| Curt Hagenlocher on Wed, 27 Mar 2002 18:28:01 +0100 (CET) |
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| [Nettime-bold] RE: <nettime> biology and technology |
From: Ana Viseu <[email protected]>, quoted from The Observer http://www.observer.co.uk/uk_news/story/0%2C6903%2C673103%2C00.html > Use of hand-held technologies, such as mobile phones, GameBoys and > computers, has caused a physical mutation in the under-25s, > according to new research. Ordinarily, the use of the word "mutation" in a context like this implies a genetic change that will be passed on to offspring. Clearly, that is not the case in this quote. I suspect that the intent was to create the impression that the species is moving on -- evolving to meet the demands of the digital age -- when really this is no different than the black lung developed by coal miners -- purely a physiological response to an external stimulus. (The quote comes from The Observer's writer and not from the study itself.) From: coco fusco <[email protected]>, quoted from a recent report by Casa de la Mujer-Grupo Factor X > "In terms of academic research in Mexico, little attention > has been directed to the long-term impact on labor conditions > and the health of the workers. In spite of this, it has been > possible to ascertain the following: work related injuries are > directly related to the kind of work that is realized. For > example, in the electronics industry there are a number of > illnesses and conditions that are directly related to working > with toxic substances." In contrast, many of these toxic substances ARE mutagenic and can change the DNA -- which is why there is such a relatively high rate of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth and birth defects among the women working in the maquiladoras. -- Curt Hagenlocher [email protected] _______________________________________________ Nettime-bold mailing list [email protected] http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold