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GATTACA AND THE CONCEPT OF A PERFECT WORLD
“How do you hide when you're running from yourself?”
This is the infamous tagline of the movie GATTACA written and helmed by
Andrew Niccol and topbilled by Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law.
Interestingly, the film’s title is derived from the initial letters of the four nucleobases of
the DNA – guanine, adenine, thymine and cytosine. Although driven heavily with
scientific references, particularly complex concepts of reproductive technologies and a
selective environment particularly towards those who are genetically impaired,
GATTACA bravely imposes the flaws observed in an ideally perfect world bound with
reproductive technologies, genetic enhancements and eugenics.
In a future time when people are born genetically engineered, Vincent is the
product of natural reproduction and is genetically predicted to die at age 30. Vincent
defies his fate and under false identity enters Gattaca, an astronaut training program for
a manned mission to a moon of Saturn. Vincent borrows the genetic identity of a
paralyzed athlete named Jerome, in the form of blood samples, hair clippings, and skin
scrapings. When one of Gattaca’s supervisors is murdered, investigators are brought in
and they soon discover the presence of Vincent’s real DNA. He thus becomes a
suspect and attempts to dodge efforts link his real DNA to his new identity. The real
murder is eventually caught, and Vincent successfully makes the Saturn voyage
(Philfilms).
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The Science of GATTACA. GATTACA tackles several sensitive and controversial
issues such as genetic engineering, reproductive technologies and eugenics which still,
up to date, questions several conservative groups’ perspective of morality and ethics.
Genetic engineering refers to the direct manipulation of DNA to alter an organism’s
characteristics (phenotype) in a particular way. Sometimes called genetic modification, it
is the process of altering the DNA in an organism’s genome. This may mean changing
one base pair (A-T or C-G), deleting a whole region of DNA, or introducing an additional
copy of a gene. It may also mean extracting DNA from another organism’s genome and
combining it with the DNA of that individual. Genetic engineering is used by scientists to
enhance or modify the characteristics of an individual organism (Your Genome Org,
2017). In GATTACA, parents are able to modify the genetic makeup of their offspring
with the help of a geneticist. Through reproductive technology, parents have the liberty
to select particular genes to prevent genetic disorders and conceive healthy, diseasefree and able children. Furthermore, it can be inferred from the film that reproductive
technology can deter the tendency of a child to foster undesirable behaviors as well as
unlikeable physique. Vincent, the film’s main character, did not go any genetic
modification and is naturally conceived and born. Unfortunately, genetic processes
confirmed that he is ill, erratic and is bound to perish at 30. His parents regret
overlooking the chances for reproductive technology and eventually subjected their child
to the aforementioned process, thus producing a healthier second child.
For the most basic unit of the society, the impact of genetic modification is
detrimental. A child will most often feel neglected which will eventually worsen his
mental health wellness. It will also cause the child to develop personality issues and
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deteriorating behavior because the parents will more likely show affection to their
healthier and abler children, thus affecting how they interact with the society. In the case
of Freeman, he could have gone become a cancer of the society with his emotionally
draining and toxic experiences. But just like other “more genetically efficient” humans,
he has dreams. He has goals. He has aspirations. And he has his own choices. Instead
of choosing to give up, he chose self-determination. If fate did not choose him, he chose
to change his fate albeit in a risky manner.
In GATTACA’s world, DNA profiling and genetics dominate the perspective of the
people. DNA profiling is the process where a specific DNA pattern, called a profile, is
obtained from a person or sample of bodily tissue (Science Learning Hub). On the
other hand, Eugenics is the philosophy and social movement that argues it is possible
to improve the human race and society by encouraging reproduction by people or
populations with “desirable” traits (termed “positive” eugenics) and discouraging
reproduction by people with “undesirable” qualities (termed “negative” eugenics)
(pged.org). Vincent knew he cannot pass the standards of the authority because of his
“undesirable” genetic makeup. But he proved until the end that he is able to be at par
with those who are identified by the society as able and fit even though he is illegally
practicing deception to meet the standards. In the end, it is Vincent’s soul that led him to
achieve his dreams. Not his undesirable genetic makeup or disease or shortcomings
that society has preempted towards him. Indeed, the soul has no DNA and fate has no
gene.
Genetic engineering is a product of a human mind’s boundless capability as well
as with the advancement in technology. Personally, I am not against it if it is used for
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the welfare of humanity. But to use it in order to procure an ideal world is unacceptable.
It is morally, ethically and socially wrong. We are all imperfect in one way or another, so
it is not right to seclude and marginalize people just because society deemed that they
are unfit in this world and just because science thought they are not capable of thriving.
We are all equal and uniquely created and we should overwhelmingly embrace this.
There are so many documented success stories of people with disability or people who
do not conform to society’s standards and they are just proof that it is beautiful to live
despite of our differences. We are all beautiful as much as we are all twisted. And I
believe that is okay because that is what makes our race and humanity stronger – our
diversity. Instead of creating a perfect world through scientific advancements,
reproductive technology and genetics, we should uplift one another by accepting each
of our physical and behavioral individuality, respecting our beliefs and ideals and
embracing the beauty of our diversity. After all, nobody’s ever perfect from the start.
References:
1. IMDB “GATTACA” retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/plotsummary#synopsis
2. Philosophical Films http://www.philfilms.utm.edu/1/gattaca.htm
3. Kim, G. (2017) Gattaca (1997) retrieved from https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/gattaca-1997
4. Science Learning Hub https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1980-dna-profiling
5. Science Direct https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/dna-profiling
6. PG Ed http://pged.org/history-eugenics-and-genetics/
7. Your Genome https://www.yourgenome.org/facts/what-is-genetic-engineering
8. Wikipedia Gattaca Plot Summary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca