Unit 6: Biotech + Art

Joe Davis, the pioneer of biotechnology art, wrote a book contemplating “what is life and what does it mean when we manipulate life” (Vesna). This question is very important for twenty-first century people to think about because the modern technology readily available has the potential to radically change our world. But to some extent, it already has. Many biotech projects completed have used animals in their experimentation and artwork. Eduardo Cats created “Alba” - a bunny that was created from a fluorescent gene of a jellyfish (Vesna). The modified gene opened up debate among scientists and artists. Marta de Menezes genetically-altered the wings of butterflies, which she called artwork; later, her project was heavily scrutinized by many because the butterflies had holes in their wings (Vesna). Symbotica scientist Zaretsky created the “fish and chips” project, which produced art by a robotic arm run by the activity of goldfish neurons (Vesna). As you can see, biotechnology is not new to the art world.

http://bigcatrescue.org/liger-facts/

However, Paul Root Wople’s ted talk inspired me to think about the bigger picture of biotechnology. He compares the past “waves of evolution” and brings up several examples of what might happen if biotechnology takes another step up (Wople). For example, he discusses the breeding of animals like ligers, beefalos and camas (Wople). He says that while the genetic manipulation has been interesting, “something much much more powerful is happening now”. That is, we are now able to create cells through a DNA synthesizer; organic parents could become a thing of the past and humans could solely be created from computers (Wople). But do we really want this to happen?

http://www.ncyu.edu.tw/bioagriculture/content.aspx?site_content_sn=18490

For years, there has been a debate about the ethical guidelines of biotechnology. Some people believe that biotechnology is the answer to “help improve our lives and the health of our planet” (WABE). Those against the liberal use of biotechnology are afraid of things like the lack of privacy and ability to clone any human, public fears of terrorism, protecting people in clinical trials, the age-old discussion of stem cell research and the expensive toll on healthcare (Biotechnology Healthcare).

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/frankenstein/index.html (left)
http://hellogiggles.com/originals/news-nostalgia/page/2 (right)

In the end, Wople challenges his listeners to take initiative, whether they disagree or not: “[it] is not just the responsibility of the scientists and the ethicists who are thinking about it and writing about it now. It is the responsibility of everybody…” (Wolpe).

https://fruitcakeandpie.wordpress.com/political-policy-of-stem-cells/

Citations: 

"Atlanta Biotech Summit Seeks To Create Ethical Guidelines." Atlanta Biotech Summit Seeks To Create Ethical Guidelines. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://wabe.org/post/atlanta-biotech-summit-seeks-create-ethical-guidelines-0>.

Silverman, Ed. "The 5 Most Pressing Ethical Issues in Biotech Medicine."Biotechnology Healthcare. BioCommunications LLC, n.d. Web. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3570985/>.

"Transcript of "It's Time to Question Bio-engineering"" Paul Root Wolpe: It's Time to Question Bio-engineering. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_root_wolpe_it_s_time_to_question_bio_engineering/transcript?language=en>.

Vesna, Victoria. "5 Bioart Pt1 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaThVnA1kyg>.

Vesna, Victoria. "5 BioArt Pt2." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL9DBF43664EAC8BC7&v=MdSt-Hjyi2I>.