Biohacking in Netflix?!
Review of Biohackers, the series
If you’ve read other of my articles, you know that I’m a big fan of biotech. I have a strong conviction in the future that it holds for us and now, I’m not the only one.
Biotech is getting noticed by more people than ever before, and even Netflix is taking part in this revolution! Series like Biohackers, Unnatural Selection and Human Nature are already available for anyone to watch in this platform.
I gotta say too, that I’m not a huge fan of watching Netflix series (kinda weird, I know). So I really only paid around 6 dollars to watch the series that I wanted, and I don’t regret a single penny.
This will be a review of the aspects that the directors did well, and others that seem more like science fiction. Hope you enjoy :)
Spoiler Alert!
I’ll of course, be talking about the story itself, so if you don’t want to know the details, I’d encourage you to read this article after watching the series. Without further ado, what is Biohackers about?
This has honestly been one of the best — it’s not that I watch a lot, but you get the idea — series that I’ve watched watched related to synthetic biology, bio-ethics, the industry, academia and biotech in general.
Plot
In short, the story is about a girl (Emma) whose brother died because of some clinical trials. When she grows old, she studies to be a doctor, and attends to one of the best universities for that, in Germany. At the same time of studying medicine, she decides to take a course taught by the best researcher in that university: Professor Lorenz.
She knows that Lorenz was guilty for her brother’s death, and she wants to get enough proof to accuse her. She also knows that in order to get to her, she will need some help, so she “falls in love” with Lorenz’s most intimate assistant (Jasper), and uses him to get to Lorenz.
Throughout all of this, she is also staying at a department with some friends that she meets there, who happen to be really talented, and a little bit crazy, biohackers.
The point is that, to get what she wants, she needs to go through a series of lies, she ends up using her boyfriend’s friend as well, and in the end, a small epidemic is caused, which thankfully doesn’t last for long, thanks to the wonderful abilities of Emma’s friends.
Characters in detail
Mia/Emma: so actually, her real name is Emma. She needs to cover her identity not to get discovered by the Lorenz. She is a great student, which is also why she gains Lorenz’s confidence
Jasper: apart from being the student that Lorenz trusts the most, he also runs his own biohacking projects at a really cool secret lab that he has. He lives with his friend, Niklas
Niklas: unlike most of the other characters, he is studying sociology. Other than that, he helps Emma by betraying Jasper, and lying to him as well. At the same time, he’s convinced that he’s doing the right thing.
Lorenz: I’ve mentioned her name a lot. She’s had a very successful career, and focuses a lot on her research, which is creating a gene therapy to be immune to all diseases. She has a super legit home, with a cutting-edge lab in her basement, and is, of course, CEO of her company
Lotta: I can’t say much about her. She’s friends with Emma, and lives in the same appartment. Her personality is kind of libertarian as well
Ole: one of Emma’s friends. Passionate and crazy biohacker. He is always experimenting in himself, inserting new sensors underneath his skin, drinking weird substances, and posting that in his social media accounts.
Chen Lu: a very talented bio-informatician, and a girl who’s also very knowledgable about CRISPR. She is kind of a cool nerd, I’d say.
Setting the scene
The only thing that is clear, is that the story is developed in Germany. In terms of when precisely, we wouldn’t be able to tell. Some things seem to be very futuristic, like the fact that when Emma was little, Lorenz had already created a panacea for all diseases. Others seem to actually be happening in the preset, like biohackers making animals glow and experimenting with themselves to then post that on social media.
The reason why the story is developed in Germany has likely something to do with the fact that the country has been advancing a lot in that area. Even when biohacking isn’t legally possible in Europe…
Sofi’s opinion
I just really enjoyed watching this series. In my opinion, it creates a nice balance between showing people what Biology in the XXI Century looks like, creating some hype about biohacking, as well as raising some ethical concerns about gene editing.
For sure, the series is not made for everybody, but I think it’s targeted to the general public. You don’t need to know anything about science to enjoy the drama, and you don’t need to like the story too much to enjoy thinking about the future of biotech.
I think the director did a good job by keeping in mind topics like CRISPR, and seeing synthetic biology as the main science behind the innovations that are mentioned in the movie.
Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of Biohackers was that they didn’t just show you a bunch of people doing research at a lab to discover something just for the sake of knowledge — sorry, not a big fan of academia — but they also showed the real, actual application of these technologies in the industry.
Further, there’s always the villain and the “good ones”. In this case, everybody may think that Laurence was the villain. However, I think the story left the question open. You can either think that she was a villain for doing gene editing in embryos without being 100% that nobody was going to be hurt, or you can think that she was a hero for trying to save humanity of all disease.
Overall, I’d totally recommend watching this series if you happen to already be on Netflix, want to have some fun, and learn a bit more about the future of biotechnology.
Hey! I’m Sofi, a 16-year-old girl who’s extremely passionate about biotech, human longevity, and innovation itself 🦄. I’m learning a lot about exponential technologies to start a company that impacts the world positively 🚀. I love writing articles about scientific innovations to show you the amazing future that awaits us!
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