Gattaca Tells us Nothing About Genetics

Every now and then, genetic testing advances a little bit, and people mutter darkly about an apocalyptic, Gattaca-like world. "You gotta check out this movie!" they say. "They start genetic screening for all sorts of jobs, and put in a genetic caste-like system!" Health insurance will break down, eugenics, etc. etc.

The perils and promises of genetic testing and experimentation remain to be seen. But Gattaca is a horrible way to make his point. I mean, [spoiler] the guy was prepping for a long-distance space flight, and hiding a pre-existing heart condition was deeply irresponsible and selfish. This is why we already screen astronauts; and I hope they do so in the future on genetic grounds as well. I'm sure this guy could have made it just fine as a banker; but noooo, he just had to get out there in space, and the costs in terms of mission success and the safety of his fellow crewmen just weren't his problem. Asshole.

The movie does raise an interesting point about the survival of humans during manned expeditions. In a trip to Mars, for instance, getting the astronauts back is the real challenge. This seems somewhat taboo to mention, but space exploration would be a lot easier if it were one-way. It does seem odd to spend so much money retrieving astronauts, when there are so many people willing to take the one-way ticket, and millions continue to die for want of a few dollars in health costs.

Incidentally, it looks like they're thinking of making a police procedural based on Gattaca's world. Hopefully the bioethics will be a little less butchered here.

Mad Max

The aftermath of Katrina left much of the southeast United States short on gas as refineries and pipelines shut down. A few weeks ago, I was in Asheville, NC seeing something familiar in the aftermath of Ike. Asheville is at a high altitude and it's hard for gas shipments to reach there after a crisis. It was pretty exciting, really, to see the entire region practically shut down. Many gas stations ran out of gas, others--mostly independent retailers--had prices going up to about $5 a gallon. Some stations tied to the oil majors had lower prices, but had large lines. Traffic plummeted and at the clinic I was working at, many people cancelled appointments.

Well, this is still ongoing. From what I hear, gas is still in short supply, and stations either have no gas or long lines for expensive gas. Police are stationed at pumps, and all sorts of events have been shut down or curtailed. It's a great glimpse at our dependence on fossil fuels, and the chaos and anarchy underling the well-greased market system of tradable goods and services. It's tough to imagine Appalachia with excessive gas prices. Without roads to connect far-flung valley communities and mountain outposts, you either have self-contained hamlets or a handful of denser areas. And without the tourism or expansive mountain cabins, there are few remaining attractions. It's going to be a lot easier to replace this addiction with biofuels or compressed natural gas rather than move to a Japanese or European style of living.