This weekend I had an ethics retreat with all of the biomedical science students. It was great getting to know everyone in a less awkward and informal way. We had many ethics lectures, most of which were obvious, i.e. don't torture animals, don't plagiarize, etc. But there were some gray areas too. We watched GATTACA, and for those who haven't seen it, it is a 1997 movie set in the future featuring Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke. A man who was not genetically engineered at birth takes on the identity of another man to become an astronaut. The story is full of the ethics of genetic engineering including the possible prejudices. I found it very interesting and it gave me a lot of food for thought.
Today I started working in my first rotation lab. Overall, I am studying the breast cancer gene and protein called BRCA1 and its role in transcription. Since this is a rotation, I probably won't get near to any results in my brief ten weeks, especially since I'm taking three classes at the same time. Ah well, it's exciting nonetheless!
4 comments:
Allie you should cure cancer.
I'd heard of Gattaca before - I thoguht it was supposed to be a cult classic. Never seen it though.
If David doesn't have a job yet, punch him in the face for me.
Allie,
Glad to hear that you are getting into it quickly. We miss you already and I really hope that you keep us updated on your life with this new blog!
Miss you!
Uncle Bill
Hey Hey! I like the new blog home. I will change links on my blog for your site now.
Have you ever seen the movie The Island? I thought it was an ok movie, but the topics it brought up were really interesting. Is that the sort of stuff you are talking about?
bry
Matt~ have I told you about my goal of finding the cure for cancer in the next year so I can finish grad school in a year and retire?
Bryan~ I have seen the Island-I remember liking it. Some of the same issues come up in our discussions, but we mostly focused on the idea of personalized medicine and what that would do for insurance companies, what that would mean for people who can't afford it, what that would mean for people who chose not to do it, etc. (personalized medicine is usually defined as the use of a person's genome to tailor treatment or prevent diseases)
Allie
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