Week 6 Blog


GFP Bunny

https://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html


 For this week's topic, I learned about the contentious dialogue connecting biotechnology, ethics, and the role of art in science and society. The question of “is life itself an expressive medium?” has been answered through the work of Eduardo Kac’s GFP Bunny. In the article, we learned about how a rabbit could glow a fluorescent green by receiving the green fluorescent protein gene. At first, the artwork of the GFP Bunny was held in heavy controversy, but as years passed, the popuular opinion on it has changed. “In the two decades that separate 2000 from 2020, my artwork GFP Bunny has gone from an epicenter of controversy to an icon of pop culture” (Kac). Furthermore, the change in opinion of the GFP Bunny reflects how important and impactful the study of biotechnology is to society. 

Organs Made to Order
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/organs-made-to-order-863675/


Craig Venter, in a TED Talk, discussed the creation of synthetic life, and it was astonishing to learn how, as a society, we have advanced to being able to construct digital information through a computer that is transferred to DNA, which is given to a living thing. He was quoted as saying, “This is the first time any synthetic DNA has been in a living organism, and we now have the first synthetic cell powered and controlled by a synthetic chromosome” (Venter). Another example of the importance of advancement is the necessity to develop lab-grown human tissues and organs. In the TED Talk video, Anthony Atala discusses the high demand for organs in conjunction with the shortage of organ donors. “We were able to implant the first lab-grown organ, a bladder, into a patient, and it has been functioning well for over seven years." (Atala). 



Although our advancement towards synthetic organisms has been fascinating, there is still a concern about how ethically and morally conscious we are towards living organisms. In a UCTV video about Animal Biotechnology, this question is put on center stage: “The application of animal biotechnology raises ethical questions, particularly when it comes to cloning and genetic engineering."(UCTV) I believe that to proceed with further advancement of biotechnology, there must be an ethical and moral framework that scientists should abide by. 

Burgers And Fries ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uHxRwQqWFo&ab_channel=DebunkerSam

Additionally, I found it interesting how this week's resources included a video titled “McDonald’s Food Experiment,” which showcased the decomposition of McDonald’s food(javahippo). The result left me wondering more than ever if I should even eat McDonald’s and if what’s being included inside a McDonald’s burger is even “okay” for my body to consume.


Sources:

Kac, Eduardo. "GFP Bunny at 20." Journal of Posthuman Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2020, pp. 119–128. The Pennsylvania State University Press, doi:10.5325/jpoststud.4.2.0119.


Van Eenennaam, Alison, and William Pohlmeier. Animal Biotechnology. University of California Television (UCTV), 4 Aug. 2008. YouTube,


Venter, Craig. “Watch Me Unveil ‘Synthetic Life.’” TED, May 2010, https://www.ted.com/talks/craig_venter_watch_me_unveil_synthetic_life.


Atala, Anthony. “Anthony Atala: Growing New Organs.” TED, TEDMED 2009, October 2009, https://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_growing_new_organs


JavaHippo. McDonald's Food Experiment. YouTube, 15 Nov. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=6us9kHHSNwk.


Comments

  1. JayMay 10, 2025 at 5:02 PM

    Hey Steven, I liked that you pointed out the shift in how people see the GFP Bunny over time. It shows how public opinion changes as technology becomes more familiar. I also agree with you that as exciting as synthetic life is, it raises some huge ethical questions we can't ignore. Just because we can create new organisms doesn’t mean we’re fully thinking through the long-term consequences. Your post made me think more about how fast biotech is moving and whether society is really keeping up.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ethan dao....May 11, 2025 at 11:13 PM

    Hi Steven! I found it really interesting and almost antithetical the idea of "synthetic life" is. The fact that people are able to transform information and decode that into a living being is frankly an insane innovation and has a lot of ethical concerns attached to it, such as the mass production of these synthetic beings. Overall, your blog raises a bunch of interesting and extremely significant developments in human history.

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