Gattaca Essay Examples

The conception of clones is no longer a science fiction subject, as research advanced and cloned animals and more recently, even humans attempts were publicized, making our current society close of the “not-too-distant-future” presented in “Gattaca”. “Gattaca” presents Vincent’s drama, who, born from natural birth, aspires to become an astronaut at Gattaca Aerospace Corporation, an organization that only employs genetically engineered individuals.
Vincent’s problem consists in the fact that throughout his life he was in the shadow of his younger brother, Anton, the product of a genetic engineering conception, who was stronger, faster and better than him in all physical aspects. His desire to become an astronaut is a reflection of his ambition that grew gradually with each attempt to overcome his superhuman brother.
Anton, on the other hand, was conceived as an alternative for Vincent, who was born weak, with medics predicting an early death. His parents then thought of a new, more reliable and sturdy child, worthy of his father’s name, Anton, because of his high life expectancy. Unlike his older brother who was a “Faith Child”, namely a child conceived through natural birth, Anton was a product of technology. In the dystopia society described in “Gattaca”, Vincent and not Anton is considered the abnormal individual, because he lacks superior powers that genetically engineered individuals like Anton possess.
The future outlined in “Gattaca” suggests that imperfect persons like Vincent, who do not possess superhuman qualities, are degenerates, a term used in a pejorative manner to discriminate the natural born people. In the same line, genoism is a social phenomenon that resembles the nowadays racism, having genetics at the basis of discrimination. The term relates to the so-called degenerates, because it implies that they are the second – class citizens, inferior to the ones considered as normal, namely the genetically engineered individuals line Anton and Jerome Morrow.
Jerome Morrow is a superhuman, who would be perfect for Gattaca Aerospace Corporation that Vincent pursues due to his genetically engineered construction, but is unable to because he is paralyzed. He sits in a wheel chair after he threw himself in front of a car, aiming to commit suicide because he came second at a swimming contest. As a superhuman, accustomed to being number 1, he did not accept defeat and preferred death to being second.
In the light of “Gattaca” the idea of genetically engineering children seems inhuman, but I would apply this alternative if I would not be able to have children of my own. If I could have the possibility of giving birth to my own child I would do it, regardless of the outcome of having to compete in a world filled with genetically engineered children. For sure he would face challenges and difficulties, but helping him or her to overcome them is part of being a parent.
If in the future, technology would allow the genetic engineering, I would nevertheless evaluate this possibility from an ethical perspective. If the outcome of genetic engineering would be to create superior humans, I would not want my child to make another child feel inferior due to his/her superior abilities. Other than this, if the result of generic engineering would be normal children, I would have no impediment about this approach, as long as mine would develop as a normal child.
We cannot design our children, but we can hope for them to possess certain traits, or gifts. I would gift my child through genetic engineering with physical attributes such as health, good physical condition, endurance and flexibility, but also with curiosity, facile learning, analytical abilities, critical reasoning, persuasion and resistance to stress.
Genetic engineering is a concept that describes technical procedures for modifying the features of organisms by manipulating their genetic material. It can be found in agriculture for producing the desired traits of species, or in medicine, for creating drugs.
Stem cell is a multicellular organism, capable of dividing into indefinite cells, but also in differentiating in specialized cells. They can be used to produce human embryos, which is why they are controversial from ethical and religious considerations.
Human cloning is still a taboo subject in the 21st century, because it threatens humanity and even the perseverance of humans on Earth, as scientific prospects of clones replacing humans grow constantly, which is why human beings should not be cloned. On the other hand, cloning humans would be a solution for avoiding non – cloned humans from going to war and dying, or for the purpose of becoming organ donors.
Nevertheless, cloning and genetic engineering human beings are unethical because such processes and insensitive to the clones’ rights and needs. Furthermore, they could generate a science fiction scenario, a dystopia, wherein humans would have to fight clones and genetic engineered individuals for survival.