Week 6 - Biotech and Art

 Biotechnology and art are two completely different subjects, but as the technology increases we see more of an incorporation between the two. Biotechnology is the field of modifying living organisms for the purpose of benefiting humans. There are many examples of this seen in lecture and through my own research.

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From lecture we can see the example of the bunny that has been genetically modified to glow in the dark. This bunny has had jellyfish DNA incorporated into the embryo for expression. Scientists did this experiment to test whether or not genetically modified traits could be fully expressed, like we see in the bunny. Though some may argue that testing on animals shouldn’t be allowed, I believe harmless studies like this should be used to benefit modern science. 

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Another form of biotechnology could be GMO products in food. As we know, farmers and other food producers alter the genes of the food in order to make them bigger, better looking, etc. Though this does improve the aesthetic of the food and how it looks, it does have degrading health issues. GMOs have been proven to cause health related problems to the consumer as well as environmental damage. I believe in going against the GMO project, as I only purchase organic foods from the market in order to do my part against this issue.

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Biotech has been used a lot in the past to generate more aesthetically pleasing organisms, and in each instance it has its benefits and problems. This combination in my opinion should continue, but be used in a safer manner.

References

Glowing GMO Bunnies. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fstatic%2Fsys-images%2FGuardian%2FPix%2Fpictures%2F2013%2F8%2F13%2F1376428706306%2Fglowing-green-rabbits. Accessed 07 May 2021.

Genetically Modified Apple Reaches US Stores. https://www.nature.com/news/polopoly_fs/7.47580.1510064938!/image/apples.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_630/apples.jpg

Accessed 07 May 2021

Hamilton, Kathryn. “Biotechnology: Humanity's Highest Art Form.” Medium, Bioeconomy.XYZ, 3 Apr. 2021, medium.com/bioeconomy-xyz/biotechnology-humanitys-highest-art-form-8d539cdde11a. 

Onion, Amanda. "Artist's Glowing, Live Rabbit creation Causes Fuss." ABC News, 7 Jan. 2006. Web. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119939&page=1

Vaage, Nora S. "What Ethics for Bioart." US National Library of Medicine, National Institute of Health., 3 Mar. 2016. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4791467/

Caputo, Joseph. “Bioart: An Introduction.” EurekAlert!, 23 Nov. 2015, www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-11/cp-bai112315.php.

Onion, Amanda. "Artist's Glowing, Live Rabbit creation Causes Fuss." ABC News, 7 Jan. 2006. Web. https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119939&page=1