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Engineering Life

Discussion
Dec 5, 2011

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Director Andrew Niccol imagined a world in which the imperfections built in at birth were erased. His movie "Gattaca" shows a time when people are genetically engineered to be the best combination of their parents' genes. At the beginning of the movie, a genetisist explains, “We want to give your child the best possible start. Believe me, we have enough imperfection built in already. Your child doesn't need any more additional burdens.” (Niccol, 1997). Having children went from a game of chance, to a highly controlled process.

While there are many advantages to genetic engineering (no genetic diseases, longer life span, etc.), the disadvantages are clearly mapped out in “Gattaca”. The protagonist of the movie, Vincent, is born naturally without genetic engineering. Due to his inferior genetic makeup Vincent is prevented from reaching his dream of going into space and must take drastic measures to hide his genes from authority.

Apart from this discrimination of genes, the process of bringing a child into the world looses the aspect of love and chance. Sex is completely taken out of the picture as a way of conceiving a child and everything becomes scientific. While science and technology are important aspects of our world, it should not replace the natural process of creating life.

While this movie was written to take place in the future, technology has become much more advanced in the last fourteen years and genetic engineering has gone from a distant dream to a real possibility. The rapid advance of technology can be scary, especially to an older crowd, and we need to keep science in check so that is can provide the greatest good to the world without removing the phenomenon of human life.

Comments

Great Information

Submitted by josel on Mon, 2011-12-05 14:16.

Today we are being lied to by our super power which is our government. We are asked to believe that life is to live and die, but yet we are still here on one ball of rock and water, and who knows what else lies undiscovered by humans?

Remember when you was 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 around 3 to 4, life is being introduced. Yes we have new alternatives to making our offspring smarter, faster, and stronger. An example is educational programing for the young that boosts up the mind to focus on life and its surrounding the animals the place the sounds the weather and etc. \

School is placed to move forward to your perfection in your timeline since being created and that is to live and work for nothing just to die with nothing. Can you think about it?

Would money be a value in your coffin, Would the worms that are composing on your body need it to buy dirt, No! How is it that we need money and Government help/ medicaid to recover at a hospital get check by a doctor that quote under quote is his/her duty is society why not take care of us we made each other?