Download Discussion-Activity-GATTACA

Discussion Activity: GATTACA…our future?
This is an opportunity to have an interesting discussion on the future use of genetic information.
Please just pick and choose the questions you are interested in asking.
GATTACA: movie overview
Gattaca is a 1997 science fiction drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring
Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law. The film presents a vision of a society driven by
liberal eugenics (human rather than nature-selected evolution). Children of the middle and
upper classes are "designer babies", genetically engineered in-vitro to be the optimal
recombination of their parents' genetic material. A genetic registry database uses biometrics to
instantly identify and classify those so created as "Valids" while those conceived by traditional
means are known as "faith births" and "god children" or, more pejoratively, "In-Valids" (as in
"invalid") and "de-gene-erates". While genetic discrimination is forbidden by law, in practice it is
easy to profile one's genotype resulting in the valids qualifying for professional employment
while the invalids who are susceptible to disease are relegated to menial jobs. The movie draws
on concerns over technological developments which facilitate reprogenetics, and the possible
consequences of such biotechnology for society. It does this through the life of a ‘faith birth’
called Vincent.
The Scene (clip posted on the Bboard)
Runtime: 4mins
The selected scene outlines the birth of Vincent, his early years and the birth of this brother
Anton. Thus it contrasts the two modes of conception and hints at the possible consequences.
Discussion questions:
a) If you had the choice would you choose to know your ‘genetic future’?
We’ll see what students think….
b) Molecular biology scientists have developed a technique, which enables parents to select the
sex of their future child. This technique simply separates the X carrying sperms from the Y
carrying sperms, and then inseminating females with the preferred sex chromosomes. This
procedure is currently banned in Canada except for medical reasons. Potential parents with
sex-linked diseases may choose to have a girl, avoiding the possibility of having a boy with
hemophilia, for example. Should sex selection for medical and non-medical reasons be
available for parents in Canada or the rest of the world?
We’ll see what students think….
c) In the movie clip, the genetic counselor tells the perspective parents: “This child is still you, it
is simply the best of you”. How do we understand that statement?
The geneticist has taken the DNA of the parents and artificially selected the genes based on
what they consider the best choice.
d) How would we as humans decide what are the best genes to pass on?
We look at what nature selects as most likely to be healthy and survive the longest + have the
best quality life possible.
e) How does nature select the best choice of genes to pass on?
Natural selection, the most ‘fit’ genes get to replicate.
f) What are some of the implications of humans deciding which genes should be selected for?
Does such a selection put the entire human population at a greater risk?
The reduction of genetic diversity, which could reduce the chance of a ‘better’ gene to emerge.
Apart from the ethical and moral issues faced with this approach, it is also a bad idea from
biological diversity point of view. It lends to the idea of generating a very homogenous
population which is susceptible and more likely to face extinction in event of unforeseen
selection pressures such as abrupt climate change or introduction of a previously unknown
pathogen (remember the topic of “Current Environmental Issues”).
g) In the short clip, the counselor is suggesting that one can screen for alcoholism, baldness,
etc., via genetics. How far are we from this level of technology today? Is it even plausible?
In 2003, we sequenced the human genome (examined all the DNA and the human genes).
However, that is different from being able to tell what the genes are for, or more importantly how
the genetic code in general interacts to produce certain traits.
The Promise of Personalized Medicine (http://genomics.xprize.org/): Biotech companies are
lining up in order to win a 10 million dollar prize for the first team to sequence 100 human
genomes in 10 days. Currently, there are eight registered teams from three different countries
racing to create a new technology that could eventually help identify the links to genetic
diseases. What could be the benefits of such knowledge? Would you want to do it for yourself?
How far are we for the world of GATTACA?
Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) is considered a very early form of prenatal diagnosis
that consists of the performance of a genetic test on oocytes prior to fertilization or embryos
before they are implanted in the uterus. Its main advantage is that it avoids selective pregnancy
termination as the method ensures a pregnancy free of the disease under consideration.
PGD is avaluable for a large number of monogenic disorders. The most frequently diagnosed
autosomal recessive disorders are cystic fibrosis, Beta-thalassemia, sickle cell disease and
spinal muscular atrophy. The commonest dominant diseases are myotonic dystrophy,
Huntington's disease and Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease; and in the case of the X-linked
diseases, most of the cycles are performed for fragile X syndrome, haemophilia A and muscular
dystrophy.
A large part of this level of testing is looking at causal relationships of genetic variations that
have been identified in relation to a particular disease. This is a very difficult task as most traits
are inherited in a polygenic manner (involve multiple genes). With the sequencing of the human
genome we know what those genes are but in terms of predicting how they are implicated in
effecting a given particular trait such as height or age expectancy (as seen in the movie clip) is
not yet possible. In addition the movie points at being able to selectively switch on specific
alleles for genes, which in reality is not possible to do yet.
h) In the movie they state that Vincent will have a 60% chance of developing a neurological
condition, 42% of being manic depressive, 89% of having ADD, 99% of having heart disease.
How accurate are these predictions for the various disorders?
Diagnosis is generally given based on studied correlation of what has happened to people with
the same genetic allele in the past. Hence, it is a statistical statement. For example, 60% of
people who have this gene combination have this medical condition. In case of some diseases
however, a particular disease is caused by mutations in one or two genes and their relationship
is extensively studied and found to be causal, such as in case of Sickle cell anemia. The gene
defect is a known mutation of a single nucleotide (A to T) of the β-globin gene, which results in
glutamic acid to be substituted by valine at position 6. Hemoglobin S with this mutation are
referred to as HbS, as opposed to the normal adult HbA., so a genetic testing would be able to
accurately predict the disease onset.
i) Why won’t Insurance cover the medical bills for Vincent? Does that bring the ethical dilemma
of DNA testing?
The insurance business set premiums at levels that allow payment for all legitimate claims with
money left over every year as profit. To do this, insurance companies do their best to
understand the costs they will bear if they agree to cover individuals who will make up the group
whose risks are pooled. Premiums are set using information about individual's health, lifestyle,
family history, and diagnostic tests for everything from drug screening and heart monitoring to
HIV tests.
In the movie, Genetic testing has been added to the predictive information available to insurers.
In most cases genetic testing can only provide limited information about the risk of disease
since there are so many factors - genetic and otherwise - that determine who will get sick, and
when. Since genetic testing can be used to determine access to insurance or to justify
increased premiums, which may result in necessary coverage being denied to individuals and
their families as in case of Vincent in the movie and that does pose a serious ethical dilemma as
to whether the genetic testing should be used as a predictive information for insurers.
j) Sperm and egg donation service agencies offer hope to infertile parents who hope to conceive
their own children in the future. Sperm donation is a relatively easy process, requiring no more
than an hour’s time. However, donating eggs is a rather complicated task, requiring months of
hormone therapy and minor surgical procedures to retrieve the harvested eggs. In addition,
drugs injected into women cause their ovaries to ovulate several eggs at once, greatly
increasing the odds of developing cancer. To compensate for the ‘inconvenience’, women are
given a large sum of money. Often, young, female college students are targeted for egg
donations since they are considered more educated and healthier that their older female
counterparts. Do you think females should be compensated for donating their eggs? Why or
why not? Is it appropriate for egg donation agencies to advertise for potential egg donors on
college campuses?
This is controversial, but provokes thinking….