LIFESCIENCE: twins

[Peter Gena <pgena@artic.edu>]

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ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 99
LIFESCIENCE
Linz, Austria, September 04 - 09
http://www.aec.at/lifescience
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Being a latecomer to this netsymposium, I am reluctant to get involved in
speculation about genes and nutrition, etc.  Worse yet, as a composer, and
not a geneticist, I was of a mind all too similar to those seduced by the
romanticism and glamour of cloning, engineering, etc., to say nothing of
how such little knowledge of the actual science combined with the ego of an
artist can create distortions beyond recognition of the field.  Furthermore
my best friend, with whom I collaborate, is a board certified PhD in
genetics (one of less than only 300 worldwide, BTW) as well as a MD.  How
could I pretend to speak with any authority regarding genetics even after
countless conversations with someone who has devoted his life to studying
his subject as I have mine?  Can I possibly cite data from articles to
support my art as fact without having the prior experience or discipline of
an actual scientist?

Isn't it our responsibility as artists to dismiss sensationalist news
stories?  Or, do we naively disseminate them?  Do we continue to believe
fiction like how the use of cellphones causes brain tumors, and that those
who live near power lines suffer higher incidences of cancer?  Are we going
to allow ourselves to be mesmerized by predictions from quack "clonemakers"
like Richard Seed from Chicago, a physicist yet?

Nonetheless, as a father of twins I must say that my interest has been
piqued.  Here's what I can humbly submit:

-More women in the "modernized" countries are have multiple births simply
because they are waiting longer to have children -- with or without eating
yams.  What possible relationship can there be between the way tuberous
plants spread and the human reproductive system?  Ridiculous.

-Regarding puberty: women who begin menstruation early simply have more
eggs than those who start later, and they (those who begin early) well
reach menopause later as well.  Hair straightener?  Come now.  However, it
is common knowledge that menses is often delayed in female gymnasts because
most of them have less than 5 percent body fat.

- Bearing Identical twins is not hereditary -- only some fraternal cases
are, and without the father's family influence.

-Michael Jordan is of normal parentage.  Mating him with a WNBA star will
hardly guarantee that his progeny will produce a potential superstar.

-The best hope for the human race is via random genetic diversity -- it's
clearly the most interesting as well.

-Mutations, good and bad, are a necessity of evolution and they are
constant, with or without nutritional idiosyncrasies, drugs, pesticides,
etc..

-Don't believe everything that you read (perhaps ask a geneticist...)


As artists we are afforded a certain degree of arrogance, but when we
presume to suggest that we should create life....then we are going WAY
above our swelled heads.  Oh, and I'm an atheist so I claim no moral or
religious reasoning for my thoughts.

Respectfully,
Peter Gena

******************************
* Peter Gena, Professor  mailTo:pgena@artic.edu
* Chair of Art and Technology  http://widow.artic.edu/webspaces/ats/
* School of the Art Institute of Chicago
* 112 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL  60603
* ph:312-345-3564,  fax ph:312-345-3565
* http://widow.artic.edu/webspaces/arthi/faculty/faculty/pgena/pgena.html
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"I am plagued by doubts.  What if everything is an illusion and nothing
exists?  In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet"  -- Woody Allen.
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The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the SAIC
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