#152, Sentient
Read the news article below for this week's Journal response.
Monsanto Lab On Lockdown After Scientists Find Shattered Tomato Containment Unit
By Nick Cummings-Bruce | April 1, 2016
SOCORRO, NM—Initiating emergency procedures and sealing security doors throughout the complex, scientists at Monsanto reportedly placed the agrochemical company’s main laboratory on lockdown Thursday after discovering a shattered, empty tomato containment unit.
According to sources onsite, technicians arrived at the lab’s secure vegetable isolation chamber at 8 a.m. to find the room’s armed guards lying dead on the floor next to what remained of Specimen 323-A’s 6-inch-thick tempered-glass container, which appeared to have been ruptured from the inside.
Officials would not confirm how many employees had been killed, but acknowledged the released tomato variety remained at large within the sprawling crop development facility.
“This is our worst nightmare,” Klein added.
The laboratory, which handles nearly all of Monsanto’s agricultural production, reportedly features a wide array of state-of-the-art security systems, including biometric locks, 24-hour checkpoints, and a centralized surveillance system that closely monitors the company’s fruits, vegetables, grains, and other specimens through every stage of their creation and growth. As an additional precaution, sources confirmed the entire facility is buried more than 1,000 feet below the New Mexico desert.
Monsanto scientists said they had traced the escaped tomato’s path of destruction from the broken shards of the containment unit to the lifeless bodies of the guards to a nearby ventilation shaft, following a trail of viscous, bright red liquid that appears to be composed of fructose, glucose, vitamin C, several unknown substances, and human blood.
“We’re running out of time. Once emergency protocols are activated, a six-hour countdown begins, at the end of which thermonuclear charges will vaporize this facility and everything within a 15-mile radius. It’ll kill us all, but better we die than let that thing get to the surface.” said Klein.
He added, “May God have mercy on our souls if this thing pollinates.”
Klein went on to state that if the escaped tomato specimen could be safely recaptured, it would be marketed under the trade name Ruby Gold.
To complete this Journal response,
Answer one of the following: (a) Specimen 323-A has shown signs of human-like intelligence. Should we treat this tomato as human? (b) Do scientists, like those at Monsanto, have the right to give consciousness to non-human organisms? (c) What is your personal reaction to this news?
Comment on one of your peer's responses.
-Brenden Lee Teacher
godspeed red rogue