The Wonder of DNA and Its Misuse by Hollywood

DNA, in all of its wonder and mystery, seems to hold more of a mystery to the entertainment industry. A basic understanding of the principles of DNA and genetics is all a Hollywood screenwriter needs to produce the latest blockbuster.

One notable film that has the manipulation of DNA at its core is "Jurassic Park." Dinosaurs are brought back to life through cloning DNA that has been extracted from inside ancient mosquitoes preserved in amber. While the concept makes for an exciting film, it is founded in improbable science. The technology needed to create such beasts is beyond current reach.

The biggest problem is that DNA is very fragile, constantly being damaged and repaired. Any recovered dinosaur DNA would be in horrible shape and there is no way to get examples of undamaged dinosaur DNA to compare it against and rebuild or restore the dinosaur DNA.

Another recent film has genetic manipulation at the core of the main character's abilities. When the genetic material of several spiders is combined into one new spider and that spider bites Peter Parker, "Spiderman" is born.

The spider that bites Parker is a new species, created from the combined DNA of several other spiders. There would have to be a remarkable amount of knowledge of the proper genetic sequences to use and combine to create the new spider. This seems to be a little more possible than creating dinosaurs. One concern on the actual creation of Spiderman is puzzling. The spider bites Parker, injecting its venom into his body. Rather than poisoning him, it attacks and alters his DNA, causing his body to undergo mutagenic changes that grant him his amazing powers. Parker's body is physically changed, in a short period of time, by his newly altered DNA. A similar occurrence occurs in the remake of "The Fly" with Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum's character, Brundle, is inadvertently mixed at the genetic level with a fly, causing horrific physical changes to occur. The question for both of these cases is if the human body is capable of such dramatic quick changes by altered DNA or would the altered DNA just cause some sort of cancer-like growth and kill the host.

The next look at the Hollywood treatment of genetics requires going into warp drive and going "boldly where no one has gone before." Throughout the entire run of "Star Trek" in all of its different forms, genetics has been a good source for new stories. There have been stories of genetically pure societies and strange genetic accidents in which people are drastically changed. The episode "Genesis" From "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is a prime example. An accidentally developed virus mutates and affects the DNA of the crew of the USS Enterprise-D. The crew develops structural and behavioral characteristics of earlier evolutionary forms. Commander Riker becomes a caveman, Counselor Troi develops gills, and Lt. Worf, the Klingon, becomes an angry armored brute from his race's past. The virus invades the host's DNA and activates introns.

Introns, according to "The Star Trek Encyclopedia," are portions of an individual's genetic code that are normally dormant. Introns are evolutionary holdovers that contain behavioral and physical characteristics from evolutionary predecessors. The definition from Merriam-Webster Online states that introns are a polynucleotide sequence in a nucleic acid that does not code information for protein synthesis and is removed before translation of messenger RNA. There is quite a significant difference between reality and science fiction.

The biggest question about this episode is similar to the examples of "Spiderman" and "The Fly." The crew, like Parker and Brundle, undergoes rapid physical changes based on the manipulation of their DNA sequences. The DNA is changing too rapidly to be repaired and eventually must become the dominant DNA form within the body. Again, would the body actually undergo physical changes in the course of several hours or days? What would the altered DNA actually do to the host's body? The human body doesn't grow quickly enough to be that fluid in making drastic radical physical changes.

The second episode to be considered from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" is called "The Chase." Captain Picard becomes involved in an ancient puzzle of galactic proportions. The multi-million year old mystery ultimately reveals that there is a genetic link between many of the primary races of the Star Trek universe. Humans, Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans and Cardassians all have a genetic link to an ancient four billion year old race that seeded primordial seas with genetic material.

While being pure speculation, it does have a more plausible depiction of genetics. There are significant ties in genetics when considering life on earth. It would be entirely possible that other species or races of extraterrestrial life might have genetic ties. Of course, we would have to actually find some cosmic neighbors in order to prove this theory.

One final example of the use of genetics and the media comes from the Japanese graphic novel, "Akira," by Katsuhiro Otomo. "Akira" is a hugely popular, incredibly complex story that was adapted into a breathtaking example of Japanese Anime.

Essentially, "Akira" is about an angry young man, Tetsuo, who taps into an enormous amount of psychic power resulting in the destruction of Neo-Tokyo; Tokyo having been destroyed by the child Akira some 38 years earlier. In the final confrontation between Tetsuo and Akira, Tetsuo's friend, Kaneda, experiences a journey through the levels of Tetsuo's mind in an attempt to control Tetsuo's raging power. Kaneda travels beyond Tetsuo's DNA into realms unreachable by science. He travels to the ultimate power behind life itself.

The power that both Akira and Tetsuo have tapped into is described as "The memory of the cell... The memory of the molecules that form its nucleus... And ultimately... The memory of an entire universe!" The images from both film and illustrated work are impressive as Kaneda travels beyond DNA into new levels of reality and existence.

When one considers the sheer amazing wonder of how DNA works, it causes the mind to conceive of many different things, from the latest Hollywood blockbuster to the ultimate unanswerable questions of life itself.