In 1946 the Magic 8-Ball was introduced - a toy to foretell events, to help make choices, and to seek advices. Today, many people still use the magical toy to help answer many life questions for fun or for serious guidance. Ask the Magic 8-ball a question and see the answer in the small window displaying one of the many dozen random messages such as "Yes", "No", "Certainly", "Ask Again", etc ... Proceed with life using your answer from the Magic 8-Ball.
The Figure below has an image of the double-helix DNA on the Magic 8-Ball window.
In 1946 the Magic 8-Ball was introduced - a toy to foretell events, to help make choices, and to seek advices. Today, many people still use the magical toy to help answer many life questions for fun or for serious guidance. Ask the Magic 8-ball a question and see the answer in the small window displaying one of the many dozen random messages such as "Yes", "No", "Certainly", "Ask Again", etc ... Proceed with life using your answer from the Magic 8-Ball.
The Figure below has an image of the double-helix DNA on the Magic 8-Ball window.
What do you think is the meaning of this Magic DNA 8-Ball?
The Collins 2003 paper mentioned something very interesting about this topic.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of the original magic 8 ball is to supposedly, by chance, provide wisdom to lifes unanswered questions. The idea of tying the magic 8 ball and DNA together is a very interesting one. Instead of shaking the ball and it providing an answer fortuitously, DNA provides actual genetic instructions that could provide potential wisdom in regards to health outcomes, prevention, and decision making for one's life. Also, the mapping of the human genome could, in theory, tell one's future. Perhaps shaking the hypothetical DNA magic 8 ball would reveal a mutation or a specific base pair that cold potentially cause a problem. Then one could alter their behavior in order to prevent such problems from occurring. Would each person have his or her own mapped out human genome 8 ball?
ReplyDeleteTo me this could mean that your future in the genomics. People look to the magic 8-ball to ask questions about their future, but maybe the answers we are looking for are already built into ourselves in our DNA.
ReplyDeleteI think Alyson Rofrano hit the nail on the head with her comment... the magic 8-ball's purpose is to provide answers and guidance to a wide variety of questions. The DNA helix shown within the 8-ball is appropriate because, essentially, the helix represents the answer to many of lifes questions. In the future, our improved understanding of the Human Genome and insanely long DNA sequence can potentially guide the way we live and the ways in which we use medicine to improve our quality of life.
ReplyDeleteAlyson comment's thoroughly sums up what the Magic DNA 8-Ball implies about humanity. Essentially we can trace almost anything about a person (i.e. looks, personality traits, predispositions, maybe even sexual orientation) back to their DNA. However, even in theory, using the Magic DNA 8-Ball to tell the future could bring up ethical and moral dilemmas. Would it be right to use the human genome to possibly abolish a person's health problems (if possible) or is it essentially the same thing as promoting prevention?
ReplyDeleteI also agree that the image of the double-helix DNA on the Magic 8-Ball window is somehow indicative of the future and the development of genomics. As stated, the purpose of the Magic 8-Ball is to provide subtle guidance for people's questions regarding all aspects of life and the future through a simple answer. The image of the double-helix DNA, therefore, is likely an answer, or a foretelling message, relaying that perhaps DNA is the key to the future. It is already common knowledge that DNA is what makes each person an individual as well as a part of the human race. Perhaps this is suggesting that further exploration into DNA will bring us a deeper understanding of ourselves and possibly open new doors for development and expansion in the future.
ReplyDeleteAs we all know, a Magic 8-Ball is a game children use to predict the outcome of every day events. Many of us have probably even shaken the 8-Ball numerous times in a row to get our desired answer. While it's possible that some of its predictions may be true, it can't be relied upon for absolute answers. Similarly, a given gene may not predict the likelihood that a person will develop a disease. In other words, an 8-Ball and our genetic makeup will not always give us the absolute truth. Just because you have a gene that codes for a specific disease does not mean it will be expressed. There are other determining factors such as environment that affect gene expression.
ReplyDeleteI find this image quite ironic. Although much of what has been said already is true- similar to children using the Magic 8 Ball to make predictions about the future, we are currently using DNA to make predictions of disease and health. Although this similarity exists there is a major difference not yet mentioned. Anyone who played with a Magic 8 Ball growing up knows that if you receive an unwanted answer to a question, more often than not you shake it again, or several times, until you get the desired answer. Unlike the 8 Ball, the DNA of an individual cannot be instantly changed if the predictions of disease or susceptibility are undesirable. In many cases this information can create opportunities to prevent or alter the course of diseases, but many irreversible psychological effects on the individual level, and public health effects on the community level exist. Therefore, I think this image serves both as a warning and as a symbol of enlightenment. Although genomics has potential to provide many answers regarding disease and health, and can create great hope for the future of many individuals and communities, its possible adverse and unchangeable effects should be considered as well.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone has made really good points here. I actually found difficulty in interpreting the DNA strand on the magic eight ball any further than what was covered in the last posts. DNA and the work being done to understand it has not only been a key element in the past and present, but will be an enormous part of the future. Could this study of DNA one day help us in accurately and effectively predicting the future, like children hope the magic eight ball will? I found an interesting passage that describes a futuristic scenario:
ReplyDelete“As he chats with the young mother, the doctor flicks a cotton swab into the mouth of her infant son, collecting a small sample of mucus from inside his cheek. In the back room of his office, he inserts the sample into a machine, which extracts DNA from the mucus cells and compares it with the genetic material on a dime-size chip. Minutes later, a computer printer begins to spit out a list of the infant's genes. Fortunately, all but a few genes are labeled ‘normal.’ It is those few that the doctor discusses as he explains the results to the mother. ‘Your son's genetic inheritance is generally good’, he says ‘but he is somewhat predisposed to skin lesions. So starting right away, he should be protected against excessive exposure to the sun.’ And the doctor warns, ‘he may well be susceptible to cardiovascular disease later in life. To lessen this nsk, after about age 2, he should begin a lifelong low-fat high fiber diet’” (Jaroff, p. 24).
Could one day our understanding of DNA be so great that we are able to do something like what is mentioned in this passage? Such precise predictions of the future of one particular individual's health would have a HUGE impact on prevention. One day DNA could be human's accurate and precise magic eight ball.
(If this type of futuristic possibility really interests you, check out the movie GATACA if you haven't seen it. In the beginning of the movie, the main character has his DNA interpreted as a baby and it predicts his entire medical future and it even estimates his exact age of death)
Jaroff L. Keys to the kingdom. Time 1996;148(14):24-9.
I believe this image of a Magic 8 Ball with a strand of DNA symbolizes how the sequence of our base pairs, which determines our physical and characteristic features is completely left up to chance. I believe there is a little irony in this picture as well(devynw21) because Just like you can ask a magic 8 ball if you'll get an A on a paper or grow up to be a professional basketball player, and get an answer that is not contingent upon the effort and dedication you put into achieving those goals, is the similar to how you can ask if you will have blue eyes or curly hair. In both circumstances the answer you receive from the 8 ball is based upon chance and does not take into account all the external factors, which may influence obtaining the outcome you, desire. This is because people are prototypes of their parents and chance determines the sequencing of base pairs, which translate into an individual’s physical and characteristic features
ReplyDeleteTo me, the Magic DNA 8 Ball signifies a few different things, depending upon whether you were considering its meaning in years past, are currently (as we are now), or will in the future. In the past, DNA and the human genome were mysterious concepts of which we knew little about. Similar to when a person would shake the Magic 8 Ball in the past, knowledge about our genome was part of the great unknown: we had no idea what we were going to get. People's cards were already dealt, but they had no way of knowing what was in store for them. Since then, tremendous progress has been made: we have since mapped the entire human genome, we have the technology to predict our likelihood of diseases based on, perhaps, a single gene being present, and the list goes on. Currently, it seems that the Magic DNA 8 ball represents this genetic technology, in that we turn to it for answers about our future that we don't know ourselves. Even so, the answers are simple and basic: "Yes", "No", "Maybe", "Ask again later", etc. In the future, with even greater advances in genetic technologies, the Magic DNA 8 Ball could very likely represent what it does presently, but instead there will be a bigger and better, more knowledgeable version, a Super Magic DNA 8 Ball. Answers appearing in the necessarily larger window would be more complex, paragraphs even, just as the amount of information we will be able to acquire about our genes will be much more specific and abundant as we progress into the future.
ReplyDeleteI really like the direction in which S. Martin-Tsoupas took this analogy. From what I understand of that point, the answers we receive from the Magic DNA 8 Ball today are far less specific and less forthcoming than they could be with future advancements in genetics technologies. However, I do think it is also important to remember that there are both nature and nurture aspects to particular health outcomes. While it’s unlikely that a person’s genetics and environment will have a quantitatively equal amount of influence over their personal health, it is still important to recognize that they both play a role. This is not to say that people can always change their genetic predispositions with their lifestyle behaviors. This is also not to say that genetics are not good estimates of what a person’s physiological future will hold. With the advancement of technology and continued studies of genetics/genomics, it seems highly likely that the fortunes told by the Magic DNA 8 Ball will become more specific, more complex, and less of a guess; however, they are not complete answers. They will be better estimates of the future, but that will not make them infallible.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the Magic 8-Ball is in no way accurate in predicting future events or outcomes in a person's life. This is because a person is able to shake the ball as many times as they desire until they reach the fortune that is most desirable. Also, the fortunes that the Magic 8-Ball sometimes displays, such as "Maybe", "Ask Again", or "Can't Predict Now", are vague and don't really help us to predict the future. The Magic DNA 8-Ball shows some similarities and differences to the Magic 8-Ball. The Magic DNA 8-Ball would probably be extremely accurate in predicting physical characteristics of a person, such as eye color, hair type and so on. However, the Magic DNA 8-Ball maybe similar to the regular Magic 8-ball in that it may have a lower accuracy in predicting health and disease. This is where I agree with the comment made by L.Goldberg. The Magic DNA 8-Ball could show a gene sequence that codes for a specific disease, but it is not always certain if that would be expressed because epidemiology shows us that environmental and social factors are tied to our health. The Magic DNA 8-Ball could definitly be used to tell us possible health outcomes, but it should not be completely relied on.
ReplyDeleteI believe the magic 8-ball is a symbol of the future. I believe peoples specific genes are going to define the future of medicine. The image of the DNA strand being in the magic 8-ball is like an answer to your future and how the future of health care is going to change because of genetic testing. It is extremely interesting to me because I believe this could change the entire outlook of medicine. Knowing people's genes can help with prevention of chronic diseases and with how to treat certain diseases. I believe genetic testing could be extremely accurate but could also affect how people live their lives. Knowing you have a gene for heart disease or breast cancer could cause one to live in fear or cause them to think they are inevitable to getting those diseases. I believe this is where prevention needs to be implemented. I believe this image of the magic 8-ball is a unique image showing how genetics is going to change the future of medicine.
ReplyDeleteI agree with many of the comments above, that the DNA in the ball represents a prediction of future possibilities for the holder. You shake an 8 ball and receive one of the answers inside at random. Similarly, you receive genes at random from the selection in your gene pool. Although using these genetic answers to predict an individual's risk of disease is beneficial to an individual (as others have mentioned), I find the actual picture slightly disturbing.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of the magic 8-balls that I used to play with, I recall asking a question, and shaking the ball until I got the answer that I wanted. With the ability to do genetic testing on a fetus early on in pregnancy, it may be easier for a woman to terminate a pregnancy and just shake again if she did not like the answer from her child's "Magic DNA 8-Ball."
I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing. While the intentions of predicting pieces of an individual's life through genetic testing is good, it is something that should not be abused, nor taken as an absolute. In the case of testing during pregnancy, it could easily become abused. But in the case of older people getting these tests, and as Shannon Doherty mentioned, knowing that he/she has a gene that puts them at risk for a particular disease could put them under stress that may cause the onset earlier than if they hadn't found out. Having a gene for a disease is a predictor of higher risk and not having a gene for a particular disease does not mean that an individual has no risk for it.
Like a magic 8-ball, our genes can be used as predictors for some scenarios, but they are not absolute answers and are not meant to be tried until you have the answer that you like.
-Becca Adlman
I thought Becca made a great point about the idea that although having genetic testing and information available for predicting a person's health is a good thing, it also has the potential to be abused. I see the Magic DNA 8-Ball as both a good thing and the beginning of a slippery slope. As others have mentioned, being aware of one's genetic predisposition for certain diseases or conditions can be helpful because then preventive measures can be taken to lessen the effects. On the other hand, genetic information can possibly lead to a greater number of pregnancies that are terminated (for invalid reasons), and, as technology advances, genetic engineering and "picking and choosing" desired characteristics for a child. This is just one of the many ethical implications that arise from genetic testing.
ReplyDeleteBecca, along with many others, surfaced interesting points about the correlation between the DNA 8-Ball and genetic testing. Shaking a magic 8-ball that had the ability to tell one's genetic build up, both pro and con, can be quite the double-edged sword. Not only may there be the chance of increased abortions, whether necessary or not, but the ability of humans to figure out their genetic flaws may cause another bigger issue. The elongation of human lives can put direct and indirect pressures on the rest of the world in regards to population control and scarcity of food, water, and other necessary resources.
ReplyDeleteIf there are fanatics standing outside of Planned Parenthood every Sunday morning, taunting and harassing those walking past or into the establishment, just imagine how they would act if/when the Magic DNA 8-Ball comes out on the market. I'm already nervous.
I agree with t.burks's post saying how that magic 8-ball with the DNA strand represents the random chance of receiving certain genes from your parents. The magic 8-ball will always be tool to try and "predict" the future and that is what we are trying to with genetics. With the research from the Human Genome Project the magic 8-ball could become not just a prediction but a legitimate way to control the future of human sickness. I feel like the magic 8-ball is a symbolic stepping stone where we will no longer have to try and predict the future of genomics but soon we will be able to select certain genes and fix them to help out all those who need it.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the previous posts that the DNA strand in the Magic 8-Ball signifies the uncertainties of the future of the beholder. I also think that because the DNA is a double helix structure that this could parallel the “2 sides of things”: pros and cons, cause and effect and privilege and abuse. Becca touched upon one of my concerns with the idea of the DNA Magic 8-Ball: What happens when and if abuse to the 8-Ball’s “fortune telling” abilities occur? Will this abuse eliminate that 0.1% of genetic difference between everyone?
ReplyDeleteTo me, the magic 8-ball is not the first thing I would seek to ask if I had a serious question to answer in my life. I feel as if the magic 8-ball is just for fun. But when I think about placing DNA inside the ball, it becomes a complicated structure. For instance, if everyone had their own magic 8-balls displaying their own genetic make up, then some of these serious questions about the future and present could thoroughly be answered. If we knew a lot more about the human genome then we could use this to help each and every individual to answer questions about their own predispositions to diseases and whatnot and maybe even help them prevent them from occurring.
ReplyDeleteI like what Becca said about shaking the 8-ball until you get the result that you want. She brings up a concern that I'm sure many share about the abuse of nature that genetics testing could bring about. I believe that we can and should continue to push the boundaries of our knowledge of DNA, but I also think we should use some caution as to when and how we use that knowledge.
ReplyDeleteFollowing along Waylon C's comment, will people choose to abort a baby that they have predicted will have a genetic mutation leading to serious disease? Is this moral/ethical, or is that even for us to say?
I agree with the comments stating that the magic 8 ball helps to provide people with answers for the future. Just as you would use a magic 8 ball to find an answer to a question the DNA double helix provides us with genetic answers. The double helix can be used to provide genetic testing to answer people's questions about their genetic future. I personally know someone who had genetic testing done to see whether or not their children had the cancer gene. The double helix can be used to answer our questions about our genes. If the human genome was studied for everyone we could eliminate these uncertainties aabout our own genetics but is that moral/ethical? I like the comment said above that if we used genetic testing would people use it unmorally? Would we choose to not have children if we knew we had certain genes? Personally I'm not sure if I would want to know.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much agree with what most people have given as their answers. Specifically, I think Alyson and Matt H. definitely are on the right track. Our DNA basically tells what we are all going to be like and gives answers to many questions such as what physical traits and personality characteristics we are all going to carry. As does the original magic 8 ball giving answers to many of life's questions and dilemmas from childhood questions and even adult situations. This picture of the magic 8 ball with a DNA strand in it is a perfect display of the idea explained above.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alsyon and Matt H. as well, our DNA holds many answers to who we are, and what our may lie in our future. Placing the double helix inside the 8-ball creates an analogy between the way the magic 8-ball holds the "answer" to our questions, much as the DNA holds the answers to questions about human life and how we are who we are. However, while the magic 8-ball toy may not have real predictive power to answer our questions, the DNA helix does contain the answers we might have about who we are, and what we are going to be like.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Alyson that the picture of the DNA in the Magic 8 Ball indeed hints that the human genome could hold the answers to genetic dispositions and therefore, help a person live a healthier and longer life. This would account for the "yes" or "no" messages that are often seen for a regular magic 8 ball. However, I believe this magic DNA 8 ball would still have the "maybe" or "ask again" component because genetic material is not the only information needed to live a long healthy life. Environmental factors also play a major role in the life of a person and therefore, even with the whole human genome mapped, a "maybe" option is still plausible.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the previous comments. I feel that the magic 8 ball serves as an analogy for the uncertainties that the future holds. Our DNA determines what we are like, whether it's physical traits, or personality traits. I also think Becca made a very interesting point by saying that we may shake the 8 ball until we come up with a result that we like. This can be compared to doing genetic testing on a fetus, which is a very slippery slope. Once you start 'picking and choosing' children based on their genetic predisposition, it becomes a huge ethical dilemma. While I think that genetic testing is a good thing, I think it needs to be regulated since it has the potential to be abused.
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of the comments above, that the magic 8 ball represents the genetic answers to who we will be in the future. Like a magic 8 ball, there is some uncertainty and chance which genes you will receive from your parents. Also, a magic 8 ball sometimes tells you that it doesn't know the answer. I'm wondering how much information in our DNA should we be allowed to know, and who should be allowed to know it. However, genomics could have a huge impact on healthcare and prevention in the future. Is it better to strive to help a large population of people, even if it means dealing with the stress of finding out that you have a gene that puts you at high risk of cancer?
ReplyDeleteThere are many potential answers that a magic 8-ball can give someone (yes, no, maybe, ask again later, etc.) Some of these answers are decisive and certain, while others are more vague. DNA can be the same way. If a person were to "ask" their DNA about aspects of themselves, they would get answers very similar to a magic 8-ball's. While some genes are always expressed if they are present in a person's DNA, such as dominant physical characteristics, this is not always the case. The gene for schizophrenia, for instance, acts differently. A person may have the gene for schizophrenia, but never actually know it is there unless something triggers it. A gene like this, which interacts with and depends on a person's environment, is much like one of the more vague (maybe, ask again later) answers that an 8-ball can give.
ReplyDelete- Rachel Corrado
Also, consider that the original directions for the Magic 8-Ball require you to ask a “yes” or “no” question. In turn, you would receive one of 20 answers, most of which aren’t so black-and-white: “most likely”, “signs point to yes”, “concentrate and ask again”, “outlook not so good”, “better not tell you now”, etc. Outlook not so good? Well, it might not be so bad, either. Better not tell me now? Well, who says I don’t want to know? Under what authority? In general, I think it would be challenging for society to balance current scientific limitations and social risk with long-term benefits.
ReplyDeleteIn trying to achieve this balance, society selects for “perfect” – but individual definitions of “perfect” are rarely ever the same. The “best” genetic makeup for one person won’t necessarily be considered the “best” by another. I agree with the idea that abuse of genetic information could reduce the 0.1% that makes us genetically and beautifully different. How do we, as future healthcare professionals, begin to prepare society to make informed choices? How can we be sure this oracle 8-Ball will be regulated for accuracy, reliability and utility? Moreover, who maintains the rights to distribute and use this modern tool? How will we protect from commercialization of this product?
I don’t believe the Magic DNA 8 Ball will contain one’s own and unique genetic make-up because realistically speaking - that would be difficult for a manufacturing company to produce so many different products. However, I do believe that the ball will contain the base pairs and mutations that represent diseases and physical traits. Furthermore, it is interesting to think about the fact that this ball would obviously be of more interest to the sales of the ball company rather than the actual scientific accuracy behind it. I would think that as any company wishes, they would create the ball to be as enticing and marketable as possible. That is to say, the ball would include answers to questions popular in society. For example, it would be more likely to include physical traits that our modern-day society finds especially appealing and would thus show that answer more often when the ball is shaken. It could also include the top diseases that are most common today, namely heart disease, cancer, and stroke – and show those as answers frequently as well. Either way, the ball would have a tremendous influence on how our society seeks genetic testing services, and the potential to abuse those services, as Becca noted above. Although the meaning that jumped out to me at first was more pointed to the manufacturing element, I think that overall the main point is two-fold. Firstly, our genetic make-up and future health is up to random chance and secondly, the impact of the external factors we are exposed to in our environments cannot be left out of the picture.
ReplyDeleteYou all have touched upon several aspects of the Magic DNA 8 ball and interpreted this object in different ways.
ReplyDeleteA lot of you are mentioning some sort of control DNA has over us and how we can can control the expression of our DNA through treatment and technology. Remember that many of these genes need to be turned on in a process called demethylation (too much bio?). You can have the gene that predisposes you to breast cancer but you need it to be turned on in order for onset of cancer to show. So I do agree with several of you that knowing this type of information from your genes can be stressful because you may not be in a situation whether that gene is turned on.
Controlling for a predisposed disease, while it can be determined by our DNA, we too can influence the expression of these genes through our environmental exposures. With genetic diseases, there are several causes that can produce the disease event. Medical, social and behavioral causes are all factors in a mechanism that can trigger that disease.
As we start steering towards the population level of genomics, don't forget that double-stranded helix!
Anyways, good job guys on your first posts!
Have a good weekend!