Genpets™ - Pets Of The Future

Adam Brandejs, a 24 year old Sculptor/programmer with a BFA from the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto, Canada has created Genpets™. These little creatures have been displayed in numerous Toronto galleries as well as a retail store (Iodine & Arsenic on Queen Street), and they will soon be headed to Alberta as well as over to Europe to show in Basel Switzerland. So what exactly what are these little creatures? The Genpets™ are pre-packaged, bioengineered pets. They are living, breathing genetic animals and come in 2 base configurations, a 1-year model, and 3-year model. “We use a process called “Zygote Micro Injection” which is quickly becoming a favourable method to combine DNA, or to insert certain proteins from different species. Most notably it was used in 1997 to splice mice with bioluminescent jellyfish and has since been used to create glowing rabbits, pigs, fish, and monkeys. Since then, human DNA has been injected into rabbits, chimpanzees, spider DNA into sheep, and now, Genpets have arrived!” (Genpets) Each Genpet™ comes with a color-coded personality (7 in total). If you want a very energetic pet then you would choose a Red Genpet™. Their packages really set them apart from other products on the market today. Each package has a microchip that monitors that state of the Genpet while it is asleep and it comes with a fully functioning heart monitor with green LED lights and a speaker. These guys do have limited mobility and must be cared for on a constant basis. So here’s the question then - Are we as a society responsible enough to move into the realm of bioengineering?