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Towards Humane Technologies
Biotechnology, New Media and Ethics
Series: - Transdisciplinary Studies, Volume: 2
What are the ethical and political implications when the very foundations of lifeâthings of awe and spiritual significanceâare translated into products accessible to few people? This book critically analyses this historic recontextualisation. Through mediationâwhen meaning moves âfrom one text to another, from one discourse to anotherââbiotechnology is transformed into analysable data and into public discourses.
The unique book links biotechnology with media and citizenship.
As with any âcommodityâ, biological products have been commodified. Because enormous speculative investment rests on this, risk will be understated and benefit will be overstated. Benefits will be unfairly distributed. Already, the bioprospecting of Southern megadiverse nations, legally sanctioned by U. S. property rights conventions, has led to wealth and health benefits in the North.
Crucial to this development are biotechnological discourses that shift meanings from a âlanguage of lifeâ into technocratic discourses, infused with neo-liberal economic assumptions that promise progress and benefits for all. Crucial in this is the mass mediaâs representation of biotechnology for an audience with poor scientific literacy. Yet, even apparently benign biotechnology spawned by the Human Genome Project such as prenatal screening has eugenic possibilities, and genetic codes for illness are eagerly sought by insurance companies seeking to exclude certain people.
These issues raise important questions about a citizenship that is founded on moral responsibility for the wellbeing of society now and into the future. After all, biotechnology is very much concerned with the essence of life itself. This book provides a space for alternative and dissident voices beyond the hype that surrounds biotechnology.
The unique book links biotechnology with media and citizenship.
As with any âcommodityâ, biological products have been commodified. Because enormous speculative investment rests on this, risk will be understated and benefit will be overstated. Benefits will be unfairly distributed. Already, the bioprospecting of Southern megadiverse nations, legally sanctioned by U. S. property rights conventions, has led to wealth and health benefits in the North.
Crucial to this development are biotechnological discourses that shift meanings from a âlanguage of lifeâ into technocratic discourses, infused with neo-liberal economic assumptions that promise progress and benefits for all. Crucial in this is the mass mediaâs representation of biotechnology for an audience with poor scientific literacy. Yet, even apparently benign biotechnology spawned by the Human Genome Project such as prenatal screening has eugenic possibilities, and genetic codes for illness are eagerly sought by insurance companies seeking to exclude certain people.
These issues raise important questions about a citizenship that is founded on moral responsibility for the wellbeing of society now and into the future. After all, biotechnology is very much concerned with the essence of life itself. This book provides a space for alternative and dissident voices beyond the hype that surrounds biotechnology.
Educational Researchers and their students