HOX Genes in Hollywood (spoiler alert?)

Alex Garland's new film Annihilation is a sci-fi thriller that necessarily involves a lot of biological backdrop to follow the story. A few recent reviews (here, here, and below)mention the important role that HOX genes potentially play in the development of odd creatures and organisms (like plant-people and dolphins with human eyes and crocs with shark teeth), though also note that the science in the film is a bit off.

For example, this reviewer from The Hollywood Reporter says:

"Looking at individual “facts,” Annihilation's science is often pretty far off base. From its depiction of what human cells look like under a microscope to its summarization of Hox genes — which biology students know are important in determining body plan along the anterior-posterior axis but hardly sufficient to provide a full blueprint for human-shaped topiaries — the film takes considerable creative liberties when it comes to biology."

While Garland is known for doing his due diligence when it comes to research, these posts made me wonder how responsible cinema and art is/should be when it comes to educating their audiences/the public. We talked about this a bit re: Jurassic Park, but it seems that at this point in time when we do know more about so many of these "freaky experiments, people who use science in pop-culture should get it right...

-Courtney