Y11 Daniella Wu responds to some surprising connections:
“Recently members of Medical Society were given the opportunity to hear a leading expert in the field of reproductive medicine and fertility, Professor Robert Winston, talk about his fascinating research at Alleyn’s.
The talk began by Professor Winston showing us some paintings, all of them produced at around the 1500s; in these paintings, people with genetic conditions such as osteogenesis imperfecta (a congenital bone disorder meaning brittle bones are susceptible to fracture) were placed at the centre of attention, but they were mocked by those surrounding them for suffering from diseases they could do nothing about. This made me grateful that today, we are able to have a better understanding about these genetic diseases, and how people with these conditions can be treated not teased.
Professor Winston also explained that environment versus heredity was important in understanding eugenics. He talked about the different eugenicists whose research worryingly influenced many laws around the world. One of them was Harry Laughlin, a prominent American eugenicist in the early 20th Century. His compulsory programme of subjects for eugenic sterilisation: the insane, criminals, epileptics, alcoholics, and others, had a huge impact on the American eugenics policy, as well as having a large influence on Nazi Germany’s sterilisation programme. In the 1952 Carnegie Substitution Paper, Dr Adolph H. Schultz tried to prove that black people were genetically different to white people. This research proves that the white fear of miscegenation (the interbreeding of people considered to be of different racial types) in America and some parts of Europe used, wrongly, the knowledge of science and genetics to exploit political beliefs.
As someone with huge enthusiasm and commitment towards music, I was particularly interested in Professor Winston’s musical references throughout his talk. These included Beethoven’s string quartet in C# Minor and rather amusingly, One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” as the backing-track to a genetics video he showed us; Professor Winston explained that the title indirectly referred to how every cell is unique and beautiful. Whilst talking about how far people would be willing to go in terms of genetic engineering, Professor Winston stressed the importance of the ability to communicate, and wondering if we were willing to lose that powerful ability in trying to make people faster or stronger, by showing us a video of Bernstein conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing the fourth movement of Haydn’s Symphony Number 88, where Bernstein was hardly conducting at all, but more communicating with the orchestral players using facial expressions.
It goes without saying that the talk was extremely useful in broadening our understanding of genetics and fertility treatment, given by someone who was able to heighten the audience’s interest, whether they were a student or a teacher with a science degree.”
