Week 6: BioTech + Art

In my view, increased collaboration between bioscientists and artists is beneficial. The reason is that biotechnology itself is something controversial, while artists are good at revealing the issues and exploring the truth philosophically. In this case, in addition to aesthetic and innovative factors, communications between the two fields can effectively post important and critical questions about what it implies when one can manipulate life, thus allow people to judge if certain biotech experiments are worth being done.

Mice with glowing cancer cells
(from Google images)

Although some biotechnologies are controversial, in some particular cases advantages do outweigh disadvantages. For instance, the technique of adding glowing jellyfish gene to a mice can help scientists trace the cells without conducting any surgery. Also, what Kathy High did with the retired breeder mice showed us that such forgotten creatures can still be human’s companion. Another example is the hairless guinea pig which we always see at pet stores. This breed first appeared when there was a genetic mutation which created hairlessness. Afterwards, the laboratory continued to breed the strain and four decades later, hairless guinea pig became a healthy breed. Because of their hairless feature, these guinea pigs satisfy the wish of many animal lovers who suffer from animal allergies. 

Hairless guinea pigs
(from Google images)

Dolly the sheep
(from Google images)

Talking of biotechology, I believe many people would immediately think of the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, which was both a successful and unsuccessful experiment. She produced six lambs and passed down her genes, whereas she was on drugs all the time and her life span was half of normal sheep's. This is very similar to Marta Diminezas’s experiment in the way that the wing patterns of a butterfly can be manipulated, while holes end up appearing on the wings. As we can see, genetic experiments are unpredictable and risky. Moreover, overindulgence in biotech field may cultivate false ideas such as bioweapons and genetically modifying babies out of pure ambitions. I believe these are some of the main concerns of anti-biotechnology groups.

Genetically modifying babies

All we know for sure is that future biotech innovations will bring about many more controversial issues. Therefore, it is important for people to keep in mind that everything is a double-edged sword and try not to be radical whenever they hear about biotechnologies. In the meantime, bioscientists and artists ought to be thoughtful and responsible towards every experiments in order to build a healthy environment for the development of biotechnologies.

Sources:

Wikipedia. "Dolly (sheep)", 26 Feb 2017. Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

Youtube. "5 bioart pt1 1280x720", uconlineprogram, 18 Sep 2013. Accessed 10 May 2017. Video.

Snow, Kate. "Genetics Will Let Parents Build Their Baby", abcNEWS, 3 Nov 2006. <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Technology/story?id=2626668&page=1> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

Parry, Hannah. "Not so furry friends: New craze for hairless guinea pig breed created in lab forty years ago sweeping the nation", Dailymail, 28 Sep 2015. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3252355/Not-furry-friends-New-craze-hairless-guinea-pig-breed-created-lab-forty-years-ago-sweeping-nation.html> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.

HealthResearchFunding. "5 Pros and Cons of Biotechnology in Humans", 26 Jun 2015. <http://healthresearchfunding.org/5-pros-and-cons-of-biotechnology-in-humans/> Accessed 10 May 2017. Web.