Episode: 25 GATTACA Special

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 30, 2021
Michael and Richard discuss and analyse the film GATTACA, cinemtographically and in terms of the bioethical questions it raises.

Show Notes

Michael and Richard discuss and analyse the film GATTACA, cinemtographically and in terms of the bioethical questions it raises.

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Intro
00:00:32 - Welcome to our special episode on GATTACA
00:55:00 - Why GATTACA? - Good hard sci-fi for biology
00:02:05 - The challenge of predicting the future in a science of complexity like biology
00:04:23 - Go Watch the Film if you have not already
00:05:20 - Info about the GATTACA release 24th oct 1997 [1]
00:06:45 - A somewhat dystopian biopunk film set in a world where genetic engineering is commonplace
00:07:45 - Non-state eugenics, ‘voluntarily’ by private persons wanting their offspring to have the best chances
00:09:55 - Cast [2]
00:10:50 - Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman met on set got married [3]
00:11:34 - Is that Hank? [4]
00:12:46 - Character Names, Vincent Freeman, Irene cassini, Eugene Morrow (GATTACA) [5]
00:15:28 - Awards [6]
00:15:50 - Poor box office performance [7]
00:17:20 - Pacing, Compelling
00:18:20 - Production design, spiral staircases [8]
00:19:25 - High modernist aesthetic [9] in locations and cinematography
00:19:40 - Marin County Civic centre [10], Frank lloyd wright [11]
00:21:42 - Clothing [8]
00:22:04 - Valids High culture, Invalids low culture [8]
00:23:30 - CLA building [12]
00:24:20 - Cars 1950-60 era bodywork with made to look/sound electric [13]
00:25:20 - Score - Michael Nyman [14]
00:26:52 - Cinematographer [15]
00:27:20 - Use of colour, Green symbolises nature and danger [16]
00:32:22 - If you still have not watched the movie this is where it gets spoiler heavy
00:33:28 - We ‘borrowed’ other people’s film appreciation skills for the previous section
00:35:00 - Setting / World [1]
00:36:20 - Genetic discrimination ‘Genoism’ illegal but widespread.
00:37:16 - Much more reproduction in now IVF, if you are not ‘god children’ / ‘faith births’
00:38:00 - Widespread access to embryo selection, genetic engineering an extra ($) [17]
00:38:45 - Real world law GINA (Genetic information non-discrimination act versions introduced in 1995 passed in 2008) [18]
00:40:15 - Data privacy Ancestry, 23 and me etc. legal work arounds [19, 20]
00:41:18 - We are skeptical that the american healthcare system won’t manage to genetically discriminate anyway
00:41:55 - Vincent - naturally conceived many genetic risk factors [21].
00:42:26 - Anton his younger brother who is genetically selected, and gets his father’s name.
00:43:38 - Anton is taller despite being younger
00:44:04 - They play chicken with who is the first to turn back when swimming out to sea.
00:44:50 - Favouritism, rivalry, expectations and the ambition of space travel
00:45:45 - Vincent wins at chicken for the first time and it changes everything
00:47:20 - Vincent leaves Home and has a janitorial job a GATTACA, can’t get past the genetic tests whenever he applies despite hard work
00:47:48 - Meets black market false identity broker pairs him with Jerome Eugene Morrow
00:48:20 - Drastic measures to take on Jerome’s identity
00:49:20 - Gets in at GATTACA, assigned to be navigator on a mission to Titan
00:50:00 - Inciting action: Murder of an administrator at GATTACA, Vincent’s eyelash found at the scene
00:50:30 - Love interest: Irene Cassini, Valid but with elevated risk of heart failure.
00:51:40 - Eugene deliberately walked in front of the car that paralysed him
00:51:40 - Pressure of expectation and failing to live up to it
00:52:38 - It hits you hard when you realise you are not best in your peer group anymore
00:55:10 - How are they handling genetic engineering in the olymics? not addressed in detail.
00:56:29 - No-holds-barred olymics with all the Drugs?
00:57:55 - Everyone with olymic ambitions trains hard, the genetically gifted who train hard lead the pack
00:58:05 - Trade-offs - you can’t be the optimal sprinter and marathon runner [22] at the same time and you could genetically optimise for either, consent issue
01:00:50 - Vincent evades detection and Anton is the detective on the case and the Killer is revealed
01:01:28 - Anton shows up to Vincent / Eugene’s house, Eugene has to climb the stairs, Irene keeps up the deception, saved by a call
01:03:05 - Why no elevator?
01:05:00 - Anton and Vincent play chicken once again
01:06:25 - Vincent offers Irene a hair Irene declines to sequence it
01:07:01 - Eugene shows vincent a lifetime supply of materials to impersonate him
01:07:20 - Vincent is ready to board the rocket when there is a final test for which he is not prepared
01:08:10 - The doctor knew all along and lets Vincent board
01:08:55 - As the rocket launches Eugene dons his medal and incinerates himself
01:09:35 - Eugene’s suicide
01:13:50 - Eugene gave Vincent a note with lock of hair to take with him to Titan
01:14:38 - knit picks
01:18:28 - The scene with the blood vial switch
01:19:20 - Quotations in the opening titles
01:19:44 - Ecclesiastes 7:13 [23]
01:19:56 - Willard Gaylin [24]
01:19:23 - The book of Ecclesiastes - not bad for the bible [23]
01:21:34 - Existentialism, the ephemeral nature of existence and lack of change
01:23:10 - Progress now occurs in the lifetime of an individual
01:24:00 - The archetypes of Eugene heir to the throne and Vincent the underdog
01:26:00 - Dystopia arises through the oversimplification of genetic quality to a single dimension
01:26:54 - Goodhart’s law [24]
01:28:00 - Real diversity, specialisation and complementation
01:29:57 - Promotion with a fake genetic engineering clinic ad
01:31:50 - Historical Context of eugenics
01:32:15 - The difference between the historical mistakes and the one GATTACA warns about
01:32:30 - History of Eugenics - Francis Galton [27]
01:33:10 - Applying animal breeding techniques to the human population
01:34:53 - What would you breed for in humans? For Galton: intelligence [28]
01:35:14 - Flynn effect - IQ increasing over time [29]
01:37:00 - Initially attributed to much explanatory power to genetics and not enough to environment
01:38:52 - The Eugenics society (Galon institute) [30]
01:39:20 - The positive vs negative eugenics split
01:40:55 - The failed ‘feebleminded persons control bill’ 1912 [31]
01:42:30 - Eugenics spreads to America and Germany
01:42:40 - Popularity with liberal and progressive thinkers [30]
01:43:38 - Bad science mixed with bad politics [32]
01:44:02 - Forced sterilisation persists in some places today, Uyghur Muslims in China [33]
01:44:28 - Eugenics records office 1910 [34]
01:45:00 - Forced sterilisations in the US continued to 1970s [35]
01:46:30 - Nazi Eugenics 1921 [36]
01:47:10 - pre-existing social darwinist attitudes in WWI era German military command [32]
01:47:43 - Sterilisation 1933 [37]
01:47:54 - Himmler ‘lebensborn’ 1935 [38]
01:48:07 - Racial impurity crimes 1936 [39]
01:48:26 - Action T4 250,000-300,000 killed 1939-1945 [40]
01:51:10 - The swing away from nature and towards nurture
01:51:52 - The slate is not as blank as many wanted to believe [41]
01:52:28 - As a generalisation it’s about 50:50 genetics and environment [42]
01:54:10 - The genetic engineering arms race
01:56:16 - GATTACA presents the nuanced dilemma not the caricature
01:56:54 - The ability to do good with modern genetic technologies
01:57:22 - Genetic screening: tay-sachs and Dor yesharim [43]
02:01:04 - Increasing prevalence of carrier and pre-natal genetic screening
02:02:00 - amniocentesis and the option of abortion [44]
02:03:34 - Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis [45]
02:05:40 - History of IVF
02:05:50 - Louise Joy Brown first IVF baby 1978, >5 million since. [46]
02:06:40 - Human fertilisation and embryology authority, >600 conditions screened [47]
02:08:10 - The regulatory hurdles for the first ‘3 parent child’ [48]
02:08:45 - Mitochondrial diseases and maternal inheritance [49]
02:11:00 - Had to travel to UK, New York and Mexico for different parts of the procedure [48]
02:13:00 - In real life the number of embryos you have to select from is quite limited [50]
02:13:18 - Splitting to more embryos to edit?
02:15:23 - Embryo breeding [51]
02:18:10 - Sequencing results in GATTACA - you don’t get a print out of the genome [52]
02:20:40 - Genetic test results
02:21:47 - Genome Browsers [53, 54]
02:24:18 - You can just go and have your date’s genome sequenced at a kiosk
02:25:30 - Data protection
02:25:48 - Genetic matchmaking - ‘The One’ [55]
02:27:10 - Gene therapy in adults [56]
02:27:34 - Somatic vs germline gene therapy: germline is heritable, somatic is not [56].
02:28:27 - Inefficiency of somatic gene therapy [56]
02:29:15 - Deleted Scene extra $5k for enhanced mathematical / musical ability [17]
02:30:45 - The 12 fingered pianist
02:31:48 - The illogic of genetically modified food regulations, irradiation vs targeted edits [48].
02:35:55 - Concern about regulations around genetic engineering in humans
02:37:06 - CRISPR cas9 2012 genetic cut and paste [57]
02:39:45 - First discovery of CRISPR sequences bacteria Francisco Mojica 1993 [58, 48]
02:41:15 - CRISPR found to be an Adaptive immunity system 2005 [58]
02:42:50 - Editing proof of principle Doudna and Charpentier 2012 [59, 60]
02:44:20 - Inactivating genes by cutting them and getting an imperfect repair [61, 62]
02:44:53 - Inserting new sequence with CRISPR [63]
02:46:36 - Very rapid adoption in research in wide use in <2 years
02:47:46 - The first CRISPR babies 2018, He Jiankui scandal [63, 48]
02:49:00 - He Jiankui made a poor choice of intervention
02:52:03 - Michael is angry
02:52:44 - Consequences for He Jiankui
02:54:02 - Reality is catching up to GATTACA’s launch cadence [64]
02:55:10 - Richard resisting going on a tangent noises
02:55:46 - Space remained the aspirational goal
02:56:04 - Suits in space
02:56:28 - A heart defect is a legitimate concern on a spaceflight
02:58:15 - Transhumanism [65]
02:58:48 - Relationship to the cyberpunk episode [66]
02:59:46 - Society became fixated on genetic determinism in GATTACA
03:01:30 - Public conversation on bioethics
03:03:20 - Much good can be done moral obligation to pursue it
03:03:51 - Increased capability is an unambiguous good
03:03:46 - Ethical challenges of Trade-offs and specialisation
03:05:21 - Risk of burdening children with specific expectations
03:10:00 - Speculations on future human enhancements
03:11:42 - We will be more diverse in biology
03:12:36 - Political challenges of this diversity
03:13:06 - Explore the possibilities whilst staying safe
03:14:20 - Concluding remarks
03:14:46 - Outro

References


Intro: L’Etoile danse (Pt. 1) by Meydan Outro: Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio

Hosts

Richard J. Acton

Richard J. Acton

A Human - for now.

Michael Glinka

Michael Glinka

A Human