Week 3 (Days 37-38) -- The Island of Uncertainty

As a grand reward for finishing the cancer research paper, Mr. Quick brought in the controversy of The Island, or the ethics behind human cloning for organ replacement (or stem cell implementation). We thought about it for a few seconds before it became an area of doubt in the back of our minds. It was difficult to answer explicitly, for some reasons (and in some cases) it is ethical, but in others it violates the laws of nature and morals. Just as our cancerous careers ended, another thought-provoking subject was thrust upon us. 

So there was this one character played by Ewan McGregor who was the genetic replica of this other rich guy, and his sole purpose was to be used for organ transplant and the benefit of his "sponsor". However, this guy starts questioning his true existence, which was carefully covered up by a lack of connection to the outside world (except through the easily-accessible engineers who worked there and spread their outside-influence around like a disease), and the withholding of information and brainwashing. So he escapes with the most attractive girl he can find and fights against millions of dollars worth of bounty hunters, police officers, national security, and an African guy. They go to the house of the real Ewan McGregor and expect him to be alright with two illegals staying in his house. When he's not alright with it, the fake guy bites him in a car and tricks the African guy into shooting him. He goes back to the weird cylinder of cloned people and sets them free by disconnecting a pipe in a back room. When the crazy leader guy (who wanted to dispose of millions of dollars of clones) played by the death-prone Sean Bean shoots him in the back with a future crossbow, he hangs Bean from the rail of an exploding facility. The clones are released to the world with the help of the African guy's change-of-heart, and they go out and destroy the world with their inconsistency. Also, there is an island. 

Deeper down, this story has a lot to do about the ethics discussed earlier. Mr. Quick then led us to discovery of the use of stem cells in the correction of major problems. We also discovered that taking the stem cells from an older person would result in higher risks of cancer because the cells are already old and prone to mutation. 

We posted some questions on the new blog page that was added for our classes. The questions, which involved some interesting topics and other average ones, sparked some amazing conversations within the class. 

Expert's Note:
To see The Island for free, click here. (Don't tell anybody.)