Police Bees

If you’re in London and stop by the exhibition High Society: Mind-Altering Drugs in History and Culture at the Wellcome Collection, do take a few minutes to have a look at their window on Euston Road. Curated by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, the window features several design works that attempt to inspire debate about the human consequences of different technological futures by asking ‘What If…?’

One of the projects currently on show is Thomas Thwaites‘ Policing Genes. The designer collaborated with Prof Gloria Laycock and James French, University College London, to explore a near future society where people -whether they have lawful intentions or not- would be able to genetically engineer plants at home:

Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with pharming – genetically engineering plants to produce useful, and valuable drugs. Currently undergoing field trials are tomato plants that produce a vaccine for Alzheimer’s disease, and potatoes that immunize against Hepatitis B. Many more Plant-Made-Pharmaceuticals are being developed in laboratories around the world.

However, the techniques to insert genes into plants are within reach of the amateur, and the criminal. Policing Genes speculates that genetic engineering will also find a use outside the law, with innocent-looking garden plants modified to produce narcotics and unlicensed pharmaceuticals.The genetics of the plants in your garden or allotment could become a police matter…

Have a look at the video to understand how the police apiculture department would work:

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bees, posted with vodpod