2023-12-20 13:29:38
In a world where climate crisisthe overpopulation and the sociopolitical conflicts threaten to escalate to unmanageable levels, the main challenge for humanity is to transform its systems to redesign the way it manages matter and energy. With that hypothesis in mind, the outreach collective El Gato y la Caja, and the Bachelor of Design at the University of San Andrés, launched a web production what do you imagine what the planet will look like in 2040when 60% of the inputs we use daily include some biotechnological process in their manufacturing.
The biotechnologycalled to lead a disruption as big as the Industrial Revolution, is a set of techniques that use living cells, molecules or tissue cultures to obtain or modify a product, improve a plant or animal, or develop a microorganism to be used for a specific purpose. Leaning on molecular biology and genetics, offers instruments for the development of agriculture, fishing, forestry and food industries. In its modern version, it uses techniques such as DNA recombination. The brand new HB4 soybean, for example, incorporates a drought-resistant sunflower gene.
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With a view to this potential, the platform 2040: Model to assemble imagine four possible variants of that year for Argentina and the world, according to different degrees of concentration of the means of production and accessibility to biotechnological products.
1. “All aboard”. The first scenario contemplates many hands, both producing and receiving. In a society that has finally become aware of the comprehensive causes and consequences of climate change, “there is a boom in synthetic foods that offer perfect nutrition, based on plants and with 95% less environmental impact.” Congress is advancing the possibility of including genetic treatments in the Mandatory Medical Plan, which would allow, for example, the generalization of the application of a vaccine that cures congenital childhood blindness.
2. “The Indomitable”. They produce many hands, but receive few. When the Vatican rejects genetic interventions, a global domino effect is generated. The synthetic meat substitute industry, which seemed unstoppable, is arousing massive consumer rejection. The conflict is projected to the UN General Assembly, which faces the challenge of the Treaty of Bioprotected Countries, which cannot be entered carrying genetic modifications. The return to 100% “natural” organisms and products paralyzes the global economy
3. “Gods and monsters”. There are few hands producing and receiving. In the surroundings of the countries, biomodified vegetation buffers heat and humidity, the perimeters leak toxins and a revolt leads to the installation of turrets with machine guns. The wealthiest people “have gained the attributes of the gods: biomodified petsdesigner zoos, eradication of diseases such as cancer and diabetes.
And, of course, a classic that hasn’t gotten old for fifteen years: the chance to taste a cultured meat steak from your favorite celebrity.” While The climate crisis punishes with more droughts and floods, technological garbage and traditional medicines are spilled on the poor. The Internet is consolidated as a space “where the most popular people assume the power to point out what the correct lifestyle is”; The ultimate mandate is to have only 3% body fat.
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4. “The big fish”. Few producers and many receivers. The merger between the mega-companies Arcor and Huawei results in a carbon dioxide fixation grass that reduces global emissions by 5%. The company is now worth a trillion dollars, also thanks to a synthetic meat protein pack that is exported all over the world.
Amazon begins selling a device that takes biological parameters and processes them with artificial intelligence to generate accurate diagnoses and personalized biointerventions. With people becoming older, the pension system is entering a crisis and the State actively discourages reproduction. “In the midst of the debates, a 65-year-old couple announces that they will have their first child. In the news, the case is treated almost as treason.”
TO JL
#scenarios #biotech #revolution