2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

To what extent does Patricia Piccinini challenge our perspective on the ethics of bioengineering?

mother holding the organism, a sculpture of Piccinini. This may be used to insert Piccinini and her perspective into the ideas presented in this piece. In doing so not only does Piccinini advocate her acceptance and empathy towards these creatures, but the facial expression of the mother appears to be displaying pity for the child. Potentially, commenting on how such creatures would be looked down upon or not accepted in modern-day society. This is a notion Piccinini is particularly interested in and explores quite often (the way in which society will treat such organisms). Nevertheless, the focal concept of this piece is to address the idea of engineered species and natural life co- existing, with a subliminal notion that we should accept these futuristic advancements. Furthermore, this piece also speaks on the universality and adaptability of DNA. The organism in this piece has distinctively idiosyncratic anatomy, it’s structural back, described as the “sole of a running shoe” (Piccinini, 2016). The reasoning behind this choice was disclosed to refer to two different phenomena. Firstly, is adaptive evolution, where organisms will morphe in relation to their environment. What does this then say about the environment’s progression? Is Piccinini lampooning the rise of consumerism and industrialism in our environment, where instead of the organism adapting to natural habitats, they now adapt to the artificial world. Secondly, this characteristic connotes the malleability and manipulation of DNA, where it can now be “hybridised with elements” outside of their habitats (Piccinini, 2016). In context, expressing how truly surreal the limitless possibilities of bioengineering truly are.

hmd938

11