Video of the Week: Bloodlines: Technology Hits Home.
RSSFrom SLJ December 2004
Joan Karasick, Greenwich (CT) High School -- School Library Journal, 12/06/2004
videocassette. color. 60 min. with tchr’s. guide. Backbone Media (www.backbonemedia.org). 2002, 2004 release. $129.95 (+ $15.95 s/h).
Gr 9 Up–Should you have missed the June 2003 Public Broadcasting telecast of this award-winning documentary about the legal, ethical, and social implications of biotechnology, it is now available for use in schools. Though it was actually produced in 2002 and excludes recent advances in the field of cloning and transgene research, the questions raised are still timely and will generate great discussions. The video asks the questions and points out the merits and pitfalls of modern biotechnology, allowing viewers to reach their own conclusions. The information in grouped into three distinct segments—"Who Is a Parent?," "What Is Human?," and "Who Has Rights?" A series of interviews with parents, scientists, and attorneys introduce true stories about of a baby with five "parents," none of whom are recognized by law; a patent application for an organism that would be part human and part chimpanzee; and a corporation doing secret genetic tests on its. Other segments discuss options for same sex couples and infertile heterosexual couples; rights of surrogate parents, sponsoring adults, and resulting children; a developmental biology lab experiment where goat and sheep fetal cells were combined to produce a "geep"; and a successful experiment where injection of fetal pig cells into a human brain alleviates Parkinson’s Disease symptoms. The helpful teacher’s guide contains seven case studies, three of which are included in the video, with excellent discussion questions. The well-presented information makes viewers realize that dilemmas created as a result of biotechnology must be dealt with now.
