It
is only a matter of time before Jurassic
Park becomes a reality. We are already living with the weird hybrid technology
of Dr. Moreau. In fact, high school students from around the world compete in
the annual International Genetic Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, like
Science Fair for prospective Dr. Frankensteins. What does that mean for humanity,
as we have thus far known it? It is hard to say, but the woolly mammoth may yet
get a new lease on life, thanks to the paleontologists and researchers working
to revive the extinct species in Christian Frei & Maxim Arbugaev’s Genesis 2.0, which screens again today
as the winner of the World Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography at
the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.
The
woolly mammoth once roamed free throughout Siberia and its remains can still be
found just beneath the ground of the New Siberian Islands. When the weather permits
access to the archipelago, hearty fortune hunters band together in search of
tusks. They really do not care about the rest of the skeleton, but sometimes
they will pass on word of a particularly complete looking specimen. Peter
Grigoriev, the primary representative tusk hunter is probably better about that
than many of his colleagues, since his brother is paleontologist Semyon
Grigoriev, the director of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk.
Thanks
to tips from tusk hunters, the adventurous academic recovers a mammoth body that
still has preserved, running blood. Eventually, Grigoriev will take those live
cells to Hwang Woo-suk—yes, the very same Hwang of the stem cell research
scandal—whose Sooam Biotech regularly churns out perfect clones of deceased
family dogs. However, for a prospective job like this, they will need the
resources of the National GeneBank in China.
So,
if you want to see a live woolly mammoth in your lifetime, eat healthy,
exercise regularly and maybe it will happen. However, if the mammoth is
resurrected, it will most likely happen in China. Frei hints at the possible
downside to conceding the future of genetic engineering to China through a tense
exchange between Hwang and the PR liaison for the National GeneBank, who seems
completely baffled when Hwang’s American colleague expresses ethical qualms
regarding the prospect of genetic engineering Down Syndrome out of existence.
Who knows what else might be targeted?
There
is much to consider in Genesis 2.0,
but Frei gives us time to do so. This is a ruminative film that values imagery
and symbolism over information downloads. Both Frei and Arbugaev, the former
hockey player turned filmmaker, who documented the tusk hunting as co-director
and Siberian cinematographer, are clearly fascinated by the parallels between the
genetic and primeval trophy-hunting pursuit of the woolly mammoth, occurring simultaneously
and represented by the odd couple brothers. They certainly capture some
remarkable images, especially Arbugaev, who likely deserves most of the credit
for the Jury’s cinematography award.