ShmoopTube
Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.
Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos
What Would Mary Shelley Think of GMOs? 1343 Views
Share It!
Description:
GMOs. Now that’s a scary word. Or is it? Guess it’s time to ask ourselves: WWMST? ...For those of us who don’t constantly ask ourselves “what would Mary Shelley do,” there’s this video.
Transcript
- 00:03
Mary Shelley: What Would She Think of GMOs, a la Shmoop
- 00:08
The term genetically modified organism conjures up an image of a giant stalk of franken-corn
- 00:14
stalking farms for human flesh.
- 00:19
And that might be exactly what we’d have on our hands if Mary Shelley wrote a story
- 00:23
about them.
Full Transcript
- 00:24
After all, her doctor Frankenstein stitched a bunch of human body parts together and brought
- 00:28
them to life. In reality, a GMO is, well, an organism whose
- 00:33
genetics have been… modified.
- 00:35
It may be to increase its resistance to disease…
- 00:39
…think: implanting insect DNA into a banana…
- 00:42
…or to increase its output…
- 00:44
…think: making a tomato bigger than ever before.
- 00:48
So far, no one has done anything drastic, like… splice together a Brussels sprout
- 00:53
and a badger…
- 00:55
…but what would Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein… aka that book about the horrors
- 01:00
of science…
- 01:02
…think of genetically modified organisms? Well, she’d probably think we’d need to
- 01:08
research the heck out of them first.
- 01:10
Frankenstein wasn’t just about a creating a monster… or a monster’s wife with a
- 01:13
crazy dye job…
- 01:15
It was about questioning the limits of scientific inquiry.
- 01:21
Where does science end and ethical dilemma begin?
- 01:24
Who are we to be playing God?
- 01:27
After questioning the science behind GMOs, Shelley would probably decide we needed to
- 01:31
ban them immediately.
- 01:34
As we read in Frankenstein, she likes to take these dilemmas to their most horrific extremes.
- 01:39
We saw Shelley’s Frankenstein kill a child…
- 01:43
What if genetically modified hormones in milk turned children into… giant cows?
- 01:51
Or what if genetically modified peas got together and…. stampeded across the country?
- 01:55
However, using GMO’s allows us to produce food in greater quantities…
- 02:00
Would Shelley have considered the possibility that they might be used to wipe out hunger?
- 02:04
A Brussels badger, if subdued, could feed a family of four for at least two days.
- 02:09
So, if scientists donned their WWMSD armbands… What Would Mary Shelley Do about GMOs?
- 02:15
Would she want to conduct extensive research?
- 02:17
Or ban them immediately?
- 02:20
Or use them to feed the world? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
Up Next
We may all be fools when it comes to love, but thankfully none of us will accidentally switch places with our twin brother and fall in love with ou...
Related Videos
They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...
Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...
Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.
Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...