ABSTRACT: The developmental biologist Lewis Wolpert, the ex-chairperson of Britain’s Committee on the Public Understanding of Science, has repeatedly warned about the insidious influence of what he calls “genetic pornography.” The term refers to reports and narratives about genetic research whose aim, in Wolpert’s words, is not to inform or analyze or evaluate, but “to titillate, excite, and frighten.” His objections are not only aimed at obvious targets, such as tabloid newspapers or B-movies or bizarre web sites. Wolpert pointedly attacks the ways in which allusions to classic literary texts—most notably Frankenstein, Brave New World, and even Paradise Lost—appear in debates about contemporary science (in particular, in essays about bioethics). This article will reconsider the terms of his argument by providing detailed readings of two contemporary texts, Jonathan Weiner’s His Brother’s Keeper (2004) and Nancy Werlin’s Double Helix (2004), both of which place their commentaries about genetic technologies within a series of literary references. This presentation will analyze whether and how Wolpert’s term actually provides an effective context for analyzing these and other contemporary literary texts about genetic research.
About the presenterGene Peter McQuillan
I am currently a Professor of English at Kingsborough Community College/City University of New York, where I have taught since 1993. I’ve published often on various aspects of American culture. I have previously been on the Executive Board of MAPACA, and I was the MAPACA President in 2006.