Log #5

As technology becomes ever more advanced, the question of morals also seems to increase.  This week, we began watching the film “Gattaca” in science fiction class.  The movie takes place in a eugenic society where children are genetically engineered to have certain traits that are hand-picked by their parents.  In the movie, DNA plays the primary role in determining social class.  Vincent Freeman, however, is conceived and born without genetic engineering, and therefore is faced with genetic discrimination due to regular blood screening.  Vincent wants more than anything to become an astronaut, but in order to achieve this he must impersonate someone with a valid genetic profile.  He decides to impersonate Jerome, a former swimming star that was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident. 

Watching this movie made me ponder the morality of such a society and the implications of genetic screening.  From a scientific perspective, eugenics goes completely against the laws of nature.  Hand-picking the genotype of children completely eliminates genetic diversity in a population, a concept essential to the process of evolution.  Moreover, an individual’s behavior is shaped by not only their genes but also their environment.  In the movie, a DNA test is the entire interview process for jobs, without even considering the individual’s exposure to different environments or development as a human being.  As a whole, I am opposed to the idea of a eugenic society but am very intrigued to see how the movie plays out.