Change Your Image
sierragriego
Reviews
Human Nature (2019)
Very Informative
I just watched Human Nature that can be found on Netflix for a project that I am doing in my English class. This documentary was informational and showed me how these new sciences can be used in the world. There is this new technology that is introduced called CRISPR. This new piece of technology can be used to cure diseases, reshape our biosphere, and maybe even create our own design babies.
In this documentary there are many scientists that want to learn what the limits really are with CRISPR. This is a name for a microscopic phenomenon, which describes repeating DNA sequences found in bacteria that have given scientists a tool to cut and edit the genomes of humans and other life forms. This could be scary for some people because it comes to a point where science could be stepping over it's bounds. Some scientists think that there could be endless possibilities while others want to reserve how much people can try to use this technology. These scientists are so caught up on what they could do that they never stopped to see if they should. There is a whole other debate on if editing sperm and eggs should be able to be done. This would create certain genes to not be passed down anymore from the parent. Some scientists are very set on not messing with these things. They say "Don't edit the germ line." This hasn't stopped other scientists to do so.
Human Nature is a scientific documentary, so there is the possibility that it could be very sophisticated for the average person and begin to get boring. That is not the case for Human Nature. They very creatively put educating and entertaining together to make a great documentary. The scientists never talked down like they were talking to uneducated people. The continuous questions on how this could be moral and where the line is and if we have already crossed it keeps the audience engaged.
In this documentary there is a young boy who has sickle cell anemia. They have introduced the audience to him and are saying that CRISPR could be used to alter a single DNA molecule and save David Sanchez from this life threatening condition. He knows how beneficial this could be for him if it works, but when he was asked if he would have preferred to have been born with healthy red blood cells he said, " I don't think I'd be me if I didn't have sickle cell."
It is crazy to see Vladmir Putin in the documentary talking about how CRISPR can create super soldiers that have no fear or pain. This shows how the new technology can be used for bad. This doesn't mean that CRISPR is an evil thing, it is what the person does with the technology that can make it good or evil according to bioethicist Ata Charo.
In the end I think that this documentary was very informative and entertaining. It was easy to keep up with all of the scientific information. It begins to ask people where the line is and what is too far.