(Re)Designing Human. Genetics in Cinema. The Dialectics of Past, Present and Future
(Re)Designing Human. Genetics in Cinema. The Dialectics of Past, Present and Future

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyse representations of genetic engineering in chosen science fiction films: GATTACA (1997), The Island (2005) and Never Let Me Go (2010). In the first section of the article, the author delineates the emergence of the concept of ‘biotechnology’ and the moment of its identification with genetics and molecular biology. In the following, she draws attention to sociocultural functions of genetics and the dynamics of forming public understanding of the scientific subdiscipline. In film interpretations, the author focuses on genetic engineering technologies depicted and the ethical issues raised by the depiction. She argues that science fiction creates images of the future immersed in the past and the present; and that science fiction should be recognized as an important space of negotiating the meanings and roles of genetic engineering; both reflecting and shaping the public concerns on the rapidly expanding domain of biotechnology.

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