Week 5
IN THIS LESSON
This week, we’ll be going over how genetic engineering works! Once we have a handle on the science, we’ll shift over to some ethical and philosophical considerations.
Make sure you’ve completed Oryx and Crake before class on Tuesday!
Resources
-
What is Transhumanism, by Nick Bostrom
Transhumanist Values, by Nick Bostrom
Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness, by The President’s Council for Bioethics
-
Please spend some time going over this relatively comprehensive overview of what CRISPR technologies are and how they can be used.
The key things I’ll be asking you about include: what are the key components required to change a DNA sequence in a target cell using CRISPR/Cas9? What do each of these components do? What are some examples of where this technology is currently in use?
-
Reflection #1 is due on September 23! We will discuss in class, and you will submit on Sakai.
-
Oryx and Crake!
As we mentioned in class, we assign this novel because it raises many of the issues we want to discuss. But it does have some content that might be difficult to read. So if you’re worried about that, see this list of content warnings, and skip over anything you’d rather not read.
Here Is Your Weekly Pop Culture List :)
Cosmetic “transhumanism” Tiktoks
“Lucy” Movie
Black Mirror - “Men Against Fire” Ep
The One - “The One” Ep
Grimes, Elon Musk, & X Æ A-12
Cyberpunk 2077
Attack on Titan - “Scream” ep
Altered Carbon
Biohackers