Week 6 - BioTech + Art

This week's topic had me feeling very divided upon the field of biotech and art. In terms of genetically modifying plants, I see there's no issues with it. I found George Gessert's work of genetically modifying flowers to be very beautiful.

Genetically modified flowers

On the other hand, once the modification reaches humans and other animals, it's hard to figure out where to draw the line. Chris Kelty's had stated that one of the reasons why people become anxious about this topic is because of knowing that humans have the power to bend life to our own will (3). I think for me this was the main issue that I have with mutating humans and animals. I think using people's lives as an expression of art is fine (ex. dance performances, their lifestyle). However, I feel a bit uncomfortable with the concept of mutating one's body as a form of art. I think life is fragile and valuable so it isn't right to treat it carelessly. Thus, I believe there should be restrictions on both scientists and artists on how much they are able to mutate humans/animals in their works.

Kathy High's test rat

Human-pig hybrid

One part that stuck out to me was Kathy High's work with the lab rats and how the lab rats were used as test subjects to find a cure for human diseases. This was pretty timely because I had recently read an article that a human pig hybrid was created in order to grow organs for humans. I think it's great that humans are finding ways to cure diseases but hearing about a human+pig hybrid concerns me. Is it right to create this new life in order to solely extract organs from it?

Mole Human in the animation

That reminded me of an animation I watched. There was a group of humans and a group of mole population. The humans had ruled over this mole population and treated them like slaves for not being human. Later it was revealed that the mole population was actually a mole+human mix. However, too much time had passed that people did not know that this population had some human characteristics anymore. The success of human-pig hybrid reminded me of this animation. It made me wonder if there is a human-pig hybrid how are we to interact with it? Would all the human rights be applied to it or would it just be considered as an animal?

Works Cited - Blakemore, Erin. "Human-Pig Hybrid Created in the Lab." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 26 Jan. 2017. Web. 09 May 2017. - 5 BioArt Pt2. Dir. Uconlineprogram. Perf. Victoria Vesna. Youtube, 17 May 2012. Web. 9 May 2017. - "From the New World (novel)." Wikipedia. N.p., 16 Apr. 2017. Web. 09 May 2017. - Kelty, Chris. Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology? Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. - "Shinsekai Yori and True Heroism" Reddit. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2017.