Human Genomes (Nov. 9th)

    Today's class kicked off with a discussion on the documentary we were assigned to watch over the weekend. There were many petrifying and heartbreaking scenes, as well as projections of America monstrously using up billions of dollars, and Iraq citizens having to face the consequences. Since it seems like we will be writing a paper on this shocking documentary, I will save my further opinions for a later time! For the main part of today's class, we continued to watch the documentary exposing corporations making money at the expense of everything else. In the beginning, the narrator said "what if we find out that every virtual relationship we have is a commercial arbitrating relationship?". At first, I had no clue what that really meant, but when being given examples of the doorman with empty boxes next to him, and the same plastic bottles aligned in a company's fridge, things clicked in my mind. Although the manipulation and commercials in our daily lives may not be as extreme, today, we now have an advanced and restored form of advertising, Youtube and influencers. I often catch myself being influenced by Youtubers and popular teenagers who are paid ample amounts of money to talk good about a certain product. Notwithstanding the extensive influence, American Youtubers and other foreign influencers still state that their video or post is being sponsored. On the contrary, most Japanese influencers or celebrities post about a product or cajole their audience into selling some skincare product without establishing that they are being sponsored by corporations, and receiving money. So, just like the video said, we receive 8 or 9 undercovered messages, and with repetition, we are manipulated into wanting these advertised products which will contribute to escalating the corporation's profit. Although the strategies and techniques may have changed from 18 years ago when the documentary was produced, they are still prevalent yet obscure topics in contemporary society. After all, real-life product placement does exist, just like they do in movies and it is no different from movies in the sense that they make copious money for positively depicting products.

    One of the most horrifying sections of today's documentary was about genomes. Starting from a few decades ago, anything modified in the laboratory can be made a product, regardless of the exploitation of living things that happen in the process. Sooner or later it is predicted that corporations will own the life of all living things, potentially including human lives. The continuous manipulations and tinkering in genomes have now led to terminator seeds, dismantling of the amazon rainforest, stealing of medicines from traditional tribes, searching money-making DNAs, and countless more substantial issues. Now that society has been constructed in this way, we are not allowed to speak up or debate about any corporation messing around with the human genome. More horrifically, there is a great race between companies to find the treasure in species' genes, and if this goes unchallenged, our lives and the lives of our children are very much at stake. Eventually, global companies could own the genes that make up the evolution of species. After Mr.Paterson asked for a raise of hands, it was clear that no student desire a society where companies can implant and tinker around with any species' DNA. Although, we live in the age of all things biology and technology, where various controversial issues arise, I want to believe that people are unanimous about challenging companies that do any fraud or any manipulation with the human genome. A successful patent on biological life would most definitely "manufacture" a perfect baby with no flaws and no insecurities. Notwithstanding, this is not a good idea for many reasons. For one, every hard work we put into earning something or achieving something will not hold much meaning. This leads to deterioration in competition with peers, and just genuinely no motivation for any human being. Furthermore, a significant issue is the discrimination and gap between the rich and poor. If adaptation of genes is executed, the gap between people who can afford surgery and will stretch immensely.

Towards the end, we briefly touched on other serious issues such as rGBH, and heroic stories of the strong, powerful, and influential people. It is always a stimulating story to hear, and knowing that there are individuals who stand up against huge corporations that have so much power to potentially fire them, is so encouraging. What they did could easily be summed as "they are just doing their job", but these advocates for real news and showcasing the reality truly show us how difficult but crucial it is to continue to fight for what you believe in, and how that could even save lives (in this case they prevented American citizens from drinking milk with toxic chemicals). 

Notes:

living organisms in the laboratory may be patented.

searching the planet for valuable genes and DNAs.