it’s your body and your choice what to do with it.

sources:

 "GFP BUNNY." GFP BUNNY. Web. 11 May 2015.

"POV | Food, Inc. | Interview with Michael Pollan | PBS." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 11 May 2015.

"Seed Magazineabout." Wanted: GM Seeds for Study § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. Web. 11 May 2015.  

 "Super Weed Can't Be Killed." ABC News. ABC News Network. Web. 11 May 2015.

"'Super Weed' Taking Strong Hold in Utah | KSL.com." 'Super Weed' Taking Strong Hold in Utah | KSL.com. Web. 11 May 2015.