1. John Buccheri
Business Economics/Political Science
June 13, 2012
Honors 177: Biotechnology and Art
Professor Victoria Vesna

2. Week 1 Blog
My name is John Buccheri and I am a senior at UCLA with a double major in Business
Economics and Political Science and a minor in accounting. Upon entering UCLA in
2008, I was entirely unsure of what my future entailed and the direction in which I should
guide myself. While I have discovered some passions in my life along the way such as
music and swimming, it is entirely another feat to determine the direction of one’s future
at a university.
Looking at the options that are available for students to major in at UCLA, it is
immediately apparent that there are a multitude of choices and the opportunities are
endless. However, with such immense possibilities comes specificity and specialization.
The idea of covering both broad topics of art and science is extremely uncommon within
the departments. In my experience the concept of art was completely absent in my
business economics courses, and nearly so in my political science classes. As shown in
Professor Vesna’s presentation on the Two Cultures, university funding overwhelmingly
favors science over art, and a similar transition can also be seen within academic
requiems. Unfortunately, the idea of becoming a specialist in a field has narrowed the
scope for many modern academics to learn.
The two photos I have attached I believe focus on an ideal harmony between art and
science in the academic setting. The first, Royce Hall, is a reminder of the unity of an
academic institution with that of artistic roots, as Royce is commonly the host of many
performances. Additionally, Royce was cleverly created with visual “flaws” in which the
two pillars did not identically match, which further signifies a connection to art. The
second photo comes from the “Bodies” exhibit, in which actual human bodies were put
on display for not only the purpose of academics and science, but artistic appeals as well.

3. Week 2 Blog
As a college senior, I have perfected the art of feeding oneself on a fixed financial
budget. Not having lived in the dorms for two years, the plentiful options for each meal
are now replaced with standard bowls of cereal, fruit, and frozen foods. Naturally
considered a food staple, milk is used in a multitude of ways, including baking, coffee
creamer, and the aforementioned cereal.
The process in which milk travels from the cow to the store is more complicated than one
would initially imagine. To begin, cows are fed grain, hay, and possibly growth
hormones to increase a cow’s future milk production. The use of growth hormones has
come under fire as a controversial method of increasing the milk quantity produced by
each cow, as it is an unnatural, forced method which may have unwanted chemical
effects on both the cow and the final milk product. Once the cow’s udder is full, it is
usually milked with the help of machines, at a frequency of twice a day. Afterwards, the
milk is stored on location in vats and silos at a temperature of thirty-nine degrees
Fahrenheit of colder for no more than forty-eight hours. Within that period, steel bodied
tankers arrive to approve and then transport the milk to a lab testing location, in which
samples are tested for protein, bacteria count, and milk fat. From there, the approved milk
is transferred into storage tanks in which pasteurization and homogenization take place.
Pasteurization is the process that involves heating all of the particles of milk to a
predefined temperature and allowing them to cool without re-contaminating the product.
Homogenization forces the milk through an atomizer to ensure that the fat is evenly
dispersed throughout the final milk product. Once this is completed, the milk is packaged
on site and distributed to major manufacturers throughout the nation.

4. Week 3 Blog
When evaluating my relationship to animals over the course of my life, my first thought
is one of dependency. Granted, this is not a case of mutualism between both humans and
animals, but rather one in which people have transformed the daily life of animals in such
a way that advantages us most. However, in order for us to make the most of our
relationship to these animals, we must also provide to them that which they cannot
necessarily do independently. For example, in the modern world, many animals would
struggle to survive without the cooperation of humans simply due to our extensive needs
on a global scale in combination with our increased capabilities in comparison to any
other species of animal. However, by providing the resources needed to survive, humans
primarily only have their own best interests at heart, taking supplies such as fur, milk, or
even meat in exchange. Thus, sadly the relationship between animals and myself is
representative of the rest of the population’s authoritative affiliation as well.
In regards to the video “Strange Culture” focused on the accusations revolving Steve
Kurtz, I was shocked and appalled at the entire series of events and the way in which the
FBI handled the process. Although Kurtz may not have been the most compliant with the
FBI when he swallowed some of the bacterial evidence, he should have by no means
been considered a serious threat as a bioterrorist. Admittedly, the timing of his wife’s
death was extremely unfortunate, yet these things happen, and his materials were not
considered relevant or pertinent to her death in the least. Additionally, the manner in
which the FBI collected his materials, promptly leaving much of it at his apartment in a
ruined state while disposing of much of the rest of it simply outside his home, was
appalling. I believe this video accurately depicts how little the FBI understands of much
of modern art and biotechnology, but that, since 2001, has felt compelled to consider
anything and everything a potential threat to society. As admirable a concept as that may
be, it does not justify the way in which Kurtz’s life was ruined for a number of years as a
result.

5. Week 4 Blog
Last week, I found Noa Kaplan’s works of art to be quite interesting. Particularly, I
enjoyed how she spun a new way of thinking of common, everyday items such as sugar,
coffee, and wool. With those displays, she built a larger scale of each item’s most basic
microscopic structure using only that material itself. My favorite pieces are ones that not
only teach, but also provoke my mind into coming up with related questions. For
example, in this case I was able to learn what the structure of coffee looked like, which
led me to wonder what the structure of other common household items would be. Of the
three, my favorite was the wool jacket, due to it’s tangibility and practicality in the sense
that it could actually be worn by the audience.
When considering medical technology and art, my first thought was the applicability of
the field of bionics. Whether it involves bionic arms, prosthetic legs, or even replacement
eyes for restoring vision, the medical advancements within this category are astonishing
over the last twenty years. Soldiers that have lost limbs in the war have the capability of
receiving replacement units with which they can control through brain cells and nerve
impulses. The most recent research development has been attempting to fight immaculate
degeneration and other eye diseases that restrict vision abilities or blind victims for life.
In this modern research, subjects have their vision transferred from glasses with a digital
camera directly into their brain via the use of an implanted microchip connected to vision
related brain cells that are undamaged. Other medical researchers are even attempting to
incorporate inserted prosthetic eyes. While this medical advancement is only in its
beginning stages and subjects must train their eyes to recognize objects that had been
second nature in the past. However, with the rapid changes in technology, this process is
becoming more effective and natural to the subject as time progresses and research can
perfect such a system.

6. Week 6 Blog
Visiting Kathy Brew’s “Going Gray” exhibit was quite an interesting experience, and
having been in this class for six weeks now, made me put her views into some of the
other perspectives we have talked about in seminar. I began to think, “if you can
genetically modify a fruits and animals, what is to stop people from genetically
modifying people so as not to have graying hair as early in life?” As many products as
there may be on the market, there is not a simple, permanent solution to many of the
complaints that elderly people have about getting older. From graying hair to wrinkly
skin to weakened bones, there is a seemingly endless number of possibilities for scientists
to attempt to genetically improve at the embryo stage, in what is called somatic cell
manipulation. This is a type of DNA manipulation that adds genes to existing cells in a
specific part of the human body. Granted, such science would take generations to make
any progress, as a genetic modification today would not have results until the embryo
developed into an aging individual nearly 50 years later and beyond. Additionally, it
would be more difficult to find compatible genes of other animals that have favorable
traits to be used in a human. Not only is this concept difficult to be certain with, but there
are also many moral dilemmas associated as well. A less radical alternative would be to
take DNA from other genetically healthier humans to be used on those who may be born
to need it most. Unfortunately, as innocent as the intentions may be with this hypothetical
genetic engineering, there is widespread fear that there could be unintended mutations of
such subjected individuals, or that, if successful, could lead to a superior “breed” of
people in comparison to the remainder of society. As a result, human genetic engineering
has remained on the backburner of many scientists’ minds, maybe as it should be for the
time being.

7. Week 7 Blog
Alan Turing, arguably one of the most important scientists of the twentieth century,
played an integral role in the extensive series of events during World War II. Highly
fluent in the languages of computer science, math, and cryptology, Turing used his
superior skills to aid the Allies in defeating the Germans and Axis powers. Without his
assistance, it could be argued that the War could have a much different result, possibly
even having the Germans winning battles that could have shifted the entire momentum of
the war.
In this final project, our group will be focusing on Alan Turing’s role in World War II.
On an individual basis, I intend to create a newspaper front page, vertically split in half.
On the left-hand side, there will be images and a pair of newspaper articles depicting
major events in the war that were greatly impacted by Turing’s accomplishments. In
contrast, the right hand side of the newspaper will represent hypothetical events that may
have taken place had Turing’s inventions and cryptic findings never occurred. The
purpose of showing the newspaper in this way is to not only display a historical
representation of how strong of an impact his work had on the war, but potentially that
without it, our present society might not even be the same. There are numerous different
aspects of his involvement that I may end up focusing on, but some of which include:
solving the problem of the German naval Enigma, the creation of the Turing-Welchman
bombe (see photo), and his ingenious knack at cryptanalysis.

8. Entering this class without a formal background in either art or science, I looked forward
to this class to serve as a diversification of my studies while at UCLA. Although it was
originally intimidating of how foreign of a topic this course was to me, I quickly began to
understand the concepts depicted in class and became more interested in the topics as
each week went by.
I particularly enjoyed the creative aspect of this course. Each week we would see, hear, or
experience a presentation of an artist who had a vision unlike anyone before, and was
able to transform that idea into reality with the help of biotechnology. Additionally, it
was amazing to see the technological advancements that have taken place alongside these
great movements in art. My interest in the practicality of some of these concepts guided
my efforts in my midterm project of genetically engineering high-pesticide fruits and
vegetables to have inedible peels to reduce the consumption of harmful chemicals.
Although I may not be entering the workforce in this field, I now have a new sense of
appreciation between biotechnology, art, and the association between them. From what I
have learned in this class, I feel that I can look at look at society in a previously unseen
light.