Difference between revisions of "Jurassic Park (1993)"

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==Actual Cloning Abilities==
 
==Actual Cloning Abilities==
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Real-life genetic scientists have been working on cloning for years and have still made some progress even though they’re not at dinosaur capabilities. Experts believe that  there are, “technique[s] that can create clones of dead animals, and possibly even recently extinct species”.<ref>Rafferty, John P. “The Morality of the ‘Jurassic Park Scenario.’” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-morality-of-the-jurassic-park-scenario.</ref> So it seems that cloning ability is limited by genetic viability which is affected by age. But at one point National Geographic did announce plans to resurrect the wooly mammoth. <ref>Lovgren, Stefan. “Digital Chalkboard.” Woolly Mammoth Resurrection, "Jurassic Park" Planned :: Resources :: Digital Chalkboard, 2005, www.mydigitalchalkboard.org/portal/default/Resources/Viewer/ResourceViewer;jsessionid=tXPrgWGE7F7UsKBFNEc9Pw**?action=2&resid=49597&discussion.ascdesc=ascending&discussion.listtype=chronological.  
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Real-life genetic scientists have been working on cloning for years and have still made some progress even though they’re not at dinosaur capabilities. Experts believe that  there are, “technique[s] that can create clones of dead animals, and possibly even recently extinct species”.<ref>Rafferty, John P. “The Morality of the ‘Jurassic Park Scenario.’” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-morality-of-the-jurassic-park-scenario.</ref> So it seems that cloning ability is limited by genetic viability which is affected by age. But at one point National Geographic did announce plans to resurrect the wooly mammoth.<ref>Lovgren, Stefan. “Digital Chalkboard.” Woolly Mammoth Resurrection, "Jurassic Park" Planned :: Resources :: Digital Chalkboard, 2005, www.mydigitalchalkboard.org/portal/default/Resources/Viewer/ResourceViewer;jsessionid=tXPrgWGE7F7UsKBFNEc9Pw**?action=2&resid=49597&discussion.ascdesc=ascending&discussion.listtype=chronological.  
 
</ref> But as will be further discussed later, there are ethical concerns with this. One scientist remarks, “ Before we clone the first mammoth, we should carefully examine the reasons why we are doing so. If it is only another way to exalt human arrogance or pad the wallets of a few, I would argue that Pleistocene mammals are better off dead.” <ref> Ibid. </ref>
 
</ref> But as will be further discussed later, there are ethical concerns with this. One scientist remarks, “ Before we clone the first mammoth, we should carefully examine the reasons why we are doing so. If it is only another way to exalt human arrogance or pad the wallets of a few, I would argue that Pleistocene mammals are better off dead.” <ref> Ibid. </ref>
  

Revision as of 15:33, 9 April 2021

Jurassic Park (1993) movie poster
Jurassic Park (1993) is a science fiction, action film based on the 1990 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, with the screenplay written by Michael Crichton—the author of the original novel—and David Koepp. The film features a cast including Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others. Regarded as one of the most successful films of all time, Jurassic Park has achieved a worldwide box office of over 1 billion USD.[1]

As the first installment of the franchise, Jurassic Park introduces a fictional dinosaur theme park. A series of events frees the dinosaurs from their enclosures, forcing those on the island into an unexpected fight for survival. The film touches on popular ethical concerns of today, including cloning and DNA privatization and monetization.

Plot

The film begins with the death of a park employee at the hands of a Velociraptor kept at Jurassic Park. The theme park is located on a fictional island called Isla Nublar, located 120 miles west of Costa Rica. The island is depicted to be a mostly peaceful, isolated preserve. Upon hearing news of the death, investors push the park's company, International Genetic Technologies, Inc. (InGen), to prove its safety. To address such concerns, the CEO of the company, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), brings in a group of experts to hopefully gain their approval. The group includes paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil), paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and the lawyer of the investors Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero). Unbeknownst to all of them, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight), the disgruntled lead computer programmer of the park, is bribed by rival company Biosyn to steal dinosaur embryos from Jurassic Park. The embryos would allow Biosyn to create dinosaurs like those in Jurassic Park.

Upon reaching the island via helicopter, Hammond's group of experts are quickly taken to the visitor center, where they are introduced to the process of dinosaur creation/cloning. After a lunch break, the group, which now includes Hammond's grandchildren, are given a tour of the park in driverless electric vehicles. During the tour, a tropical storm hits the island. Using the storm as a distraction, Nedry, with plans of stealing the embryos, introduces a computer virus and deactivates the park's security system in the process. This in turn frees much of the park's dinosaurs, including a Tyrannosaurus rex. Freed from its enclosure, the Tyrannosaurus immediately attacks those still touring in the electric vehicles, separating the group and killing Donald. Meanwhile, Nedry, who manages to smuggle dinosaur embryos into a canister, crashes his Jeep and is ultimately killed by a Dilophosaurus. Unable to bypass Nedry's computer virus, chief engineer Ray Arnold decides to perform a full system reboot, which requires him to go to a utility shed across the park. When he doesn't return, it is discovered that the raptors have been freed. Thanks to the individual heroics of those remaining on the island, the power is ultimately fully restored. This victory is short lived, as the raptors manage to corner the survivors in the visitor center. However, with unexpected help from the escaped Tyrannosaurus (who kills the raptors), the group finally escape the island via helicopter.

Dinosaur Creation/Cloning

The cloning of dinosaurs is achieved in the film by extracting DNA from the blood of mosquitoes that have been preserved in amber. This has been found to be implausible to impossible in reality because of how quickly dinosaur DNA degrades in quality.[2] Nonetheless, the DNA fragments were reassembled by scientists at Jurassic Park. As the fragments were incomplete, DNA from frogs was used to fill the remaining gaps. To prevent breeding, scientists claim to have genetically engineered the dinosaurs to be only female. However, this is proven to be incorrect later on in the film, as hatched eggs are spotted at the park by Alan. A lack of sufficient knowledge on cloning and genetics by the scientists is exposed, as it is revealed that the DNA of frogs allowed the dinosaurs to change their sex in a single-sex environment.

Actual Cloning Abilities

Real-life genetic scientists have been working on cloning for years and have still made some progress even though they’re not at dinosaur capabilities. Experts believe that there are, “technique[s] that can create clones of dead animals, and possibly even recently extinct species”.[3] So it seems that cloning ability is limited by genetic viability which is affected by age. But at one point National Geographic did announce plans to resurrect the wooly mammoth.[4] But as will be further discussed later, there are ethical concerns with this. One scientist remarks, “ Before we clone the first mammoth, we should carefully examine the reasons why we are doing so. If it is only another way to exalt human arrogance or pad the wallets of a few, I would argue that Pleistocene mammals are better off dead.” [5]

Ethical Concerns

Irreversible Science

Elizabeth Rayne points out that the entire movie serves as a good metaphor for irreversible science. Any exploratory new experiments that can have irreversible damage ought to be analyzed in depth before their implementation she argues.[6] These can apply to fields beyond genetics such as nuclear physics or weapons research. This is well summarized in the line by Jeff Goldblum’s character, Ian Malcolm, “Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should”.[7]

Cloning

Perhaps the main ethical debate of the film is the use of cloning by the scientists. Whether cloning is ethically right to practice has been a hot topic of debate. In fact, data from polling has revealed that the public is heavily against the use of cloning on animals. [8] Broadly speaking, concerns can be categorized into two main groups: negative consequences on animals, humans and the environment, as well as the violation of moral principles and guidelines.[9] For the first group, one argument being made is that cloning intentionally and unintentionally tampers with the environment, disrupting the fragile balances of ecosystems. [10] Additionally, restoring extinct species through cloning can have significant economic and ecological problems, much of which is unpredictable.[11] With connection to the film, the revival of extinct dinosaurs in Jurassic Park ushered in events the scientists never expected, while completely altering the island of Isla Nublar. In regards to the second group of concerns, some objections against cloning are "intrinsic," or view the activity as simply wrong and unjustifiable regardless of the outcome.[12] Proponents of such concerns argue that is morally incorrect to "play God" and that creating life should always be a natural process. [13]

Privatization and Monetization of DNA

In the film, Jurassic Park is created with hope that it one day would be a huge money maker. In order to do so, the company owning the park purchased much of the world's amber mines in search of viable DNA to use for cloning. This brings up another ethical concern: the privatization and monetization of DNA. Particularly, regulations are much more lenient for private companies dealing with genetic data banks than for federally funded researchers.[14] As private companies are the "ultimate gatekeepers for their data," concerns have been raised about whether what they're doing with it is ethically correct.[15] With regards to the monetization of DNA, concerns deal with whether it is ethically okay to exploit genetic data for monetary gain. Proponents against DNA monetization highlight consent concerns, as well as potential breaches of privacy.[16] This is a concern in regards to real genetic companies today like 23andMe that have human genetic data. Such concerns are only exacerbated by incidents in which savvy hackers were able to steal genetic data, as well as by insufficient law coverage of genetic privacy.[17] Such company breaches of sensitive information not only come from outside attackers, but as seen in Jurassic Park, can occur internally as well.

References

  1. ↑ Jurassic Park Franchise Box Office History. (n.d.). Retrieved March 11, 2021, from http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Jurassic-Park#tab=summary.
  2. ↑ Knapp, A. (2013, September 14). Scientists Show That Jurassic Park-Style Dinosaur Cloning Couldn't Happen. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2013/09/14/scientists-demonstrate-that-jurassic-park-couldnt-happen/?sh=14030acc2f7e.
  3. ↑ Rafferty, John P. “The Morality of the ‘Jurassic Park Scenario.’” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/the-morality-of-the-jurassic-park-scenario.
  4. ↑ Lovgren, Stefan. “Digital Chalkboard.” Woolly Mammoth Resurrection, "Jurassic Park" Planned :: Resources :: Digital Chalkboard, 2005, www.mydigitalchalkboard.org/portal/default/Resources/Viewer/ResourceViewer;jsessionid=tXPrgWGE7F7UsKBFNEc9Pw**?action=2&resid=49597&discussion.ascdesc=ascending&discussion.listtype=chronological.
  5. ↑ Ibid.
  6. ↑ Rayne, Elizabeth. “Wednesday Rewatch: Digging up the Morality of Jurassic Park 25 Years Later.” SYFY WIRE, SYFY WIRE, 12 June 2018, www.syfy.com/syfywire/wednesday-rewatch-digging-up-the-morality-of-jurassic-park-25-years-later.
  7. ↑ “Jurassic Park1993.” Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but Your Scientists Were so Preoccupied with Whether or Not They Could, They Didn't Stop to Think If They Should., www.quotes.net/mquote/49960.
  8. ↑ Fiester, A. (2005). Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://repository.upenn.edu/bioethics_papers/35
  9. ↑ Fiester, A. (2005). Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://repository.upenn.edu/bioethics_papers/35
  10. ↑ Fiester, A. (2005). Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://repository.upenn.edu/bioethics_papers/35
  11. ↑ L. (2016, February 19). De-Extinction, a risky ecological experiment. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.esa.org/esablog/2016/02/19/de-extinction-a-risky-ecological-experiment/
  12. ↑ Comstock, G. (2012, February). Ethics and Genetically Modified Foods. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/297320628_Ethics_and_Genetically_Modified_Foods
  13. ↑ Fiester, A. (2005). Ethical Issues in Animal Cloning. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://repository.upenn.edu/bioethics_papers/35
  14. ↑ Spector-Bagdady, K. (2016, September 13). Why You Should Worry About the Privatization of Genetic Data: SciTech Connect. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/worry-privatization-genetic-data/
  15. ↑ Spector-Bagdady, K. (2016, September 13). Why You Should Worry About the Privatization of Genetic Data: SciTech Connect. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/worry-privatization-genetic-data/
  16. ↑ Ahmed E., Shabani M. (2019). DNA data marketplace: an analysis of the ethical concerns regarding the participation of the individuals. Front Genet. 10:1107. 10.3389/fgene.2019.01107. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6844291/
  17. ↑ Rosenbaum, E. (2018, June 16). 5 biggest risks of sharing your DNA with consumer genetic-testing companies. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/16/5-biggest-risks-of-sharing-dna-with-consumer-genetic-testing-companies.html
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