Connecting popular culture and science: the case of biotechnology

Much is written on how modern science and technology influence popular culture, but the reciprocal process is largely ignored or even denied: how popular culture influences science and technology. Modern medicine, electronic communication, and biotechnological plant and animal breeding practices are but a few examples that deeply impact everyday life. College students have trouble imagining a world without instant messaging, labeling of genetically engineered foods is hotly debated internationally, SETI enlists private computers to analyze data, and "E.T. phone home" is a tag line understood across many cultures. It has been said that the general public gets the majority of its scientific "knowledge" from popular sources like television, magazines, and fiction. In particular, biotechnology is addressed in headlines proclaiming the dangers of "Frankenfood" - often in the same publication lauding (biotechnological) advances in pharmaceutical research. However, clues to the reciprocal influence of culture on biotechnology can be both obvious (funding trends) and more subtle (debate over the meaning of and need for "science literacy"). One clue can be found in techno-commerce - biotechnology research is extremely expensive, and the field is driven by available funding. Companies, which sell equipment to researchers, spend a great deal of money studying demographics to support sales. While many scientists deny that they are influenced by popular culture, effective and profitable ads aimed at them suggest otherwise. This panel briefly analyzes some influences of biotechnology on popular culture, as reflected in films and cartoons, and then turns the mirror around to explore how texts from popular culture appeal to biotechnologists via advertisements that use popular films, television shows, and music in the scientific marketplace.