Hassibullah Roshan
December 10, 2013
Kabul, Afghanistan
In “Piracy Through Patents,” Vandana Shiva challenges the safety of genetically modified seeds, and discusses that patents are a replay of colonialism, which is now known as the globalization and free trade. She traces the progression from the European colonization of “native people” to the present allotment of the natural resources that they need for their physical and cultural survival. The intellectual property rights laws of the GATT set the stage for foreign corporations to secure an absolute monopoly control of our food production by supplanting customary seed varieties with patented hybrids. The notion behind “new colonies” not only erodes the diversity of heterogeneity species and cultural practices, but also contaminates and impounds the environment as whole. By manipulating an organism using advanced technology, genetic engineering designs products or “seeds”. On the basis of (IPR) Intellectual Property Right, farmers, who use the “designed” products without the consent of the patent holder, are deemed criminals. Though the engineers “treat the tools of genetic engineering as the yardstick of improvement”, the seeds are not genetic-engineered to produce more nutrients, but to empower the corporations to make decisions on behalf of farmers at the first stage, and consumers thereafter. Their decisions consequently result in the production of toxic foods and selling them at a high level “global” market price.
The Essay on Genetic Engineering 8
Do you think that Genetic engineering is a positive step in our development? Many people think that genetic engineering is the next step in the evolution of humanity and has many benefits. However, genetic engineering presents unprecedented ethical and social concerns, such as damaging nature, limiting human autonomy and risking to human health. First of all, genetic engineering can cause ...
Additionally, genetic engineering promotes “uniformity” and “homogenization” which serve as the critical elements in the strengthening of globalization. In globalization, as Shiva argues, nature is seen as something to be tamed and used for human exploitation, control and domination. On the one hand, globalization represents the burden of one culture striving to homogenize the rest and on the other hand, monocultures and homogenization lead to a direct connection with violence in terms of ecology and society. Shiva associates monocultures with political-violence through the use of control and centralization, which drives people from various ethnic groups to cling to their own ethnicities and find the opposite group harmful. As Shiva writes, “Markings of diversity become cracks of fragmentation; diversity then becomes the justification for violence and war.” Hence, monocultures are instable, vulnerable, and unsustainable to ecological breakdown. She proposes cultivation of diversity as a foundation for peace; and a movement to save seeds, protect biodiversity, reclaim farmers’ rights, and to make patents on seed illegal. These are, thus, peaceful approaches and responses to the violence created by globalization, homogenization and monocultures. As Vandana Shiva mentions in her piece, “Sustainability is ecologically linked to diversity, which offers the self-regulation and a multiplicity of interactions that can heal ecological disturbance to any part of a system.”
In a similar fashion, William McDonough and Michael Braungart in their piece, “The Next Industrial Revolution”, highlight the reduction of diversity and dynamism of forests, air, rivers, soil and animals since the commencement of the Industrial Revolution. They argue about eco-efficiency versus eco-effectiveness; eco-efficiency being the current industrial flaw tending to solve environmental problems but instead only slowing down the process of contamination and depletion rather than eliminating it entirely. And eco-effectiveness being a concept which totally eliminates the foregoing problems and the linear “cradle-to-grave” flow. A regenerative industry by design, which incorporates interdependence with other living organisms and in which waste can be used as nutrition compared to eco-efficiency’s design of waste to be discarded. They argue that the manufacturing of industrial products lead to the accumulation of increased waste, contamination of the environment and production of toxic substances. McDonough views such side-effects as “a very big design problem” and therefore, in an agreement with Braungart, proposes the “closed-loop industrial cycle” that will help design products and produce goods that are not only beneficial but also provide both biological and technical nutrients. They anticipate having products with a life cycle that will not lead to “cradle-to-grave” but into a “cradle-to-cradle” lifespan which inevitably correlates to their idea of “waste equals food”. McDonough goes on to mention, “If people are to prosper within the natural world, all the products and materials manufactured by the industry must after each useful life provide nourishment for something new. Since many of the things people make are not natural, they are not safe ‘safe food’ for biological systems.”
The Essay on Industrial Products
Industrial products are those purchased for further processing or for use in conducting a business. Thus, the distinction between a consumer product and an industrial product is based on the purpose for which the product is bought. If a consumer buys a lawn mower for use around home, the lawn mower is a consumer product. If the same consumer buys the same lawn mower for use in a landscaping ...
Furthermore, products made using nature’s cycle would result in the return of biological nutrients to the natural cycle. Quite similar to a tree, products designed out of non-toxic materials would be consumed by microorganisms or eaten by other creatures in the soil. McDonough argues that, “Most packaging should be composed of biological nutrient materials that can be tossed onto the ground or the compost heap to biodegrade.” On the other hand, numerous technical machines and/or gadgets are composed of hundreds of toxic chemicals. Disposing off and dumping in such items to the ground will result in disseminating these chemicals that are extremely perilous to the environment and more importantly, to humans. Through the closed-loop industrial cycle, such items maintain and preserve their quality, and will be designed to go back into the technical cycle. As per the authors, eco-effectiveness is the solution for eco-efficiency which removes the disastrous effects on biological and eco-systems through the industry. It solves both environmental and economic problems by reflecting the needs of producers and consumers on the basis of which designs must be affordable, safe, smart and accessible to a wide range of customers and at the same time, profitable to the manufacturers.
The Essay on A History of Human Art and Body Painting
If the impulse to create art is a defining sign of humanity, the body may well have been the first canvas. Alongside paintings on cave walls visited by early people over 30,000 years ago, we find handprints, ochre deposits, and ornaments. And because the dead were often buried with valuable possessions and provisions for the afterlife, ancient burials reveal that people have been tattooing, ...
In contrast to Shiva, McDonough and Braungart, Edwardo Kac in “GFP Bunny” puts forward quite an exceptional usage and manipulation of genetic engineering to transfer natural genes to an organism, and to form living beings. In his piece, we are introduced to the ongoing dialogue between professionals of several disciplines such as art, science, philosophy, law, communications, literature, and social sciences, and the public on cultural and ethical implications of genetic engineering. Kac presents us with the contestation of the alleged supremacy of DNA in life creation in favor of a more complex understanding of the intertwined relationship between genetics, organism, and environment. He further extends the concepts of biodiversity and evolution and how it incorporates with his precise work at a more genomic level. It shows the interspecies communication, in a social and interactive context between humans and a transgenic mammal. Through his transgenic art, Kac, in a way, promoted awareness and respect for the spiritual or mental life of the transgenic animal. His experiment, which gives emphasis to the social existence of organism and the evolutionary continuum, introduces one to a new prospect that offers vagueness where we usually only find affirmative and negative differences.
Upon coming to the public, Alba, the bunny, showed that successful experiments do not always occur in research laboratories. Alba did not only acquire admiration for the transgenic animals’ emotional life, but also extended the contemporary practical parameters of art-making. In his piece, Kac writes, “What is important is the completely integrated process of creating the bunny, bringing her to society at large, and providing her with a loving, caring and nurturing environment in which she can grow safe and healthy.” Moreover, some genetic engineers maneuver this technology to their own advantage by patenting seeds and products, and several scientists might design products that lead to a “cradle-to-grave” cycle, but he views this knowledge of genetic therapy by humans exceptionally valuable. This knowledge, according to him, can be used to enhance the living styles of humans. Similar to Shiva, he also believes that the misuse and misappropriation of genetic engineering by corporations, and employing rhetorical strategies to influence the public increase the dread of its banalization. This is further explained by him in section “TRANSGENESIS, ART, AND SOCIETY” where he states, “There are indeed serious threats, such as the possible loss of privacy regarding one’s own genetic information, and unacceptable practices already underway, such as biopiracy.
The Essay on Genetic Engineering Organism Environment Plant
Many people have been discussing the scientific advancements recently made in genetic engineering. Genetic engineering has the ability to reconstruct an organism's DNA and chromosomes. Some believe that this new scientific ability will better our environment. However, I feel that genetic engineering has the potential to do more negative than positive.By altering an organism's genetic composition, ...