Closer To Reality Than You Might Think

Rating: 10/10 (16 March 2002)

I've been a fan of the game series for a long time, and I think the movie is an excellent addition to the franchise. If anything, the story is explained better in the movie because it is condensed and presented all at once. Of course, there's nothing like a romp through Raccoon City with your own shotgun to discover the hidden screts of Umbrella. Clearly there is room for both the movie(s) and the games, even if the stories differ slightly in some places.
The scariest thing to me, though, is how possible the incident at Raccoon City is. As a Cellular and Developmental Biology major, I have seen how easy it really is to manipulate the genetic code of organisms, even with basic laboratory equipment. One of the first experiments performed by biology majors is to transform (modify the genetic code) of E. coli bacteria. The bacteria are typically given immunity to a specified antibiotic, in addition to a gene that allows transformed bacteria to glow when exposed to UV light. While bacteria are particularly easy to modify, it is certainly possible to modify other organisms as well. "Transgenic" food, as well as new advancements in pharmaceuticals have proven this. Will we ever see human experimentation or an outbreak like in Raccoon City? Hmm...