Abstract
Becoming You is a book for parents and children showing the process of human egg fertilization, gestation and genetic testing. Written by Shizuko Takahashi M.D. and PhD at The University of Tokyo, Department of Biomedical Ethics and Gynecology is a working genetic counselor/reproductive endocrinologist. Images were made by research based artist Geraldine Ondrizek, Professor of Art at Reed College. As a genetic counselor, Takahashi has seen numerous prospectively pregnant and pregnant patients trying to make a decision based on false assumptions of genetics. With genetic testing becoming more and more extensive and gene editing on the horizon, the Takahashi has felt strongly that children need to be more educated on genetics in order to view genetics in a positive and beautiful way so that they could make a more autonomous choice when the time comes to do so themselves. Ondrizek worked in collaboration with developmental laboratories in Tokyo to show images of the latest scientific research being conducted, including epigenetics to create the poetic and realistic images in the book. The book aims to illuminate each stage of human development and give both parents and children a visual understanding of how the reader, as a child and parent, came to be him or herself in relation to their own genetics. The panels are both images to illuminate the text and works of art. Part of the work was shown at the European Cultural Center in the Venice Biennale in 2022. Fusosha, Tokyo will publish Becoming You in 2025.
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
The Arts in Social, Political, and Community Life
KEYWORDS
BIOMEDICAL ETHICS, GENETIC TESTING, ART AND MEDICAL SCIENCE
