Genetic Engineering in Humans
Imagine a world where there is no hunger, cancer, AIDS, and other dreaded diseases; a world where people could choose what their children could look like. To some, this is a scary, unnerving thought, but to others this is an exciting new step into our future. This unraveling discovery called genetic engineering is not science fiction anymore and may be the next stage in human evolution. In order to be able to accept this, people must not back away from the possibilities, rather open up to them. There are many uncertainties regarding Genetic Engineering in humans; many of which I was afraid of until I gained a better understanding of what risks were involved as well as the many benefits of this technology. Genetic Engineering is the deliberate alteration of a living thing by modifying its DNA and changing its genetic makeup (Bryan 62). Gene Therapy, which is similar, is attempting to cure genetic diseases by placing a normal gene into cells that have a faulty version of that gene (62). Both of these new technologies have similar goals; the most important being to improve human lives. The public has many discrepancies involving these two procedures. The society has several common medical and
Even if the technology became error proof, wouldn’t it rid our world of diversity and create “perfect” humans who looked and acted alike? Gregory Stock puts this far-fetched argument in perspective when he states, “Even the birth of a whopping one million genetically altered children a year – more than ten times the total number of IVF As far as whom gets to decide, the scientists or government cannot impose this technology on the people alone; the public has to approve the use of genetic engineering in humans in order for it to flourish. Jenny Bryan reiterates this point when she says, “Most scientists are as concerned as the public that their experiments are acceptable to society. They have been brought up with the same social and moral influences as the rest of us. They want society to set the rules by which they operate. Nevertheless, few of us fully understand what is involved in their experiments. So how can we give an informed opinion?” (9-10). Bryan’s statement is extremely true. It is unfair for us to dismiss genetic makeup, are far too influenced by the vagaries of individual experience to be anything but unique and highly individual” (Stock 131). Everyone has had a specific instance in their life that has changed the way they are today. Take identical twins for example; yes, their genetic makeup is exactly the same, but they clearly have different personalities and enjoy doing different things. Jenny Bryan attests to the fact that even if someone is born with a specific gene, they might not necessarily use it when she says, “A boy may be born with great musical talent, but no one will ever know this if he never listens to music or goes near a musical instrument. A girl may be born with a gift for births during the decade following the first such procedure in 1978 – would still be less than 1/100 of the babies born worldwide each year” (15). Even if this did happen, the babies would not look or act alike because of the diversity today. Parents all over the world have different ideas of what makes a “perfect” human. “To noticeably reduce the human gene pool in the decades ahead, the technology would have to be applied in a consistent fashion and used a hundred times more frequently than even the strongest enthusiasts hope for” (15). With a world populated with more than six billion people, “such widespread use could never occur unless great numbers of people embraced the technology or governments forced them to use submit to it (15). While there are
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Approximate Word count = 1708
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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