ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Breakthrough

Breakthrough S2:E3 (Curing Cancer) – Good From Bad

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It seems like there’s always more bad news than good news when the word cancer is involved.  It’s an equal opportunity disease affecting children, adults, and people of every ethnicity, sex, and religion.  We create fundraisers on Facebook and other social media about it, walk and run to raise money for to cure it, yet still watch it decimate the lives of those we love.  My freshman year of college was no exception, as I returned to my dorm room one Sunday morning after a 10-mile run to see the answering machine light blinking.  My father informed that my grandmother had just passed away from cancer and they were coming to pick me up.  It was a challenging week; that’s for sure.

Facing a disease where the body is attempting to kill itself isn’t easy.  There are numerous methods of treatment at the current time: surgery to remove cancerous portions of the body; chemotherapy to eradicate cancerous cells (and possibly healthy ones as well); and various experimental methods that have no guarantee on extending one’s outlook on life.  Although not perfect, the treatment methods are getting better and better.  In the third episode of Breakthrough (Nat Geo, Tuesdays 10 PM/9 CT), director Lily Amanpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night) introduces the viewer to a new method of treatment showing significant promise.

Amanpour’s style involves interviews and animated paper cutouts to tell a story centering around the cities of Philadelphia, Paris, and London. The focus, however, centers on the University of Pennsylvania and doctors who have figured out a way to take bad cells and remove their nuclear essence, changing them into what are referred to as CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T) cells. These cells go into the body, wipe out the cancer cells, then remain as permanent guards for future invasions.  It’s a highly personalized form of medicine and works quite well. But it’s difficult to produce these types of cells for everyone, so there’s a problem.  This issue is being worked on in Paris, where one company has had some success using a universal version of the CAR-T cells on a newborn.

I enjoyed the episode, but wish Amanpour had talked about multiple types of therapies that are on the horizon. There are various types of cancers, and CAR-T won’t work in every situation. The episode just needed more content (and perhaps another case study) to make it more relatable to the general audience. Regardless, I’m not going to see cancer the same way.

One of the doctors at the University of Pennsylvania described the method of creating the CAR-T cells as reprogramming bad cells for good. That was a fascinating way to explain, in real life, a biblical concept seen in the life of Paul.  In the early chapters of Acts, he wasn’t exactly the nicest person of the planet in the eyes of the new followers of Jesus.  He was commissioned to go after them, and he did that with zeal.  But God got his attention in a powerful way (see Acts 9 for the whole story).  The end result was a changed life and a revised outlook on his purpose on earth.  Paul would do no more persecuting; instead, he helped people come to Jesus and experience a personal relationship with him.   He also wrote a lot of letters found in the Bible to boot.

There are still more trials to complete, but the future is looking bright for CAR-T therapy.  Maybe it will be the breakthrough scientists need to eliminate the fear of cancer once and for all.

Breakthrough S2: Ep 1 and 2 – Protect Thyself

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Eighteen months ago, Brian Grazer and Ron Howard decided to spearhead a series on National Geographic Channel involving advances in scientific technology.  Entitled Breakthrough, each episode was created by a specific director and tackled a unique aspect of how science could help society in general. The series was recently renewed for a second season (10PM/9 CT on Tuesdays), providing the viewing audience six more glimpses into a world where science meets life head-on.

The first episode aired last week and centered around an issue many people deal with on a daily basis: addiction.  This doesn’t necessarily refer to drugs or tobacco, but can also refer to cell phone usage, selfies, or other items/hobbies that become “something more” to a person.  There are numerous ways addictions can be dealt with, but the episode focused on an experimental technique—psychedelic drugs such as LSD, Ibogaine, or Psilocybin (magic mushrooms).  The treatment is not for all, that’s for sure—but in the three cases shown, director David Lowery (Pete’s Dragon) made the treatment process look absolutely spellbinding.  The episode was definitely not what I expected, but was intriguing nevertheless.

Cyber terror was the subject of the second episode—an issue many of us summarily dismiss as something that can’t happen to us.  Target doesn’t think so after seeing their online system compromised a number of years ago with millions of credit card numbers exposed for the world to use.  It doesn’t take a lot to break into a computer – a simple USB drive can wreak all sorts of havoc.  However, there are white hat hackers who legally help companies secure their networks by attempting to break into them.  They have lots of work to do—major companies’ detection rate of cyberattacks is only 6%, and when they do find something, it takes seven months to find it.   In fact, by 2019, cyberattacks will cost the global economy $2 trillion dollars. It needs to be fixed now.

To make things worse, director Steven Hoggard (Inside the Green Berets) reveals that cybercriminals (black hat hackers) are using encryption-based devices to recruit people into terrorist groups such as ISIS. Some have even been able to hack into US Central Command!  Some journalists in the UK havegone undercover to help stop this from occurring, using a similar technique to how criminals were caught on the show To Catch a Predator.  Do they always succeed?  Not quite. But stopping one attack is better than none.  That’s why it’s always important to protect oneself from the attacks of enemies who cannot be seen.  It sounds eerily like what Paul told the church in Ephesus when describing the armor of God.  The various components—helmet, breastplate, sword, and other elements—protect a Christian from the attacks of the devil and his minions (see Ephesians 6:11-20). Protection can be a good thing—we just need to be aware of the problem and prepare accordingly.

Breakthrough Ep. 6–Water Apocalypse: Making the Most of What We Have

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Warka Tower Vittori
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Brendan Bannon)

People normally don’t give too much thought about water.  They use it to wash dishes, take showers, swim in, and drink in order to live. But when faced with a situation where water becomes scarce, suddenly attention is paid to this chemical compound we know as H2O.  California’s recent drought has brought water conservation to the forefront over the last few years—and many of us are pretty good at it by now.  The only problem is that conservation isn’t enough to maintain our current standard of life.  As actress and director Angela Basset notes in the final episode of Breakthrough (9 PM/8 PM CT on National Geographic), we are on the verge of a water apocalypse.  Consider that 97% of the water on earth is salt, 2% is locked up in ice and snow, leaving 1% for 7+ billion people. So what in the world are we going to do about it?

This episode hit close to home for me since I live in the Central Valley of California, a land filled with produce, sun, and little water. The water shortage sounds like a localized problem at first, but the Valley (as we call it) produces nearly 50% of the fruit and vegetables people in the US eat.  The water has to be there to nourish the crops, but many plants require obscene amounts of it (a 20-acre plot of almond trees, for example, uses 23 million gallons of water annually [compare that to an average family of four, who, per the EPA, use 109,500 gallons in the same time period]). For some, the wells have run completely dry and the only way to sustain life is with cases of bottled water—or by simply stealing a natural resource. So what can be done to keep things going without turning the middle of California into the next Dust Bowl?

waterThankfully, Breakthrough has focused on innovations for the future, and this episode is no exception. One company has set up a system to harness solar energy to efficiently pull clean water from the salty aquifer below the Valley (potentially 1.6 billion gallons/year). The folks in Western Australia know about this all too well, having suffered through a fifteen-year drought.  They’re currently working on desalinating (getting the salt out of) water via another natural source–wave power from the ocean.

But what about in a country where there’s little clean water due to the infrastructure?  Ethiopia has no electricity in many places and people still get water from rivers hours away.  Otherwise, they risk getting sick and dying from contaminated water—and that still happens for many people. One gentleman from Italy, Arturo Vittari (pictured at the top of the article), created a massive tower using bamboo, ropes, and mesh to harness clean water from the sky and gather it for the residents of local villages.

Simply put, we have to start thinking about water and what we can do to prevent situations that threaten to challenge our way of life—even if we live in areas where acquiring water has never been an issue. Again, conservation is one way to start.  Just limiting a daily shower by a few minutes can make a difference in the long run. But we need to potentially consider other options—including recycled water from the sewer. The town of Peoria AZ reclaims nearly every drop of wastewater—yes, including toilet water–and recycles it into clean drinking water.  Psychologically, it sounds disgusting and is difficult to fathom, but it’s a way of life for thousands of residents who live in a desert climate.  But if we have the technology to create virtual reality, we can certainly turn wastewater into a life-giving source of nourishment again.

Sandra Postel and dry ground
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels)

The key point is this: We have to be willing to make the most of what we’ve been blessed with and help provide for others who might be in need.  The town of East Porterville CA is mentioned in the episode and is only an hour away from where I currently live.  The wells have completely run dry there, forcing people to leave or conserve in non-healthy ways. But for one lady named Donna Johnson, she’s made it a goal to provide water for these folks who have none.

For the last decade, Johnson has brought them bottled water and has made sure the people are doing okay.  Of course, they’re grateful for the help she offers, and it brings to mind something Jesus said in Mark 9:41: “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.” We should always be ready and willing to help those in need—perhaps it’s not with a cup of water per se, but food, a blanket when it’s cold outside, or something tangible that can get a person back on their feet again. That’s a way to be the hands and feet of Jesus in a way that makes a difference here and now. We share this planet together, after all.

Breakthrough Ep. 5–Energy on the Edge: Turning the Wheel

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Light bulb with flameBy this point in the earth’s history, we know that our dependence on coal, oil, and other fossil fuels is going to drive us to a point where we completely run out of them. One look at the bright lights of Las Vegas or the skyline of a major city is a reminder that as we place more people on the planet, the need for some form of sustainable energy is going to increase.

The fifth episode of Breakthrough (seen on the National Geographic Channel tonight at 9 PM/8 Central) seeks to tackle this issue as director Akiva Goldsman (writer of the Academy Award-winning film A Beautiful Mind) presents a number of energy visionaries who are committed to ‘spinning the wheel’ in ways that will be beneficial to our kids and grandkids. And believe me, these ways are not just ordinary run-of-the mill ideas generated in a boardroom. As an example, one gentleman wants to produce power using, of all things, man-made tornadoes (they have incredible power, you know).  He even has a working prototype set up at a university in Canada!

Crescent Dunes Power Plant
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Stewart Volland)

Or how about a massive solar array of 10,000 panels?  That doesn’t sound too visionary—after all, solar arrays already exist and people are increasingly putting them on their houses. Using those panels to focus light on a six-hundred-foot-tall tower filled with salt in an attempt to create sustainable, recyclable, and renewable energy that competes with a normal power plant? That’s the stuff of science fiction come to real life! Some people in Iceland are even trying to dig for geothermal energy in at depths deep enough to reach liquid magma! Others are working on creating a miniature sun on the planet using fusion (of all things) and creating clean drinking water from a brewery’s organic wastewater.  That’s some creative stuff—and the exact thing we need to see as fossil fuels become scarcer in number.

At the very least, Goldsman opens the viewer’s eyes to what people can do to make energy in this day and age. He offers a physical demonstration of each concept using a group of actors to explain how energy can be extracted from them and conveys a positive message that these options can be possibilities in the future.  They take money and time—two things most visionaries don’t have (think of Moses—he knew about the Promised Land and took people to its threshold, but never actually got to make it there himself). The wheels of ingenuity and creativity in science are continuing to spin and will bring us closer and closer to the goal of energy self-reliance—one revolution at a time.

Lasers and Fusion
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Erin Lubin)

Sometimes an answer to a problem isn’t always an easy solution, nor is it the option people expect. When it arrives in a different way, it can make a lasting impression on others. Each of the methods of producing energy in this episode of Breakthrough are cutting-edge and out of the ordinary.   If one ultimately succeeds on a large scale, its effects will be quickly noticed by people.  As a biblical example, take the challenge presented by Jesus in John 6: a group of 5,000 men (plus women and children) have been listening to him teach but are hungry.

After Jesus tells his disciples to give them something to eat, they admit to having only five loaves (pieces of flatbread) and two small fish.  Jesus blesses the meager meal, and suddenly everyone there has an all-you-can-eat feast.  You can bet that people took notice of that—in fact, they wanted to make him their earthly king after the event!  In the case of the energy visionaries, I hope their methods work on a massive scale—the world will be a better place for their creativity.  Their dedication to making the wheel turn will be something I can tell my grandkids about one day.

Breakthrough Ep. 3–Decoding the Brain: What Do We Really Know?

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Electrode cap
(photo credit: Asylum Entertainment)

There’s no doubt that the brain is one the most important parts of the human body. Our ability to think, talk, reason, question, and make sense of the world wouldn’t exist if not for the pinkish organ that sits in our skulls. And yet, with all the scientific advancements in our technologically rich society, we still don’t know very much about the brain.

But perhaps that is changing.

In the third part of the National Geographic Channel series Breakthrough, director Brett Ratner (Rush Hour; X-Men: The Last Stand) takes the viewer on a journey into science’s understanding of the human brain and what it means for the future. We know about the absolute basics of axons, dendrites, synapses, and neurons, but that’s really about it. Scientists, however, are beginning to make strides into comprehending what goes on inside the brain.

For example, Dr. Mohamad Koubeissi, a scientist at George Washington University, may have unlocked a part of the brain that controls consciousness. He implanted electrodes in an epileptic woman’s brain and asked her to read from a magazine. After a minute or two, he sent a minor electrical signal to one of the electrodes.  The woman froze, unable to read or talk. When he turned it off, she not only returned to normal—but also picked up exactly where she left off reading the magazine as if nothing had happened and had no recollection of what had transpired.  The video from the experiment is shown in the episode and is absolutely incredible to witness.

Abstract brain
Other scientists at MIT have discovered how to pull off something from a film like Blade Runner—implementation of false memories in individual’s minds. Well, in this case, lab mice. When they were placed in a red-walled box, Steve Ramirez gave it a shock in a specific area of the brain that is thought to process fear. The mouse was removed from the box and placed in a completely different area with red walls.  The mouse froze in fear. But there is a positive view of this, as good memories may also be able to be modified in beneficial ways, such as for individuals with specific conditions like PTSD or even depression.

The third episode of Breakthrough is built more like a normal documentary and introduces questions we’ll eventually have to face as a society. If we don’t know things about the brain, we’ll have to discover them as a group. But when we do uncover breakthroughs, what will be our reaction to them? If we’re suffering from unpredictable bouts of epilepsy (as one person in the episode shares), a basic drive to the grocery store could leave us remembering that we were sitting in the driver’s seat one minute and lying in a hospital bed with physical injuries the next.

Of course, nobody wants to go through life having to deal with situations like that (migraine headaches come to mine for me), but are we willing to undergo unique and possibly revolutionary procedures to prevent the issue from occurring again?  What if we’re the first person in the world to be offered the potential remedy?

Beyond the Brain (Breakthrough Ep. 3)
(photo credit: Asylum Entertainment)

There are many things that God hasn’t allowed humanity to understand—why we do atrocious things to each other (seem for example, the horrible scenes recently from Paris), why we’re able to survive on a planet when no recorded life has been found anywhere else, why we feel emotions that are sometimes in direct contradiction of each other (such as fear and joy). However, we’re learning, bit by bit, more about ourselves and how fearfully and wonderfully we’re made (see Psalm 139:14).

That’s what keeps us discovering and making life better for those who may never have had a potential remedy in the past. I don’t think we’ll ever fully know everything about the brain, but I’m thankful for individuals who are willing to be pioneers in order to make life better for all of us. You’ll definitely want to tune in and see these discoveries themselves.

Breakthrough airs Sunday nights at 9 PM on the National Geographic Channel.

 

Breakthrough (Ep. 2)–More Than Human: Can It Be A Reality?

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FORTIS exoskeleton
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Gary S. Chapman)

If you sit down and stop to think about it, humans are pretty amazing creatures. We have the ability to communicate with others, we can eat and sustain ourselves, and we can think and make decisions for ourselves. In addition, people have greater abilities than these, such as being able to drive cars, write letters, create films, and build massive structures that withstand the test of time (like those pyramids in Egypt). But is that enough? Do we need to become more? Can we use the creations and inventions we’ve developed to somehow become more than human?

It’s an interesting question–one that deserves some consideration. In the second part of National Geographic Channel’s Breakthrough series, actor Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man; “Downton Abbey”) takes a look at what this might look like in real life. He starts off by considering human exoskeletons that will allow us to do more than we can physically accomplish otherwise.  The FORTIS, for example, can help a person to lift an item weighing up to 36 lbs for extended periods of time (such as a jackhammer), cutting down on fatigue and getting more accomplished. The film Avatar is coming to life for individuals like Eric Vladcovik, who has no legs.  Using another form of exoskeleton, he’s learning how to walk with the assistance of two mechanical appendages he’s lowered into. It’s quite incredible to behold!

Walker
(photo credit: Asylum Entertainment)

In other places, scientists are working on viable alternatives for many of our common senses, such as touch, through the use of virtual reality technology such as the Oculus Rift combined with real tactile input from another person. For those who are deaf, a contraption called the Versatile Extra Sensory Transducer (or VEST) is able to take every day sounds and replicate them for deaf individuals using a series of vibrations they feel on their back and can instantly understand. Wearing your senses on your sleeve is an idea whose time may have finally arrived.

Giamatti’s directing style is quite different (and considerably less gory) than Peter Berg’s first episode of Breakthrough, which centered on pandemics. He tells the story as a first-person narrator who gets to see these contraptions firsthand. It works well with the subject material and gives Giamatti time to think and consider about life might be like as part machine, but not necessarily as a T-1000 (yes; you just heard Arnold Schwarzenegger’s voice in your head).

computer wiringWhile the implications for technology of this nature are pretty staggering, is it what we were designed for when God set about making Adam and Eve in Genesis 2? Wouldn’t He have just given us a built-in exoskeleton like insects have? Did He intend for humanity to morph into cyborgs over time? The book of Isaiah provides a unique perspective to this, when it says, “Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding?’” (Isa. 29:16 NASB) In other words, the verse seems to equate humans wanting to be equal with God.  In actuality, God provided creativity to humanity so things like this could be both conceptualized and realized to an extent. We already have robots, can control devices remotely, and the cell phone is getting close to being permanently attached to some individuals but we’re not going to be able to duplicate what the Master already perfected.

Does that mean that technology of the kind introduced in this episode is bad and wrong?  Not at all! It’s going to be helpful for many people in ways we cannot begin to fully understand. We’re just not going to be able to equal the effectiveness of God’s original creation through the hands of that actual creation, imperfect as it is. The first step is seeing what can be created and using it for good in the world we live in.  Who knows—it might lead to something that glorifies God better than we can already do. Maybe that’s what it means to be more than human.

Breakthrough is a six part-series airing on the National Geographic Channel Sunday nights at 9 PM.

Breakthrough–Fighting Pandemics (Ep 1): Doing the Right Thing

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VIrusStarting November 1 at 9 PM, the National Geographic Channel is debuting a six-part series on cutting-edge advancements in the field of science.  Called Breakthrough, the series is an opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of the less-heralded individuals who make life a reality for the seven billion or so people on this planet.  Each episode covers one specific element of scientific discovery and is directed by a Hollywood producer or celebrity, adding a unique perspective to the viewer.  For the premiere episode, Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, Hancock) takes a look at a subject that came to the forefront of the world’s attention last year: Ebola.

Yes, that Ebola.

At first, this was an illness that caused significant damage and death but was limited to countries on the western coast of Africa.  But as time progressed, there was a major problem: the number of cases of the disease were increasing and no significant progress was being made on getting people well. Acquiring the virus was essentially a death sentence, ripping a person apart from the inside out. When a few cases made their way to the United States, people suddenly understood there was a potential for a pandemic not unlike the Black Death of the 16th century, malaria, and smallpox (a pandemic is an epidemic of global proportions). With the methods of acquiring Ebola and the ability of individuals to fly around the world not knowing they had the disease, something localized could quickly reach an uncontrolled state unless something was done quickly.

Dr. Maria Croyle, University of Texas in Austin
(photo credit: National Geographic Channels/Drew Anthony Smith)

Scientists from all over the world started trying to figure out how to combat Ebola. The U.S. government started attempting to isolate ways to attack the virus by doing the only thing they could—working with the real thing under ultra-high safety precautions. Other groups attempted to determine what combination of antibodies could be used to defeat it. Still others worked on ways to give people a potential vaccine, such as Dr. Maria Croyle (above), without having to resort to needles.  The problem was that time was running out and people were dying left and right—not only the patients, but the doctors and nurses caring for them.

Dr. Ian Crozier
(photo credit: Asylum Entertainment)

Ian Crozier (shown above), a doctor working in Sierra Leone, fell victim to Ebola in this manner and was taken to the US to receive treatment. He survived, but barely. His story, along with the developments by the scientists noted above, receive the attention they deserve in the premiere episode of Breakthrough. “Fighting Pandemics” isn’t easy to watch; in fact, there are a number of real and grisly video clips that may cause some people to turn away. [To that end, I recommend not letting anyone below the age of ten see this; the other episodes in the series are safe for all audiences.] But the story has to be told, and Berg does a nice job balancing despair with hope and fear with awareness.

Often, the terms faith and science are seen as completely incompatible with each other. But as the episode of Breakthrough powerfully shows, there are roles that both can play in the treatment of diseases such as Ebola and strains of treatable diseases that are becoming resistant to traditional drugs and procedures. Science has the ability to analyze and determine appropriate ways to treat (and hopefully eradicate) these viruses, but faith can help to provide both awareness and compassionate care to the people who suffer with the symptoms and are isolated from all contact for periods longer than a month. Take, for example, the story of Dr. Kent Brantly, who worked alongside Samaritan’s Purse to treat patients in Liberia.  He developed the disease and just like Dr. Ian Crozier, was flown to the US for care.  Brantly also survived and said afterward, “I did not know then, but I have learned since, that there were thousands, maybe even millions of people around the world praying for me throughout that week, and even still today. And I have heard story after story of how this situation has impacted the lives of individuals around the globe—both among my friends and family, and also among complete strangers.”

Christians are called to take care of those who are weaker (see Acts 20:34-36) and also to pray for these individuals.  Of course, the goal is for the person to return to health, but also it can be to hear God’s voice and respond to His call on their life regarding His Son Jesus. The key is to know how and when to respond in appropriate manners.  Not everyone is going to be able to don safety gear and provide the treatment these people need, but they can pray (in the case of Crozier, he was in complete isolation for forty days before he recovered). We can be compassionately responsible in these times, so that when the next potential pandemic breaks out, we’ll be ready to help—by science, faith, or perhaps both.

Breakthrough will air on Sundays at 9 PM (starting November 1) on the National Geographic Channel.