Gattaca is a very interesting film that sheds light on the possible future of humanity, when it comes to genetic manipulation. The entire plot of the film revolves around a society that is primarily centered on the need for superior genes. Every child in the film, apart from the protagonist, Vincent Freeman, is born in the eugenics program. This program is purposely structured to manipulate the genetic composition of children to guarantee that they only inherit a specific set of desirable traits from their parents.
The film portrays the struggles that Freeman is forced to endure as he attempts his dreams of exploring space in a ighly discriminative society where only the genetically perfect human beings survive. It represents the extremes of genetic discrimination through the imperfect imperfect life of Vincent Freeman (Niccol, 1997). While this film is fictitious, it introduced a very possible threat that will most likely face the future generation as the practice of genetic manipulation continues to gain exposure.
This film opens the mind of the viewer to the by showing the consequences of genetic manipulation by showing the strenuous life of Vincent Freeman. Freeman was not fortunate enough to be born through the eugenics program and herefore, the society viewed him as incapable and unfitting for anything. His fate was sealed the moment he was conceived without any genetic manipulation, and he was condemned to live as a manual laborer who worked for the ‘perfect’ human beings in the society.
He was generally viewed as worthless in a society that thrived for genetic perfection, and because of that, all of his dreams and aspirations were tossed away. Despite the impossible, he chose to reject his fate and sought for various ways to realize his dream of exploring space with the human beings born in the eugenics program (Niccol, 1997). This film provokes a lot of thoughts over the future of genetic manipulation. Many scientists and researchers are working round the clock to perfect genetic manipulation techniques.
Through films like Gattaca, we can see the possible outcomes of this hard work and the effects that this research can have on humanity. In an article about the actual Scientifics behind Gattaca, Jabr, (2013) assesses the possibility of Gattaca becoming a reality in the foreseeable future. This author strongly asserts that in the near future the social structure illustrated in the film will become a reality in the real world. One f the main reasons why Jabr makes these conclusions is the fact that there has been significant progress in the field of genetic manipulation (Jabr, 2013).
Scientists are determined on establishing various ways of preventing hereditary diseases from being passed down from one generation to another through genetic manipulation. The quest for perfection among children is slowly overshadowing the traditional approach towards reproduction where nature was allowed to take its course. Wade, (2016) explains the current progress that the human race has made towards genetic manipulation. A researcher from Britain, by the name of Kathy Niakan was ecently granted permission to alter the genetic composition of human embryos through the revolutionary genome editing technique.
Although this is viewed as a major scientific leap in the field of biology, it has sparked a lot of concerns over how this technology will be used in the future. Many people in the society contemplate over the ethics of genetic manipulation. A variety of ethical considerations have been brought up to explain how this act is immoral and unjustified for the human race. The first concern is the fact that genetic manipulation will undoubtedly lead to the commercialization of the process of ringing human life into the world (Lebkowski, Gold, Xu, Funk, Chiu, & Carpenter, 2000).
Parents with high resources to engineer their babies will have the advantage. They will be able to genetically modify their children to ensure that they are very smart, or have athletic capabilities or even be immune of diseases. Parents from low income families will not have this advantage. There are very many potential risks associated with the practice of genetic modification. Just like any other medical procedures there are a variety of risks that can interfere with a successful genetic modification procedure. To begin with this rocedure can result in unpredictable responses from the immune system of the embryo.
Genetic modification requires the introduction of a virus into the targeted cells. This process can go wrong if the wrong cells are targeted and the virus reacts negatively with the host cells. It may cause infections that can lead to further complications. There are situations where tumors develop as a result of the genetic modification process (Mayo Clinic Therapy, 2016). All of these risks greatly undermine the viability of genetic modification, especially since a lot of trials have to be conducted before a successful modification can be ade.
It is highly unethical to experiment with human genes because of the reasons that these risks have on the end results. Many human beings can be subjected to avoidable medical conditions in the future because of the genetic modification practices conducted on them. In Gattaca, the human beings born outside the eugenics program were viewed as insignificant. The quest for perfection when it comes to genetic modification meant that members of the society in the film had to live with these risks to be acceptable.
Another ethical concern is the impact that genetic modification will have on culture in the society. Human beings are primarily governed by the various cultural beliefs that they hold. Culture dictates the respect for human life and anything that attempts to violate the sanctity of humanity receives a lot of opposition. Genetic manipulation is one of these highly controversial issues that greatly undermine the sanctity of human lives. Many cultures in the society believe that nature should be left to take its course when it comes to conception and birth (Powell, & Buchanan, 2011).
Genetic manipulation is strongly discouraged by people because it goes against the cultural beliefs that they receive. One of the main ontributing factors towards the development of these concerns from a cultural point of view is the unfair advantage that genetic modification will have on the resourceful people in the society. Genetic modification will only aggravate the economic disparity that societies and cultures are attempting to close (Lebkowski, Gold, Xu, Funk, Chiu, & Carpenter, 2000).
In Gattaca, Freedman represents the less fortunate members of the society who are forced by circumstances to struggle in a society that is primarily dominated by the genetically ‘perfect individuals. Finally, genetic modification will undeniably have dire consequences on he society, especially when it comes to governance and regulation. The country is not yet ready to handle genetic modification as the technologies or techniques to execute this procedure are currently at its infancy stage.
The legal structure is ill prepared to deal with the repercussions of genetic modifications and then potential conflicts will definitely emerge from the future use of this technology (Powell, & Buchanan, 2011). In Gattaca, it is crystal clear that the society did not adequately prepare for the changes that would happen after the adoption of the eugenics program. The fact that Freedman nd other people like him in the society did not receive any representation showcases the ill preparedness of the society towards genetic modification.
In one way or another, the society in Gattaca is a perfect representation of what Earth will be like when this technology is adopted and embraced. Children will no longer be viewed as a blessing in the society because the rich and affluent members of the society will possess the power and capability to decide the various genetic attributes that they desire in their children (Velez, 2014). The film, Gattaca is a representation of how the future of genetic modification technologies will be. It depicts the problem of genetic discrimination and the effects that it will have on humanity.
While the intentions of scientists may be good and justified, the society is not yet prepared to handle the implications of these technologies. There is a very high likelihood that the future society will look exactly like the one depicted in the film, Gattaca. The biological and cultural ethical considerations of genetic modifications are too much for the society to bear at the moment and therefore, appropriate measures must be taken to ensure that the modern day society does not succumb to the desolate levels of the Gattaca society.
