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Hi Eduardo
As you know... I support you and Alba. May you find togetherness!(Pending
FDA/EPA approval.)
I have no problem with the techniques of transgenes being used for art
production purposes.
I do have an objection to the concept of this being a Harmless Art.
Why pretend that?
The inserted gene is claimed to be harmless to Alba as an organism.
This is an industry claim that I seriously doubt.
But, if the art of GFP Bunny is not Alba in Herself but instead
'comprises her creation' including the techniques of Insertational
Mutagenesis
and you still want to claim that 'no harm was done'
then lets take a closer look at the Protocols for a Transgenic Rabbit·
They call for hormone treatments both for hyper-ovulation of the egg
supplying (donor) rabbit -- mom(1)
and hormone treatments for the psuedo-pregnant state of the surrogate
'uterus' donor -- mom(2)
and surgery on both sides to collect the fertilized embryos from the
fallopian tubes of mom(1) rabbit
and to implant the GFP positive embryos into the surrogate uterus of the
mom(2) rabbit.
This says nothing of the throwing away of the biohazardous leftover¹
embryos that didn't take the transgene properly.
As a part of the process, We also have to take into account the unnamed or
numbered Brothers and Sisters of Alba
who were possibly still born or born with abnormalities due to the viral
infection vectors, cytoplasmic bacterial infection,
bad laparascopic technique, or other natural causes.
How many embryos were implanted?
>From which rabbit?
Into which rabbit?
How many lived?
How many were tossed?
Where are Alba's moms?
Could you have done this procedure, proudly, with your own hands?
Let me be clear. I remind you that I support your actions, morally and
artistically.
I believe that Transgenic Art, both the products and the processes, are
valid as an art forms a
nd as much needed commentaries on an industry of
post/species-boundarybreeding technology.
Unnecessary surgery, Aesthetic breeding, Even embryonic gene-play
should and has be done by curious artists wielding their own scalpels.
But it does us all an injustice to white wash (or green glowwash) a bloody
and meaty process.
No art that uses the knife (even a knife for hire) should claim that it is
harmless.
That is a grotesque affront.
Could you to be a little more transparent or forthcoming
When you review the modern breeding procedures
That went into the formation of Alba?
They surely did cause some harm.
Signing out until next time,
A difficult fan,
Adam Zaretsky
Research Affiliate,
MFA
Arnold Demain Fermentation
and Industrial Microbiology Laboratory
Department of Biology Massachusetts Institute of Technology
68-223 Cambridge MA 02139
PS: I hope the next trangenic mammalian art piece
is better documented.
I mean the glowing birth of a GFP Mammal
will be a gorgeous event to capture on Digital Video!
Woodstock, NY USA - Tuesday, July 17, 2001 at 11:02:46 (PDT)
http://www.ekac.org/bunnybook.2001.html
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