Even Since A Little Lamb Came Forward Saying That Cloning Of Mammals I

Even since a little lamb came forward saying that cloning of mammals is possible the world has been in a state of bewilderment. This means that if cloning a sheep is possible, how far away are humans? Is there a new generation of Dr. Frankensteins coming? I hope to answer this question, the process of cloning, the positive and negative aspects, ethical aspects, and an authors view of cloning all the way back from the 1940's. The basics however, are the first part. The process of cloning is involved. This process includes both embryo and adult DNA cloning. Embryo cloning, which was been around the longest, is the less complicated of the two. Embryo cloning is not really cloning for say. It is more of a twinning process. It has been used in mice since the late 1970's and other animals since the 1980's. The process is really quite simple. An egg and sperm are mixed together in a petri dish. When conception occurs the zygote develops into a blastula. After dividing into a couple stages, a chemical is added to remove the "zona pelocide" which promotes cell division. The blastula is then divided into separate cells, recoated, and then allowed to further develop. Adult DNA cloning however is a little more complicated. Adult DNA cloning was thought to be impossible until Dolly was created. It involves the use of nuclear transfer technology ("Human Cloning"). It was used quite successfully in the past, especially for embryo cloning, but never for primates (Baker). It is also noteworthy that Robert J. Stillman and his colleges at the George Washington Medical Center were the first group to go public to say it is possible. They took seventeen unusable embryos (each had two sperm for fertilization) and managed to split each successfully. They also reported on the best ways to split them and how long they should be allowed to develop. All of the zygotes had the potential to become a fetus had they not been previously defective ("Human Cloning"). The limits on cloning are very undecided now. The limits on Dr. Wilmut were very significant; it took him 277 tries to produce one Dolly (Motavalli). And it is not the scientific limits that everyone is worried about, its congressional limits. Dolly's creator, Dr. Wilmut is in favor of a limit for human cloning because he feels his progress can be used elsewhere better ("Dolly"). Republican George Brown of California stated, "It is significant that Congress followed the lead of the scientific in discussing those issues. George E. Brown stated, "It is significant that Congress followed the lead of the scientific community in discussing those issues. It caused us to curb our instincts to go out and regulate everything" (Baker). While some argue its unethical, its been said that a ban or restriction would halt some very important benefits such as human skin for bone marrow transplants (Baker). Dolly however does not care and "? is free from those limits now, and from the threat of a rev edezous with mint sauce, lives out her days in ovine luxury in Scotland. Scientists say they plan to breed her someday soon. No cloning, though; this time, they're going to do it the old fashioned way - by artificial insemination ("Dolly"). People are very split when it comes to taking sides on cloning. The positive aspects of cloning are very numerous. Gina Kolata of the New York Times and author of Clone has said, "I think a lot of people who initially found it repugnant now feel it may not be so bad. We can make identical twins of ourselves and from there we can make identical twins resistant to aids ("Dolly"). It is also very possible that in the very near future, farms will have cloned animals that help humans. It is possible that the proteins in a cow's milk could treat such diseases as hemophilia. Cloning could cause a better understanding of the pregnancy process. It may even lead to a way to stop spontaneous abortions. It could also help women who can not bring a fetus to term. Another benefit is the way human morula develop is similar to that of cancer, so it is believed that if there

What Makes a Marine Ecosystem

What Makes a Marine Ecosystem An ecosystem is the collection of living and non-living things in an area, and their relationship to each other. It is how animals, plants and the environment interact together and thrive. Studying ecosystems is known as ecology. A marine ecosystem is one that occurs in or near salt water and is the kind that is studied in marine biology. (Freshwater ecosystems, on the other hand, are comprised of freshwater environments such as those in rivers or lakes. Marine biologists study those types of ecosystems as well.) Because the ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth, marine ecosystems make up a large part of our planet. They vary, but all play a valuable role in the planets health, as well as the health of humans. About Marine Ecosystems Ecosystems can vary in size, but all have parts that interact with and are dependent upon each other. Upsetting one component of an ecosystem may affect other parts. If youve ever heard of the phrase ecosystem approach, it is a type of natural resource management involving making decisions regarding the whole ecosystem, rather than various parts. This philosophy realizes that everything in an ecosystem is interconnected. This is why environmentalists and marine biologists must consider entire ecosystems even though they may focus on one creature or plant in it. Everything is tied together. Protecting Marine Ecosystems Another vital reason to study ecosystems is to protect them. Humans can have significant negative impacts on our environment that can wind up destroying ecosystems and harming human health. The  HERMIONE project, a program that monitors ecosystems, notes that certain fishing practices can harm cold-water coral reefs, for example. That is a problem because the reefs support a variety of living systems including providing a home for young fish. The reefs could also be sources of potential medicines to fight cancer, which is another reason to protect them. Human impacts are ruining the reefs, which are a vital ecosystem for humans and the environment as a whole. Knowing how they function, and how to support them prior to and after components are destroyed, is imperative to assist these ecosystems. In seagrass meadows and kelp forests, for example, robust biological diversity is key to the ecosystems. In one experiment, scientists reduced the number of seaweed species. That caused the total algal biomass to decrease, which lowered the amount of food.  When scientists decreased the species that graze on microalgae that grew on seagrass, the species ate less from areas that had fewer microalgae. As a result of that, the seagrass in those areas grew slower. It affected the entire ecosystem. Experiments like this help us learn how reducing biodiversity can be extremely harmful to sensitive ecosystems. Types of Marine Ecosystems Sandy BeachesRocky ShoresSalt MarshesCoral ReefsMangrovesDeep SeaHydrothermal Vents

The Cinematic Signifier

The Cinematic Signifier Introduction Christian Metz was a very important film theorist who made a significant contribution to the art of cinema by his theories on cinema studies. He defines the cinematic signifier through a thorough analysis of the imaginary signifier. This is a broad topic that he set out to analyze in order to explain the elements that affect and greatly influence the art of cinema. He used a psychoanalytical approach to cinema studies.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Cinematic Signifier specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He explains it as an imaginary factor, which is meant to replace or account for the fact that there is an absence of elements. These elements are time and space which are made transparent by the imagination. In this topic, the main emphasize will be on desire as a necessity, spectator identification which focuses on semantics and identification with both the camera and the characters. The cinematic sig nifier is an imaginary element that is absent, but despite its lack, its realization is still evident. Desire as a commodity Metz analyses the cinematic signifier from the viewpoint of the Freudian aspect on desires. These desires he believes when incorporated together make a combined set of aspects that are different from other art forms. This element must be well understood before the cinematic signifier can be dwelt on. Desire for the ego He views the cinema signifier as perceptual. This is because it stimulates more senses than any other art form. The sense of sight is satisfied by the fact that it is a visual medium. Everything we see from the shots, actors, actions and scenes is visual. This is the biggest sense that cinema aims at satisfying as this can go a long way in ensuring ones cinematic experience has been realized. The sense of hearing is because of the fact that it relies on the aspect of sound. Sound has gone through various stages of evolution in relation to cinema . This is from the silent era to the other periods that saw the necessity of other aspects of sound. Sound plays a crucial role in influencing perception. The incorporation of sound is in the dialogue, sound effects and choice of music. This is an advantage that cinema has over other art forms. It can simulate the senses as opposed to the different art forms that stimulate one sense e.g. Music relies on the sense of hearing whereas reading relies on sight.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More An important difference between cinema and other art forms such as theatre or the opera is the time and place factor. Despite the fact that these art forms are also perceptual that is stimulating the same senses i.e. Visual and auditory such as cinema they take place within real space and time. The actions and dialogue are all performed in front of the audience at the same time the perf ormance is taking place. In cinema, this is different as the actual content is recorded at a different time and location and then shown to the audience through a screen. The audience does not get to see what is unfolding at first hand. Cinema in a way can also stimulate the other three senses of smell, taste and touch. Taste can be brought out in the way the food is made to look. The use of things like colour, presentation and even the actions and words of a spectator can bring out this sense. Smell can be brought out through the words, actions and facial expressions of the characters. The sense of touch can be communicated to the spectator through how the surface looks i.e., if it is smooth or rough or through the words, actions and emotions of the spectators. Cinema can be used to bring out all these senses despite the fact that it is not happening in real space and time. He also argues that the perceived is not the reality but acts as a kind of mirror to it and this aspect is uni que to it in comparison to the different field of arts. He uses the example of a child held up to a mirror in which the child comprehends his or herself as being held by the mother who he describes as â€Å"its object per excellence.†This leads to the child to perceive his or her identity, which makes the child to form an ego. The difference, however, between cinema and this deduction is that cinema is not an actual perception of the person. The viewers’ personal experience is not the centre of attention. The viewer instead relates to something different that is governed by aspects that in a way are close to reality. It is a mirror to a different reality. The second desire achieved through cinema is the desire to desire. This refers to the passion to perceive. Most art forms utilize this factor of distance. E.g. In music it is received at a distance in relation to where it was recorded and where it is heard, even in theatre the performance is at a distance from the aud ience. This element of distance is explored by these art forms, but what stands out is the element of lack.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Cinematic Signifier specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Since what is portrayed in the films is taken from real objects, which existed in a different time and space the spectator is still in a way removed from them. Despite the lack of the actual immediate experience, the spectator still gets to perceive what is contained in the final product hence still receiving the full experience. This desire is associated with voyeurism. The third desire is the desire for an object, which is satisfied by fetishism. This is in the fact that the audience knows what they are viewing is not real but they still want to watch it. That is why it is important to make the spectacle as real as possible through factors like the unfolding of events. They audience is aware that the characters, plot and story is fictional. They are aware that what they are seeing is not real but they knowingly filter out this factor so as perceive what is before them as real. (McCabe, 1974) He views the spectator as an artificial construct. This is because cinema can be used to bring out or make certain effects in the viewer such as causing some emotions in the spectator. The courses of renunciation as well as refutation are the procedures that are considered vital in the apprehension of the need. The film spectator exists in a state that is dreamlike. The spectator at one point believes that the story, plot and characters are real. This is still considered despite the fact that the spectator is fully aware that it is just a movie. This he attributes to disavowal. This he compares with fetishism and the castration anxiety of a child. Freud described disavowal as â€Å"a way of the subject refusing to acknowledge reality due to a traumatic event or other factors associated with it† (McCabe, 1974, p.44). This explanation is on child development. When a child perceives that the mother does not have a penis, he gets a fear of being castrated. The child believes that at one time, the mother also had a penis but due to reasons that he cannot comprehend has lost it. This gives the boys a fear of castration. The boy will then develop a way of forgetting what he has seen to deal with the trauma, and this can lead to the development of a fetish to try to cover up the trauma.Advertising Looking for essay on art and design? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This realization of a lack of in the child will make the child to develop two opinions. This factor is what Metz puts as the spectators ability to have two different experiences. In one the spectator knows that what he or she is seeing is fiction, while in the other case the spectator believes that what he or she sees on screen is real. Metz believes that for a good cinematic experience to be realized there must be back and forth shifting of consciousness and belief. Cinema as a technique of the imaginary Cinema has characteristics that are capitalistic and in line with the social industrialized epoch. The capitalistic aspect being that film relies on pictures and sounds this he describes as photography and the use of a phonograph. These he sums as the factors that are combined to lure ones ego and eventually end up satisfying ones desires. Cinema depends on key areas for its realization. These are the cinema industry, which is the recording of films to make profits, and the audienc es desire to watch movies. The second characteristic dwells on the necessity and aim of film, which is to satisfy the viewers’ desires. The cinema industry serves to finance a film as well as to research and modify various areas to satisfy the needs, taste and to bring something different to the spectators. This leads to the production of good films through the coordination and understanding between these sides hence making sure that the moviegoers continue to go to the cinema halls. The cinema writers, film historians, theorists and critics also contribute and influence a lot on cinema. Spectator identification with the camera The spectator identifies with the device that projects the image on the screen, which is the projector, the camera and lastly the screen. Metz stated, â€Å"The projector in context just duplicates the act of perception† (Metz, 1982, p.54). Vision has projective characteristics and characteristics that one acquires subconsciously, the spectator projects what he or she sees and then the data is translated back in a way that the spectator feels. Cinema just serves to duplicate this experience; the screen just records what is seen. Metz sums this up with the statement that the spectator is the projector receiving the information, the spectator is also the screen, and with the combination of these, the spectator is the camera, which is pointed and still recording. (Metz, 1982) Metz argues that the spectator identifies with the camera to a big extent. The spectator is in a way not in the screen but the fact that he or she is watching it and perceives it the cinematic signifier is realized. Spectators when watching a film become so focused in the film that they may not even be aware of themselves. This makes one identify with the camera completely. The cameras movements become the spectators’ movements. When the camera pans to the left, the spectator moves to the left and when it pans to the right so does the spectator. T he tracking shots also become the spectators’ movements and turns. Using different camera angles and movements, the spectator can be made to either be present or absent in the film. Spectator identification with the character Though the spectator knows what is unfolding before him or her is fictional, a feeling or form of connection is still made between the spectator and the character. The spectator connects with the character emotionally even when the character is not at the same place and time. The characters feelings become the spectators. The emotions shared become mutual between them. When the character is happy the viewer is also happy, when the character is sad the viewer also becomes sad and so on. This can only be realized through self-identification of the viewer first due to perception then after the spectator gets to identify with what is on the screen before identifying with the character (Lacan, 1989). Psychoanalysis, structure and the linguistic theory Metz ad opted a lot from the field of semiotics. He focused on how cinema can be used to signify or make the spectator to come up with meaning. The process of signifying depends on certain aspects which are mostly material signifiers these include images, words, titles, music in line with connotative and denotative meanings. He referred to the signifying practice as the way stories were told in movies. He evaluated cinematic equivalents that could be used to stand in for language and this made him to define codes that he believed worked in cinema. In order to understand text one has to break down these codes of signification or the meaning would be lost (Rushton, 2009). The different camera angles and shots also have various meanings, as a shot can serve to communicate meaning to the viewer, whether they know it or not. E.g. a close up can be used to highlight an important element that is being focused on in the film (Lapsey, 1989). Metz states that the analysis of cinema from a linguistic or semiotic angle is possible as it can be used to communicate. However, He maintained that in the language of cinema there is no intercommunication. There is uni-articulation and it is a replication of reality as opposed to the unmotivated arbitrary relationship between the signifier and the signified. The language of cinema comprises of both words and other smaller units. The smaller units are meant to bring meaning to the overall message or signification. Lapsey stated, â€Å"The narrative syntax is divided into eight parts ranging from the smallest segment to the largest part, which is the sequence† (Lapsey, 1989, p.37). Dreams and Fantasy This is focused upon in line with desire because although a spectator should always perceive the difference between a film, and dream, daydream and fantasy this aspect is important as through this desire the cinematic signifier is realized. Conclusion The imaginary signifier is what Christian Metz used in the understanding of the cinema tic signifier. He stresses on points such as identification, perception, lack and other factors in the understanding of the cinematic signifier. He describes and analyses the need for the element of desire as an important aspect in cinema. He focuses on the three types of desires. The first one is the desire for the ego, which is perceptual and is analyzed from the viewpoint of the characteristic of cinema of satisfying the sense of sight and hearing at the same time. The second desire he dwells on is the desire to desire. This is when the spectator overlooks the fact that there is the element of lack in the film and instead just enjoys it. The third is the desire for an object. The spectator experiences this through the fact that despite he or she knows that what is being viewed is not true in a way he or she still gets to enjoy it and perceive in some instances as if it is true. The role of the film industry as a whole makes a big contribution to cinema. The spectator gets to iden tify with both the camera as a medium and the characters on screen largely. Cinema relies on the use of signs; different things are put in a scene to mean different things. The use of semiotics has been used and is evident through the careful analysis of the titles, words etc. The absence of time and space is an important aspect in the study of the cinematic signifier. The cinematic signifier is a key element in the study of cinema. References Lacan, J 1989, Ecrits: a selection, Routledge, London. Lapsey, R 1989, Psychoanalysis in film theory: an introduction, Manchester University Press, Manchester. McCabe, C 1974, From realism and cinema, Longman , New York. Metz, C 1982, The imaginery signifier, Macmillan, London. Rushton, R 2009, Film, theory and philosophy, Acumen, Durham.