Gattaca

Attention 3rd ESO students! It is now the time to decide whether to choose 4th ESO Biology in English or in Galician. We hope this post will help you make a decision. We also hope both you and present 4th ESO Biology students will try and watch this exciting, very intelligent and thought-provoking film: maybe that was why it didn't do so well at the box office... perhaps most cinema-goers don't want their thoughts to be provoked.

Gattaca is a 1997 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Andrew Niccol, starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law with supporting roles played by Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal and Alan Arkin. The film was a 1997 nominee for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction — Set Decoration. 

The title is based on the initial letters of the four DNA nitrogenous bases (adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine). During the credits the letters G, C, T, and A are all highlighted.

The film presents a biopunk vision of a society driven by liberal eugenics. Children of the middle and upper classes are selected throughpreimplantation genetic diagnosis to ensure they possess the best hereditary traits of their parents. A genetic registry database usesbiometrics to instantly identify and classify those so created as valids while those conceived by traditional means are derisively known asin-valids. While genetic discrimination is forbidden by law, in practice it is easy to profile one's genotype resulting in the Valids qualifying for professional employment while the In-Valids who are susceptible to disease are relegated to menial jobs. The movie draws on concerns overreproductive technologies which facilitate eugenics, and the possible consequences of such technological developments for society. It also explores the idea of destiny and the ways in which it can and does govern lives. Characters in Gattaca continually battle both with society and with themselves to find their place in the world and who they are destined to be according to their genes.

The beautiful music for Gattaca was composed by Michael Nyman.

And now, if you wish to learn more, you can take a look this on-line Biology book or explore the best links on Biology here.

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