The Wrong Turn Technology Can Take

            Windup Girl is a bleak futuristic novel that takes place in the city of Bangkok. There are many horrifying aspects to the society Paolo Bacigalupi paints, and readers can’t help but wonder what can be done to avoid this future. One of the important points in this novel is that although science is neither inherently good nor evil, human greed and stunted foresight can turn scientific and technological advances into bad and unintended results. Genetically modified organisms are raised throughout the book as an example of how various scenarios could play out with dangerous consequences should the technology be utilized by selfish and evil corporations.

            Allowing widespread use of GMO’s is currently a controversial topic as there are many pros and cons, as well as many unknown outcomes.  Research in this field is still its infancy and end results need to be thoroughly researched. Among the benefits of GMO’s is the fact that they can help support the rapidly growing population through the ability to produce large yields, while efficiently using land. Additionally GMO’s are more disease resistant, lowering the need for pesticides and herbicides. Right now, GMO’s seem to be the answer to the questions of how to feed a growing population and curb chemical pollution that runs-off from crops. But the futuristic picture Paolo Bacigalupi sees of a GMO-dominated Bangkok should cause us to keep a wary eye on how GMO’s are used and whether a corporation such as Monsanto should be in control of these decisions.

            Windup Girl shows us some frightening possible scenarios that GMO’s could create in a couple hundred years. One of the most frightening situations implied in the book is the possibility that GMO organizations could create engineered viruses to kill off target crops so that their sterile, engineered crops are the only ones that can stay alive. This allows these companies to maximize their profits by their subsequent monopoly of the food industry. Could a Monsanto-like company have that much power in the future? In the present, companies have already proven to only have their self-interest in mind when they lobby for GMO’s to remain unlabeled in food products.

            Alternatively, should a natural disease develop among crops, the ability to create disease free strains of GMO’s could be lifesaving. Although the science of GMO’s is purely meant as a harmless technological advance to aid in problems such as feeding a growing population, one can envision the potential control a company like Monsanto could have over the world in the future.

            Windup Girl also brings up scenarios that raise moral questions brought about by advances in GMO’s. One character in the book, Emiko, is known as the Windup Girl, for she has been engineered to obey the orders of others. Emiko lives a joyless existence as she is regularly used as a sex slave. Other windups are used to fight in the military. Many moral and ethical questions will need to be addressed if and when GMO’s advance to the stage that they can control human genetics and reproduction.  A society built on the unfair and unethical treatment of a sub-class of windups like Emiko who do the dirty work may well face a doomed future.

            It is frightening that science and technological advances can become evil and dangerous if directed by impersonal and unconscionable corporations. Although these scenarios are seemingly far off, they must be considered now. GMO’s could be a great stride in science, feeding the world and reducing pollution. But that same science could be used to create engineered beings that are forced to have a humiliating existence attending to the demands of an uncaring society. A less morally complex scenario could arise if a corporation, set on controlling market share for its products, used the science of GMO’s to create a disease on target crops and thereby force people to eat food that is the product of genetic modification.

Science in the hands of the thoughtless and ethically deficient could change the planet in many negative ways, biologically as well as morally.