Bio-tech and Art

This week’s topic covered biology and art. Biotech and art proved to be a very controversial concept that we have discussed in class so far.

Animals are experiencing a breach in their natural cycle as art starts to intermix with biology. I did not know that rats were used as test subjects for human medicine. It is quite impressive how sophisticated and advanced the human world is becoming and makes me wonder for our future. In labs, researchers inject foreign DNA into rats and test how it reacts in their genome. They are called transgenic rats and those genes will be passed down to the next generation and so forth. The disruption of an entire natural species brings up very considerable ethical questions. The way that scientists are choosing and mutating DNA doesn’t allow natural selection to happen and could lead to a worldwide natural dilemma.

            Professor Vesna shows in her lecture a jellyfish that was injected a fluorescent gene from a jellyfish into a bunny to make the bunny glow for art. This use of using breaching into biology for art is not ethical to me. I don’t think animals should have to go through misery just for the purpose of people’s personal enjoyment. Animals have their own way of life and taking an animal from its natural habitat to a laboratory causes trauma. I think this is where the line between biology and art should stand. Animals should only be used for purposes of future medical research and other research for the well-being of our future. This is already a big enough disruption in our natural ecosystem. When using art in biology ethically, many advancements can be made to to benefit our world.

            Another way art is infused with biology is through the food we consume. Genetic modification of food can affect our bodies in ways we could not imagine. Gary Wenk’s article, “This is Your Brain on Food,” explains how the food we eat “often affect how your neurons behave and, subsequently, how you think and feel. Form your brain’s perspective, food is a drug”(Wenk). Gene modification can change size, shape, and shelf life for almost any food. It is hard to determine which foods are safe because of gene modification. This process is so common nowadays that almost everything we eat is genetically modified, from meat to vegetables.

            It is hard to determine when it is okay to draw the line to genetically modify animals and food. I personally believe gene modifying should only be used for the purpose of knowledge. Any other purpose is absolutely unethical, as it corrupts our natural process.

Magazine, Gary Wenk for Seed. "Seed Magazineabout." This Is Your Brain on Food § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. SEED, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017.

"Natural Or Unnatural? Require Labeling of Genetically Modified Foods." ForceChange. ForeChange, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017.

Pollick, Michael, and Niki Foster. "Why Are Rats Used in Animal Testing?" WiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation, 14 Apr. 2017. Web. 14 May 2017.

Vesna, Victoria. "5 BioArt Pt1." YouTube. Uconlineprogram, 17 May 2012. Web. 14 May 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL9DBF43664EAC8BC7&time_continue=578&v=jUENH6GLzXY>.