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What Would Mary Shelley Think of GMOs? 1343 Views


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GMOs. Now that’s a scary word. Or is it? Guess it’s time to ask ourselves: WWMST? ...For those of us who don’t constantly ask ourselves “what would Mary Shelley do,” there’s this video.

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Transcript

00:03

Mary Shelley: What Would She Think of GMOs, a la Shmoop

00:08

The term genetically modified organism conjures up an image of a giant stalk of franken-corn

00:14

stalking farms for human flesh.

00:19

And that might be exactly what we’d have on our hands if Mary Shelley wrote a story

00:23

about them.

00:24

After all, her doctor Frankenstein stitched a bunch of human body parts together and brought

00:28

them to life. In reality, a GMO is, well, an organism whose

00:33

genetics have been… modified.

00:35

It may be to increase its resistance to disease…

00:39

…think: implanting insect DNA into a banana…

00:42

…or to increase its output…

00:44

…think: making a tomato bigger than ever before.

00:48

So far, no one has done anything drastic, like… splice together a Brussels sprout

00:53

and a badger…

00:55

…but what would Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein… aka that book about the horrors

01:00

of science…

01:02

…think of genetically modified organisms? Well, she’d probably think we’d need to

01:08

research the heck out of them first.

01:10

Frankenstein wasn’t just about a creating a monster… or a monster’s wife with a

01:13

crazy dye job…

01:15

It was about questioning the limits of scientific inquiry.

01:21

Where does science end and ethical dilemma begin?

01:24

Who are we to be playing God?

01:27

After questioning the science behind GMOs, Shelley would probably decide we needed to

01:31

ban them immediately.

01:34

As we read in Frankenstein, she likes to take these dilemmas to their most horrific extremes.

01:39

We saw Shelley’s Frankenstein kill a child…

01:43

What if genetically modified hormones in milk turned children into… giant cows?

01:51

Or what if genetically modified peas got together and…. stampeded across the country?

01:55

However, using GMO’s allows us to produce food in greater quantities…

02:00

Would Shelley have considered the possibility that they might be used to wipe out hunger?

02:04

A Brussels badger, if subdued, could feed a family of four for at least two days.

02:09

So, if scientists donned their WWMSD armbands… What Would Mary Shelley Do about GMOs?

02:15

Would she want to conduct extensive research?

02:17

Or ban them immediately?

02:20

Or use them to feed the world? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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