DNA has us interconnected to technology

Through the use of cells and their DNA, modern medicine has also advanced with biotechnology. Research has suggested that stem cells have the ability to regenerate damaged tissues and cells within the body despite the question: is using stem cells ethical. Our DNA interconnects us with medical research and technology.

Our DNA is the fundamental part of who we are, where we’ve been, and who we were for the past billions of years. The idea of mapping who we are and who we were has become widely popular with DNA tests such as 23andMe. 23andMe collects your DNA through a saliva sample then analyzes your genetic makeup and helps determine which medical ailments you may be predisposed to. Numerous amount of kits are available, each one adding more information for a decent fee- just as Eugene Thacker stated, “ One thing is that a given, relatively unquestioned notion of ‘life itself’ is regarded as being incorporated into the technological domain, either for economic profit…” Of course, the lab receives your DNA sample, your DNA will be put into a database among millions of other people, also interested in their genetic makeup. 

When Thacker stated, “ Yes, but I wonder. I think about cloned mammals (the failures as well as successes), human ears grown on the back of a mouse…”  I couldn’t help but think back to the birth of Dolly the Sheep. On July 5, 1996, history was made when Dolly the Sheep, the first successfully cloned mammal was introduced to the public. Dolly’s birth was a milestone for biotechnology, showing that adult mammals could be cloned despite the first failed 277 attempts. Dolly’s DNA originated from a mammary gland taken from an adult sheep and after a number of complicated experiments, the embryo had been implanted into an adult sheep and within 147 days later, Dolly was born. Since Dolly’s birth, science has advanced and so has biotechnology with science focusing on cloning other animals since then. Although the sequence that was used to create Dolly and other animals would not be efficient for human use, biotechnology has found many more uses for DNA that would benefit humans more than cloning would. 

Vanessa Nimons