Internet And Biotech: Two Professors Take On Two Phenomena - Essay Example

INTERNET AND BIOTECH:TWO TAKE ON TWOPHENOMENA KaushikRajanandTizianaTerranovaare whohavemade observationsaboutthehumangenomeandtheinternetrespectively.InBio Capital: theConstitutionofPostgenomicLife,Rajanexplainshowthehumangenomepro- jectdevelopedandwhatitsimplicationsareforsociety.Terranovarevealstheim- pactthattheinternetis havingon societyinNetworkCulture:PoliticsfortheInfor- mationAge. Themappingofthehumangenomeandthe wide-spreaduseof the internetare twoofthemostimportantphenomenahappeningintheworldtoday.Rajanand Terranovahavemadean invaluable contributionin lookingattheseinventionsand dis- coveriesfromaneconomicperspective. Tobetterunderstandsomeoftheirfindings,Iwilldividethisessayintofive parts as follows: topic pp I. BioCapital2-6 II. NetworkCulture6-9 III. RajanandTerranova 9-10 ReinforceEachOther'sIdeas IV. TheTwoAuthorsDiffer10 V. Conclusions 10-11 Bydividingthe materialthusly,moreinsightcanbegainedand more ground covered.So,itbegins. -1- I. BioCapital:theConstitutionofPostgenomicLife The relationshipbetweenscienceand capitalismis carefullyexploredbyRajan. Healsoinvestigatestherelationshipbetweennationalismand globalization.To gaina betterunderstanding,helivedindifferentpartsoftheworld,includingHyderabad, Mumbai(formerlyknown asBombay),andSiliconValley. R a j a n KaushikSunderRajanisabiologistwhoalso obtainedaPh.D.inHistoryand SocialStudies.Heisalsoa2006MicrosoftResearchFellow. (http://research.microsoft.com) ProfessorRajanstartedfollowingthehumangenome projectin1999.Therewasaraceto sequencethe genomicinformationbecause the informationitselfcould bepatentedandthuswasnow recognizedasa potential commodity.Moneycouldbemadefromit.(www.anthro.uci.edu/faculty) H y d e r a b a d HyderabadisamajorcityofIndiathatisalsothe capitalof the stateof Andhra Pradesh. (p.77)AsRajanprogressed inhisstudyofthehumangenomeproject,he learnedthatHyderabadwasbecoming a majorinternationalcenterfor thedevelopment of thebiotechindustry. Thechiefministerof AndhraPradeshwasamannamed ChandrababuNaidu. Duringhistimein office (1995-2004)Microsoftopeneditsfirstresearchlaboratory outsidethe United States.ItwasopenedinHyderabad, India.Naidu(orBabuas heisalsocalled) waschiefministerintheyear2000 but hisVision2020 (pp. 77,78) was thatAndhraPradeshwouldbe"aStatewherepovertyistotally eradicated,whereeveryman,woman,and childhasaccesstonotjustthebasic minimumneeds,buttoallopportunitiesforleadingahappyandfulfilledlife; a knowledgeandlearningsocietybuiltonhardwork,honesty,discipline,and collectivesenseofpurpose." (http://en.wikipedia.org) -2- G e n o m e V a l l e y Rajanfoundthat" thefirstsignoneisgreetedwithin2004upondisembarking at HyderabadairportadvertisesGenomeValley."(p.77) BabuencouragedthedevelopmentofwhatbecameknownasGenomeValley.It isatwohundredacreknowledgeparkwhichis ajoint initiativeoftheIndustrial CreditandInvestmentCorporationofIndia( ICICI ,thenation'slargestprivatebank) andtheAndhraPradeshstategovernment. (p.92)TheKnowledgeParkisafirst of its kindinIndia andinsomewaysismodeledonSiliconValleyUSA.Butwhereas SiliconValleyisprimarilyidentifiedwith computers, GenomeValley is the biotechhub ofIndia.Itprovidesworldclassfacilitiestoover one hundredbiotech companies. M u m b a i( B o m b a y ) MumbaiisthelargestcityofIndiaandhasheldthisdistinctionfor decades. (p.84) Italsohappens to bethe fourthlargest city in the world. Itwasformerlyknown asBombayand it isanoldcitybut thisancientcityis also developingits own modern biotech industryasisits fellowIndian cityof Hyderabad. WhilethereisnothinglikeGenomeValleyin thatpart of Indiayet,there are seventy-twogovernmentormunicipalhospitalsinMumbaiandninety-fiveprivate hospitals. (p.96)Inaddition,there isabiotechnologycompany in Mumbainamed GenoMedBombay. (p.93)GenoMedisseriousaboutloweringhealthcarecostsand improvingpatientoutcomes. (www.medicalnewstoday.com) LabourischeapinMumbai.Garmentindustry.Textile industry.Gemmines. Thereis anabundanceof workers.Ifanyone complains about working conditions, employerscaneasilyreplacethem. Doctorssometimesprotestthe poorstateof public hospitals.Junior doctorslabour unreasonablylong hourswithin a systeminadequate to meetpatients' needs. (www.ijme.in) Therearetoo many patients, not enough doctors.In recent yearsdoctors havebeenphysicallyassaultedby patients'relativesand thishasledtodoctors goingonstrike. -3- Manypatientshavecomplainedthat doctors--especiallyin publichospitals--are brusque, dismissive,andrude.Beingoverworked,frustrated,andfeelingunappreci- atedaresome ofthe factorsthatcause most doctors to berude. But this does not happenonlyinMumbai.IthappensinallofIndia,includingHyderabad. Publichospitalsareintentionallyunderstaffedand underequipped. Althoughstate andcentralgovernmentsclaim support,there is asilentconspiracy to provideonly the bare minimumin the public medical system.This suits the medical and politicalelite. Both are making big money throughtheheavilyprivatisedmedicalcaresystemof India.Science,capitalism,andpoliticshavecombinedtoformanegative relationshipinthisregard. G e ne E dc o m p a n y KaushikRajanmaintainedhis investigationofthehumangenomediscoveriesand found out about a companynamedGeneEd.This businesswasfoundedtoprovidethe lifesciences industry with timelyinformationabout cutting edgetechnologies appropriate to the needs of people in bioscience. SunilMaulik,Salil D. Patel,andIrvingWeimanjoinedforcesto formGeneEd. (p. 239)Weimanis aventure capitalistand formervicepresidentatPrudential Ventures. (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org).Patelhasa PhDin biochemistry fromtheUniversityofSouthampton,UnitedKingdom.AndMaulik.MaulikisCEO of GeneEd(p.262) andheobtainedaMaster of Science in x-raycrystallographyand a PhDinbiophysics ( at BirkbeckCollegein theUniversityof LondonandBrandeis UniversityinWaltham, Massachusettsrespectively). Maulikspentfifteenyears in avariety of positions, startingin research. (p.242)He developedbioinformatics toolsatIntelliGeneticsin Mountain View,Californiabefore movingsuccessivelyinto positionsas technicalsupportprovider,manager, applicationsscientist,salesscientist,and a varietyofother positions. Maulikfelthe neededall these skillsbeforestarting hisown venture.Hehad workedatcompanies wherepeoplelovedtheir jobsbuthehad also workedat -4- companieswherepeoplehatedthe workplace. (p.249)Maulikisdetermined that GeneEdisaplacewhereworkerswillwanttostay. GeneEdfoundersDr.MaulikandDr.SalilPatelhadmore than fifteenyears industryand teachingexperiencewhen theyfoundedGeneEdin 1997.Theydelivered liveseminarsforscientists, investors,attorneys,andothers. (p.243)Theychallenge forGeneEdwasto create softwaretechnologies that could be used to transform scientific contentinto interactiveweb basede-learningcoursesthatretainedthe best elementsofa"liveevent." AseLearningandeMarketingmatured, GeneEdremainedatthe forefrontofthe pharmaceutical andhealthcaretrainingfieldby bringingtogethercontentexpertswith in-housescientistsandinstructionaldesigners. GeneEdprovidesknowledge in all parts of thedrugdevelopment andapproval processincluding research,discovery,development,patient education,physician education,consumereducation,and otherrelated areas. GeneEd'sattemptstoraiseventurecapital is not alwayssuccessful (p.242)but thecompanyhas animpressiveclientlist.GeneEd'sclientsincludeAccenture, AmershamBioSciences,Amgen,Astra Zeneca,Genentech,IBMLifeSciences,Pfizer, andothers. PartnershipsareveryimportanttoGeneEd'ssuccess.GeneEdhas formed partnershipswithcompaniesthatholdstrategicadvantagesincomplimentary productsorservices. (www.geneed.com/company_Backgrounder) B i o C a p i t a l Rajandefinesbio capital(pp. 78-9)as" astudyofthesystemsofexchangeand circulationinvolved in the contemporaryworkingofthelife sciences.GeneEdis an exampleoftheunitingofventurecapitalwithscience.BioCapitalbydefinitionis theunitingofcapitalwithscience--particularlybiology,health,andresearchtocreate abusinessorevenanentireindustry(GenomeValley). -5- S i l i c o n V a l l e y AlthoughSiliconValleywasnot thefirst placeRajanchose to explain the modern economy--itwashisfourthsite (p.193)--hementionsitofteninthebook: thereare closertiesbetweenHyderabad and Silicon Valleythanbetween Hyderabadand some Indiancities. (p.92)....inSiliconValleyarealargenumberofSikhtaxidrivers. (p.182) SilliconValleyisapartofSanFranciscoBayinNorthern California.Theterm wascoinedbyjournalistDonHoeflerin1971todescribethelargenumberof silicon chipinnovatorsandmanufacturersbutnowreferstoallhigh tech businesses inthe areaand is ametonymfor high tech sectorsgenerally.One ofthe first businesseswasfoundedin1939byWilliamHewlettandDavidPackard,two collegestudents. http://en.wikipedia.org II. NetworkCulture:PoliticsfortheInformationAge TizianaTerranovahasuncoveredsomenegativefactsabout theinternetand the digitaleconomyintermsof theexploitationof workers.Accordingtoher,"the digitaleconomyisnotasglamorousorasmuchfun asitismadeoutto be." (p.73)InNetworkCultureTerranovadiscussesfreelabour,biologicalcomputation, the digitaleconomy,global computation,multitude,peer-to-peernetworking,andother matters ofthe information age, such as socialemergence. L a b o u r Theimpactofthe informationage onlabourhasbeen uneven.Not allworkersin this industry haveshared in the wealth generatedbythe internet.Manyworkers inthe internethaveexperiencedexploitation.TerranovadiscoveredthatAOL took advantageofchathosts'loveofdigitalmedia andgotfifteenthousand"volunteers" toplaychat hostfor free. (pp.77, 91-2) "Freelabour is themoment wherethis knowledgeableconsumptionof cultureis transplanted into productiveactivities thatarepleasurablyembracedand atthe same time often shamelesslyexploited."(p.78) Terranovacallsthesefreelabourers"netslaves."Sheexplains"netslavesare not simplyatypicalformoflabourontheinternet."(p.73)Shefurtherstatesthat"free -6- labouron theNETincludes the activityofbuildingwebsites,modifyingsoftware packages,andparticipatinginmailinglists."(p.74) Terranova quotesDonTapscottwhosaid inhisThe DigitalEconomy,thatthe digitaleconomyis"aneweconomybasedonthe networkingofhuman intelligence." (p.78)and(www.electronicbookreview.com) ProfessorTerranovagleansfromthisthat"humanintelligence,however,posesa problem: Itcan notbemanagedin quite the same wayas more traditional typesof labour. "Knowledgeworkersneedopenorganizationalstructurestoproducebecausethe productionofknowledgeisrooted incollaboration...." (p.78) Terranovafeelsthat"thedemocraticpotentialoftheinternetisnot all it seems [but]ifwecan provethatknowledgeworkers arethe avant-gardeof labor,thenthe NETbecomesasiteofresistance."(p.81)and(www.electronicbookreview.com) B i o l o g i c a l T u r n a n d C o m p u t a t i o n Inchapterfour(SoftControl)ofNetworkCulture, Terranovawritesaboutdifferent typesof computation.Computationisanytypeofinformationprocessing, i.e., changinginformation to make itusablebytheobserver. Biologicalcomputation(p.98)isafieldofstudythat reliesheavilyon biology, computerscience,andmathematics.Plainlystated,itisthe use of computers to modelnature,andsimultaneouslythestudy ofnaturetoimprovecomputer usage. (http://en.wikipedia.org) ForTerranova,thebiologicalturnseemstotakebiologicalcomputationonestep further."Thebiologicalturnis...notsimplyanewapproachtocomputation,butit alsoaspirestoofferasocialtechnologyofcontrolableto explainand replicatenot onlythecollectivebehaviourofadistributednetworksuchastheinternet,butalso thecomplexandunpredictablepatternsof contemporaryinformationalcapitalism." (p.101)(underlinings in quote mine)Inplainlanguage,thebiological turnis anytech- nologythatcan be usedto controlpeopleorevents. -7- Onereason thepowersthat bemaywantthis is because ofglobalcomputation (p.108)Globalcomputationis asituationin whichaccesstocomputerresourcesis vastandunlimited.(http://homepages.inf.ed.ac)Accessandresourcessovastin fact, thatnoonepersonoreveninstitutioncankeep track ofwhoseeswhatinformation. S o c i a l E m e r g e n c e Emergenceisatermusedinphilosophy,systemstheories,and sciencesto describethedevelopmentofcomplexorganizedsystems. (http://en.wikipedia.org)In termsofsocialemergenceasitrelates to the internet,theinternetwas conceived by its foundersas consistingofequalnetworks and havingnocentralcoretomanage [i.e. control]it.Thus,thefoundersoftheinternetwouldbeopposedto any biological turn.Yet,Terranovasaysthat"biologicalcomputationparallelstheemer- genceofalargersetof socialtechniquestocontrolbottom-upmilieus ofself- organization.(p.116)(paraphrased) ProfessorTerranovamentionspeoplesuchasDonTapscott,RichardBarbrook, FrancoBerardi andothers. Oneofthepeopleshegivesattentiontoisevolutionary biologistRichardDawkins. (pp.123-7) Dawkinscoinedtheterm "meme." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme) Memeisaunitof culturalinformationtransferablefrom onemindtoanother.Memecanbeputto manydifferentusages. Oneispeer-to-peernetworking. (p.120)Peer-to-peer(p2p)is thememeofegalitariannetworkingthatiscurrentlyemergingthoroughoutsociety [because of]internettechnologiesanda criticallookat[strictsocieties]. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/peer-to-peer) TerranovareferencesthePalestinianIntifada's effectonArabyouthandthehijackerswhoattackedon11 September as examplesofpeer-to-peernetworking.(p.145)and(p.128)respectively. M u l t i t u d e s Thestandarddefinitionfortheword"multitude"is synonymouswith"many." Webster'sdefinitionsoftheword:1) thestateofbeingmany2) agreatnumber 3) crowd4) populace,public. -8- Terranova'sdefinitionof multitude"isdefinedmainly[as]thefluidityof movement. (p.130)Thefluidityofmovement.Sheelaborateson thissubjectinasec- tionof chapterfourcalledHackingtheMultitude (p.116):"Likethesmoothmilieus ofbiologicalcomputation,themultitudetoois anecessarilyvaguetermthatis definedmainly [as]thefluidityofmovementand bytheformationsthat suchfluidity leavesbehindasakindofafter-effect.Assuch,it doesnotdenytheexistence ofthestratificationsofidentityandclass,but itopensup anotherdimension where suchpositionsare caughtin terms of othertypesofcapacity.Ifthisisthecase, thenbiologicalcomputation(initswidestpossiblesense)isanattempt to'hackthe multitude'--tohackthesocialatitsmostfluidand leaststratified,whereverit escapestheconstrictionsofrigidformsoforganizationbutalsoofidentityand class...."(p.130)and(http://lipmagazine.org/ccarlsson)"Multitude,"shestatesina furthercontext,"unlikeclass,amultitudeis notrootedinasolidclassformation. (p.130) III. RajanandTerranovaReinforceEachOther'sIdeas BiologicalStrategymeansviewinghumaneffortas moreimportantthan computer technology. (www.stigmergicsystems.com/simpleexplain) KaushikRajanandTizianaTerranovafeelthatwhetherin healthcareor in the internet,themachineorsystemshouldbesubservienttothehuman,nottheother wayaround.Bothareconcernedaboutthefinancialchallengesthatpeoplehaveto facewhetheritbetheentrepreneursofstart-upindustriesorthenetslavesofAOL. ForTerranovaSiliconValleyisanegativeecosystemwhosesuccessis basedon disruptivetechnologies. ( Network, p.103)For Rajanitisaplaceofhigh-risk investment.(BioCapital, p.125) Bothoftheseauthorsarewelleducatedandwelltraveled.HemovedfromIndia totheUnitedStates.ShemovedfromItalytoEngland.Bothare universityprofessors.Rajanispartof theanthropologydepartmentattheUniversity ofCaliforniainIrvine andTerranovaispartofthesociologydepartmentat the -9- UniversityofEssexinLondon. (www.anthro.uci.edu/faculty)and (www.essex.ac.uk/sociology/people/staff/terranova.shtm)respectively. The merefactthatthey couldgotoaforeigncountryandachievethestatus of a universityprofessorspeaksvolumes intheirfavor.A professorshipisstill an importantpositioneveninthetwenty-firstcentury.Consideringthefactthatmany native peopleinEnglandandAmericaworkasdishwashersandjanitors,thesetwo authorshavetobeveryadeptatnegotiating with people. Andby nomeansis thisaputdownof dishwashersor janitors.Thesetwojobsareverynecessaryand theemployeeswhoholdthesejobsarehardworkingpeopleforthemostpart. Rajanand Terranova have workedvery hard toachievethepositionsthat theyhaveatpresent.They extendedmucheffortin everything theyhavedone whetherasscholars,professors,or authors. Theyhaveyetanother commoninterestinthisregard:bothhavehelped investigatephenomenathatarechangingourworld.Intheprocesstheyhave broughtnew perspectivesandideastothesemajordevelopments. IV.TheTwo AuthorsDiffer Bothauthorscriticizetheproblemstheyfindbutonegetsthefeelingthat Terranovaismorecriticalandevenmorepessimisticinhertonewith regardto thefutureof computertechnology'simpactonpeoplethanRajanisaboutthe future of biotechnology. As mentioned above,TerranovaseesSiliconValleyasa bringerof disruptivetechnologies.(p.103) Sheseesbiological computationasan attempttohackorbringundercontrolthemultitudeofthepopulation. (p.130) RajanismoresympathetictobusinessinterestthanTerranova.He usesphrases like"consumersshouldbeindebtedtothesecompaniesforundertakinghigh-risk," (p.81) and"highamountsofinvestment requiredtobringdrugstomarket." (p.126) V. Conclusions Computertechnologyandbiotechnologywillhavealarge roletoplayinsociety inthefuture.Thesetechnologieswillnotdecrease.Ifanything,asthetwo authors -10- haveshown,becauseof theamountoftime,effort,andmoneyputintothese industries,theirplaceinhumanlifewillonlyincrease. RajanandTerranova,twouniversityprofessors,haveeducatedtheirreadersto understandthatthismomentincapitalismhasmanyopportunitiesandthepotential forgreatprofitbutpeoplemust alsobeonguardagainstthepossibilityof injusticeandexploitation. InBioCapital RajanmentionsAldousHuxley's BraveNew World. (p.208)Itwas aworldwherehumanswerecreatedinalab.TheworldHuxleydescribedwasso tightlycontrolledtherewaspracticallynoescapefromit.AsfarasTerranovais concerned,the internetand biotecharehere.Wewillnotescapethem. Thisdoes not meanofcoursethatTerranova wouldwantustogive upthe fight.She believes thatitispossible thatknowledgeworkers,theveryoneswho areexploited,couldbe theavant-garde of a new resistance (p.81)tothe excessesof technology when itturnsnegativetowardhumanity. Video casetterecordershavebeenonthemarketforyears,havebeen purchasedbymillionsof people. Yet thereare stillmillionswhohaveadifficult timesettingtheclocksthat arepartof manyvcr's.Computers arenoless complicated. Itis difficultformanypeopletoadjusttothemanychangesthat technologyis bringing forth. Thefact thatthisisnotthe firstgenerationthat hashadtoconfronta new technology oughttoprovidesome edificationifnot somecomfort.Thetextile workersof earlynineteenthcentury Britain--theLuddites--also hadadifficulttime adjustingtothenewtechnologiesof theIndustrialRevolution.Theyrespondedwith violenceandultimatelylost.Sofarthepeopleofthetwenty-firstcenturyhave not respondedwith violenceagainstbiotechnologyortheinternet.Some religious leadersareopposedtosomeaspectsof biotechbutthusfartheprotesthave beenverbalandpeaceful.No oneis reallysureofwhatdirectionthenew technologywilltakeus soeveryone is unsure what humanity'snextmove shouldbe. -11- BIBLIOGRAPHY (books) Rajan, Kaushik.BioCapital: TheConstitutionofPostgenomicLife. Durham, NC: DukeUniversityPress,2006. Terranova, Tiziana.NetworkCulture: PoliticsfortheInformationAge. London: PlutoPress,2004. (websites) "Microsoft ResearchFellowships."MicrosoftResearch. 23 Dec.2006. "DepartmentofAnthropologyFaculty."UniversityofCalifornia,Irvine. 23 Dec.2006. "NaraChandrababuNaidu."Wikipedia: theFreeEncyclopedia. 26 Dec.2006. "GenoMedClearedByIndianGovernmentToDistributeHealthCaretoIndia." 30 Aug 2006. MedicalNewsToday. 23 Dec.2006 Thomas, George. "JuniorDoctors, Strikes,andPatient CareinPublicHospitals." Apr-June 2006.IndianJournalofMedicalEthics. 23 Dec.2006. Maulik,Sunil. "ACareerinE-learning." 3 November2000.AmericanAssociationfor theAdvancementofScience.26 Dec.2006. "CompanyBackgrounder."GeneEd. 26 Dec.2006. -12- "SiliconValley."Wikipedia:the FreeEncyclopedia. 26 Dec.2006. Terranova, Tiziana. "Free Labor:ProducingCulturefortheDigitalEconomy." 26 July 2005. Economicand ResearchCouncil. 26 Dec.2006. "Biologically-inspiredcomputing."Wikipedia: theFreeEncyclopedia. 26 Dec. 2006. Cardelli, Luca. "GlobalComputation." 1996. ACM ComputingSurveys. 26 Dec. 2006 "Emergence."Wikipedia: theFreeEncyclopedia. 23 Dec. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org> "Meme."Wikipedia: theFreeEncyclopedia. 23 Dec.2006 "Peer-to-Peer." Wikipedia: theFreeEncyclopedia23 Dec. 2006 Carlsson, C."AttitudeAdjustor:NetworkCulture." 04 Jan 05. LipMagazine. 26 Dec.2006 Small,Peter. "ExplainingBiologicalStrategy."2003.StimergicSystems26 Dec. 2006< www.stigmergicsystems.com/simpleexplain/biopaper1.html> "DepartmentofSociology: Dr.Tiziana TerranovaMAPhD. 2005.Universityof Essex,UK.26 Dec. 2006. -13- Read More