When we started our project we were asked to create an interactive physical experience which shows a vision of medicine and bio technology in the future. Our project is based on technology which is currently being researched and will be possible in the future. We want to present the user with an experience which alludes to certain ethical and moral dilemmas that they may face if such technologies are widely available.
Medicine and bio tech are a very vast topic. So before we started on our design we needed to narrow down our focus on one type of technology. We explored various options from spray painted skin grafts to 3D printing of organs and as a team we were most excited about genetic engineering and its applications.
Research in the field of genetic engineering has been increasing steadily throughout the years in spite of controversies and there have been a number of positive breakthroughs like gene therapy to treat hereditary diseases.
While exploring genetic engineering we came across an article about genetically modified babies. We came to know about a case where researchers supplemented women’s defective mitochondria with a healthy one from a donor. The cells of the children born as a result of this research contained genetic information from both the women as well as their father.
For our final design we decided to explore certain areas of research in genetic engineering such as multiple parents for the same child, splicing human genes with that of animals and implants to improve your lifestyle.
Our goal was to create an interface which lets the users design their own baby by giving them the freedom to choose their child’s genes and display the consequences of some of these choices.
Our final product is called ProgenyX and is set in a future where genetic engineering is widely available and commercialized.
In 2xxx year, there could be a possibility, that people can design their babies…
Here, “ProgenyX” is a popular commercial product for people to give their future generation more possibility to become great.
During the experience of using “ProgenyX”,
-You will have chance to Choose up to 4 parents for your baby, one of the parents could even be an animal
-You will get details of the gene information of each individual you’ve chosen, and then choose gene for your baby
-You will then have a preview of your baby at a certain age
-You can buy more Add-on or features to make your baby better
-You will get a receipt