I wanted to submit my application either tonight or tomorrow unless there are any problems. I would love some feedback.
be brutal - this is no time to be nice. thank you in advance everyone! Here it is:
Jason Stillborn waits in a dimly lit room with nothing in it except a metal desk and two chairs, one on which he is sitting. There is a single door, reinforced by steel and protected by multiple locks, each on its own able to withstand a major blast. There are no windows, but Jason Stillborn knows that he is being watched very carefully – a camera is hidden on the left side of the wall. After waiting a few minutes, Jason Stillborn smiles and looks directly at the lens, asking politely if he can have a cigarette. He is so calm that it sounds as if he is talking to his best friend. No one would guess that this man was arrested tonight after being convicted for the murder of twenty five individuals committed over the past eight weeks. No one would guess that this man is as dangerous as he is brilliant. But most importantly, no one would guess that by the end of the night, this man will walk free.
This might sound like a scene from a movie or television program, but I assure you that it is not. Well, at least not yet. This is the ending to my screenplay, and Jason Stillborn is my antagonist. He is a medical doctor who has engineered a disease that has the power to kill a single individual without it becoming contagious. This gives him the ability to kill only those he wants to kill, almost eliminating the risk of being caught. Eventually, however, as anyone who has performed a task of ingenuity can attest, he wants credit from someone somewhere in the world, leaving a set of clues for my protagonist, a rookie detective named Michael Matthews, to catch him.
Ever since I graduated from UC Berkeley, I have been writing a movie concerning the powers of biotechnology. As a biologist, I have been able to see the how much the technology has advanced and how fast it is advancing today. Such innovations have been used for much good throughout the world: new treatments for AIDS, therapies for cancer, and even developments for engine fuel. But, as with any new power, there is the potential for biotechnology to be used to cause terror or destruction. With the right tools, a disease can be created in a lab to be as deadly as HIV yet as contagious as the common cold. And that is a frightening thought. My movie attempts to deal with such concerns while also hopefully providing an exciting, suspenseful adventure for the audience.
However, I am not looking for a career in entertainment. I simply enjoy screenwriting, spending any free time trying to tell a story people may or may not enjoy. I would rather use my knowledge and experience in science to help further any new research and the problems that biology laboratories are currently facing. Bioscience is advancing very quickly, and while working in an academic research laboratory, I have asked questions that need to be answered. For example, with new research such as stem cells, a patient can use his own cells to help create a new organ for a transplant, completely avoiding the risk of rejection. This will undoubtedly save thousands of lives who have been waiting years, if not decades, on a transplant list. And because of stem cell research, such lists will one day only be found in history books or medical records. But yet some questions still remain. Who owns the rights to such technology? Is it the researchers who discovered such a method, the institution that funded such research, or does it belong completely to the public who ultimately funded the institution? Without a firm foundation in the biological sciences, it may be difficult or perhaps impossible to find the right answer. And I want to take a part in finding such answers to ultimately benefit people in need.
Many people have told me that with my degree I am limited to either a career in medicine or research. And though there was a time when I felt the same way, I know now that I am not. As partially evidenced by my screenplay, I hope to use my knowledge of science to venture into new fields and industries that needs such expertise. Although there may be days where I will miss working in a laboratory to help make any new important discoveries, I am still as excited, if not more excited, for my future beyond it.
