Splice - Understating the Ethical Concerns of Human Genetic Engineering
By: Hanaa Gatta
The field of genetic research can yield new treatments for deadly diseases and foods that are more nutritious; but tinkering with the building blocks of life could also lead to a much darker, more dangerous outcome. That's what happens when a couple of geneticists scientists go just a bit too far in the new science fiction film Splice, Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in creating hybrids of species at their company, N.E.R.D (Nucleic Exchange Research and Development). The experts at splicing together genes of animals and humans for research into new, life-saving medicines; but the line they dare not cross is to splice human genetic material into an experiment. It's a temptation their curious minds can barely resist.
We learn that Elsa and Clive have created two animal hybrids - Fred and Ginger - a pair of amorphous blobs that can be harvested for proteins useful for drug manufacture. The scientists are now trying to sell their idea of introducing human genes into the splicing program to the company employing them - the notion gets shut down: the company is more focused on profits and pleasing its shareholders than dealing with the moral issues human-animal hybrids would raise. However, Elsa’s utilitarian insistence that "Millions of people are suffering and dying.
The field of genetic research can yield new treatments for deadly diseases and foods that are more nutritious; but tinkering with the building blocks of life could also lead to a much darker, more dangerous outcome. That's what happens when a couple of geneticists scientists go just a bit too far in the new science fiction film Splice, Clive (Adrien Brody) and Elsa (Sarah Polley) specialize in creating hybrids of species at their company, N.E.R.D (Nucleic Exchange Research and Development). The experts at splicing together genes of animals and humans for research into new, life-saving medicines; but the line they dare not cross is to splice human genetic material into an experiment. It's a temptation their curious minds can barely resist.
We learn that Elsa and Clive have created two animal hybrids - Fred and Ginger - a pair of amorphous blobs that can be harvested for proteins useful for drug manufacture. The scientists are now trying to sell their idea of introducing human genes into the splicing program to the company employing them - the notion gets shut down: the company is more focused on profits and pleasing its shareholders than dealing with the moral issues human-animal hybrids would raise. However, Elsa’s utilitarian insistence that "Millions of people are suffering and dying.
What are the moral considerations of that?" warrant the need to experiment and create an engineered species using animal and human genes.
The two scientists decide to secretly 'cross the line' and create a hybrid of animal and human through injecting chromosomes into a human embryo. The result is a mutant organism but, as it grows, it looks more and more 'human-like'. The relationship between the scientists and the experiment or “Dren” becomes the film's focus.
The significant ethical issue in this film is the classification of engineered species as human or nonhuman. When scientists are not able to classify their engineered species it creates problems in understanding what is the correct type of treatment they can be given. This is the fundamental question that falls in the subject of creating engineered species using engineered species. If scientists put more human genes into an animal bacteria to create the hybrid species will that the product be classified as human or non-human? If the number of human genes overpowers that of the animals then will that make the species be classified as human, or since it, the hybrid initially was created from an animal gene, will that make it classified as an animal? Since these questions were not answered, they created trouble for the scientists to conduct further research on the species. For example, Elsa starts created a motherly bond (such as dressing the female child in human clothes), and the term ‘sweetie' come to the fore as if it were her own baby, but she also goes far ahead to amputate the creatures stinger in the cruelest way possible as if it were animal. We even see an instance when Clive admits to Elsa that he had sex with Dren because he is attracted to her and the creature had her genes in it. The scientists know lines have been crossed, but become too emotionally involved to abort the process; they clearly become caught up with their creation, not its intended scientific benefits.
The failure of distinguishing the engineered species as human or nonhuman disallowed Elsa and Clive to follow proper protocol on how to run their experiments on it. In general, when doctors create new drugs that need to be tested on humans, they must follow proper protocols by conducting multiple clinical trials, and where each trial must be carried in a specific order and cannot be skipped.
However, if doctors test their drugs on animals, the protocol is far less severe than that of humans, we only need to follow the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine) rule. We need to classify species to determine what kind of treatment we are entitled to give them. If we run tests on a species that feels pain as much as a human does, then it would be an injustice to them. For example, we cannot use disabled people to run savage tests— they are humans and not animals. Had Dren be classified as a human instead of an animal by the end of the movie, the company, N.E.R.D, would be facing a severe lawsuit and employers would be sentenced to life.
Definitely, with something as relevant in our world as genetic research, there are serious moral and ethical concerns and responsibilities that are necessary. This movie though throws most of those out the window. But, part of what makes this film so exciting is how close it is linked to our present and very near future. When they made a movie like Frankenstein you never really imagined that happening, but when you talk about genetically modifying organisms and integrating different species: that's already happening, but you don't know what is possible and what's to come. Scientific research is progressing at such an alarming rate I think it's impossible to know what ten years from now will hold.
The two scientists decide to secretly 'cross the line' and create a hybrid of animal and human through injecting chromosomes into a human embryo. The result is a mutant organism but, as it grows, it looks more and more 'human-like'. The relationship between the scientists and the experiment or “Dren” becomes the film's focus.
The significant ethical issue in this film is the classification of engineered species as human or nonhuman. When scientists are not able to classify their engineered species it creates problems in understanding what is the correct type of treatment they can be given. This is the fundamental question that falls in the subject of creating engineered species using engineered species. If scientists put more human genes into an animal bacteria to create the hybrid species will that the product be classified as human or non-human? If the number of human genes overpowers that of the animals then will that make the species be classified as human, or since it, the hybrid initially was created from an animal gene, will that make it classified as an animal? Since these questions were not answered, they created trouble for the scientists to conduct further research on the species. For example, Elsa starts created a motherly bond (such as dressing the female child in human clothes), and the term ‘sweetie' come to the fore as if it were her own baby, but she also goes far ahead to amputate the creatures stinger in the cruelest way possible as if it were animal. We even see an instance when Clive admits to Elsa that he had sex with Dren because he is attracted to her and the creature had her genes in it. The scientists know lines have been crossed, but become too emotionally involved to abort the process; they clearly become caught up with their creation, not its intended scientific benefits.
The failure of distinguishing the engineered species as human or nonhuman disallowed Elsa and Clive to follow proper protocol on how to run their experiments on it. In general, when doctors create new drugs that need to be tested on humans, they must follow proper protocols by conducting multiple clinical trials, and where each trial must be carried in a specific order and cannot be skipped.
However, if doctors test their drugs on animals, the protocol is far less severe than that of humans, we only need to follow the 3Rs (Replace, Reduce, Refine) rule. We need to classify species to determine what kind of treatment we are entitled to give them. If we run tests on a species that feels pain as much as a human does, then it would be an injustice to them. For example, we cannot use disabled people to run savage tests— they are humans and not animals. Had Dren be classified as a human instead of an animal by the end of the movie, the company, N.E.R.D, would be facing a severe lawsuit and employers would be sentenced to life.
Definitely, with something as relevant in our world as genetic research, there are serious moral and ethical concerns and responsibilities that are necessary. This movie though throws most of those out the window. But, part of what makes this film so exciting is how close it is linked to our present and very near future. When they made a movie like Frankenstein you never really imagined that happening, but when you talk about genetically modifying organisms and integrating different species: that's already happening, but you don't know what is possible and what's to come. Scientific research is progressing at such an alarming rate I think it's impossible to know what ten years from now will hold.
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