LP30330 Media and Creative Industries Residency Assessment Solution

LP303-30 Media and Creative Industries Residency Question

Is it safe to use media in Science?

Answer

How can it hinder scientific views?

• Media portrays scientists in multiple but not always accurately depending on their audience and the mediums message.
• Often current and political affairs can affect the audiences opinions and create propaganda or misleading information when things are taken out of context.
• The information presented within articles can be at risk of being unreliable and inaccurate depending on which source is used.
• Different types of media include films, tv shows, internet, journals and search stations.
• TV – National Geographic
• News Journals – Daily Mail
• Social Media – Instagram
• Web pages - YouTube

Newspaper

He Jiankui – Chinese researcher specialising in gene editing. His prodigies were babies and he was eager to produce the first set of babies who had been genetically edited. None of his work was safe.

Positive Aspects:

• Aspired to produce something new by expanding gene editing to babies to fit certain characteristics
• Experiments confirmed it was possible to change genes

Negative Aspects:

• Dangerous experiments – babies died
• People agreed that his experiments should not continue to stop many other women from losing their babies.
• Although he wanted to make a good change, the media perceived him to be mad which hindered progression of devising safer methods.

Internet Search Engine

Joseph Mengele – Nazi doctor infamous for his experiments on twins. He was labelled ‘Angel of Death’. He injected chemicals into twins’ eyes to alter their eye colour to blue. He has never been seen as a good person and has been known as the most evil scientist to exist.

Positive Aspects:

• No positive aspects. He died due to a stroke when swimming.

Negative Aspects:

•  Only negative aspects.
• Work permitted by Hitler.
• 1500 twins were experimented on
• When he realised there was no change to the eye colours, the children were left blind. He beat them to death and sent their bones to be tested.

References

• Attenborough, D., 2021. BBC One - Planet Earth. [online] Bbc.co.uk. Available at: [Accessed 12 January 2021].
• Normille, D., 2021. Chinese Scientist Who Produced Genetically Altered Babies Sentenced To 3 Years In Jail. [online] Science | AAAS. Available at: [Accessed 12 January 2021].