Genetic engineering is an aspect of biotechnology which involves the manipulation of organisms’ genes and is made possible by DNA. DNA is a hereditary substance that contains a complete set of information which determines the structure and function of a living organism. Genetic engineering is rapidly expanding and is currently used to make a wide range of substances.

Genetic engineering is an extremely controversial issue as there are many angles to consider it from. It can be considered as just another technological development which was bound to surface with time, however it wasn’t until now advances in technology gave the power to create, change and formulate life.

In theory genetic engineering could lead to many benefits in the world. Genetic codes are the determining factor of appearance, personality, health and aging so quality of life and general health could be improved. Agriculture could also be improved through improving animals and crops to better serve humans and it may be the answer to curing life-threatening diseases. One problem though, no one knows the long term effects!

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Genetic engineering holds many possibilities for improvements in our lives and the world, but the bottom line is it has no guarantees. It brings about a whole new world of questionable outcomes and possibly dangerous results.

This means that genetic engineering allows humans to initiate certain traits and qualities that nature was previously held responsible for. Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist and cosmologist and Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, has often commented on the future role of genetic engineering,

All these reasons imply genetic engineering has many benefits to be gained, however we are forgetting gene therapy carries risks like any other treatment. Scientists were reminded of this when a patient they were treating died in 1999. Jesse Gelsinger, an 18year old man from Arizona, suffered from a rare inherited liver disorder called OTC deficiency. He was being treated with adenoviruses altered to carry healthy OTC genes into his liver. When trillions of the viruses were injected into his body, he suffered a violent reaction to them and died. It is worth remembering that, to date, no-one has been cured using gene therapy.

Some people would argue that genetic engineering within the agricultural sector is vital for human survival, especially in third world countries. It is argued that genetic engineering could increase the crop yield so there is more food available. The problem with this argument is that genetic engineering is only likely to take place in wealthy countries so would have no benefit on the people who need it. One concern which may be reduced is the deficiency of vitamin A experienced in developing worlds as rice could be genetically engineered to contain vitamin A.

“Up to now living

Some topics in this essay:
DNA DNA, Erwin Chargoff, Jesse Gelsinger, Cambridge University, Nobel Prize-winning, DrJames DWatson, genetic engineering, Engineering Genetic, Stephen Hawking, Co-discoverer DNA, gene therapy, genetically engineered, gene manipulation, cystic fibrosis, erwin chargoff,