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Week 6: BioTech + Art

 This week, I was interested in learning about the topic of BioTechnology and Art because I feel that now more than ever, this field is rapidly becoming integrated into our society.  In Lecture Part 1, I found the conversation about the fluorescent bunny, named Alba, to be extremely interesting.  This bunny was injected with bioluminescent genes from a jellyfish as a fertilized egg, and now is basically glow in the dark.
Alba, the genetically modified bunny.
In the scientific world, this manipulation genetic engineering of the bunny can be linked to several purposes.  These scientists were hoping to be able to use the bioluminescence to place on certain genes in the human body and see how they move throughout the bodily systems.  This is especially important in cancer research because if scientists were able to detect and track cancer cells in the body, it would lead to faster detection and hopefully initiation of treatment. 
Eduardo Kac
 The part that was especially interesting to me, however, was when Eduardo Kac tried to present this same work as Transgenic Art.  And while there is discomfort and opposition to this work in the field of science, there was an immediate and strong resistance to this presentation of art from animal rights activists and other groups that do not favor genetic engineering.  I believe that this disapproval of art is because people do not immediately understand or see the purpose of artwork that they do with science.  When this project was reported as a scientific work, it is easy to see the purpose behind it because it is linked to helping the cause to cure cancer.  However, when it is used as an art form, people tend to believe there is no purpose to genetically modify animals just for the sake of “art”.  This stems from the general misinterpretation of art, as well as the tendency for members of our society to credit the sciences with superiority over the arts.


Sources

UCtelevision. "Animal Biotechnology." YouTube. YouTube, 25 July 2008. Web. 11 May 2017.

Uconlineprogram. "5 bioart pt1 1280x720." YouTube. YouTube, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 May 2017.

"Eduardo Kac: Biological Art." Eduardo Kac: Biological Art | digitalarti.com. N.p., 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 11 May 2017.

Green Fluorescent Protein - Cool Uses - Alba. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2017.

"A critique of animal rights ideology." Libcom.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2017.

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 16, 2017 at 8:36 PM

    Kodianne, I enjoyed reading your blog for this week, as you have a lot of great commentary. I like how you started off by talking about how biotechnology and art are rapidly becoming integrated into today's society. Also, very good commentary on Alba the genetically modified bunny and the affects it has on the scientific world.

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  2. UnknownMay 16, 2017 at 11:55 PM

    Kodianne, I couldn't agree more with you in the idea that the integration of biotechnology and art in society keeps increasing everyday. Something that called my attention when addressing Kac's transcendental art is that you mention that "the disapproval of this art comes from people who don't necessarily understand the purpose of the art" but I believe that the disapproval of it comes from a more emotional and concern about the well being of the animals than just a blind disapproval of the art coming from ignorance.

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