Genetic Engineering - Essay Example

Genetic Engineering Introduction Also known as gene modification, genetic engineering refers to the manipulation of genes. This technology involves removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another organism. The removed genes are often put into yeast cells or bacteria to enable scientists study the protein or gene it produces more easily. Genes are sometimes put into plants or animals [4]. One of the first genetic engineering projects engaged the hormone insulin. Diabetes, a medical problem that affects millions of people worldwide, inhibits the body from producing sufficient insulin hormone required for regulation of blood sugar levels. Initially, this medical condition was treated using supplements of insulin isolated from cows or pigs. Despite this insulin being very similar to human insulin, it is not identical, and it is antigenic to humans and antibodies produced against it destroy its efficiency. Scientists solved the problem by inserting the gene for human insulin into bacteria; the bacteria cellular machinery reads the gene and converts it into protein-human insulin through a process known as translation [8]. Positions, common ground and solutions Genetic engineering may seem good, however, it can cause harm to creatures in many ways. Genetic engineering is a technology, which intends to enhance creatures’ lives both mentally and physically. The technology can be used to find cures to deadly diseases and enable people to live happy lives without being worried about having AIDS or any other deadly diseases. However, genetic engineering can lead to ethical issues such as unfairness, “Playing God”, or programming a human being. Many people have argued that cloning is immoral, unnatural and violates God’s rules. We have to accept the image of God. However, genetic enhancement has been working against this proposal. For example, we have to accept our kids as they come and not try to change their memories and make them smarter than other kids. Because the main goal of being a parent is to raise children naturally regardless of whether they become athletic or lazy, straight or gay, healthy or not, smart or stupid. Rather than, try making them into someone they are not, it is ethical for us is to appreciate the gift of God. Children do not exist to make their parents feel good about themselves, nor do they exist to fulfill the ambitions or dreams of their parents. Therefore, we must accept them as they come. Our kids must feel the acceptance we have towards them especially for whom they are before they even feel our affirmation or affection. We need to make them feel convinced of our acceptance to them intellectually and emotionally. Genetic engineering has always been a controversial ethical topic. Using scientific principles and research, engineers are able to genetically modify plants, clone animals, and create human tissues into functional organs. Researchers are skeptical about the way that this kind of treatment can be applied. Because a patient may pay for the surgery if they consent, but the doctor needs to receive approval from the institutional review board, and this institution can be profit making and private, which may cause some ethical concerns. However, the big issue when it comes to patients and the protection they receive, patients may fail to get protection because doctors in this field may treat patients without regulation of monitoring of the medical procedures. This may result into deadly situations because after performing such procedures, it is no longer the doctor’s responsibility to check up on their patients. Is it ethical for scientists to create animals and make vegetables, or create living organisms? It seems likely that researchers will soon create babies from human cells, grow, and develop them for nine months in liquid containers to develop the first cell of its kind. This is unethical and violates religious laws because humans should not have the power to create another human being, or even foods or animals in a way that we can create super species. According to religious beliefs, this practice is a sin in the eyes of God. Generic engineering is immoral because we were not created to create other super humans. We need to have weaker people so the strong can survive. To keep this universe going, we need people with different positions, which of whom are politicians as well as scientist. We cannot live on an earth where we have the same kinds of people with no diseases, and everyone is genetically enhanced. Living as normal requires people who have minds and hearts and souls to function as living humans. It is unaccepted for living creatures to be genetically enhanced. This universe might as well be developing infants in test tubes, waiting on to be grown in nine months to be born. By creating humans through genetic engineering, we will get rid of destroying diseases and imperfect humans will no longer exist [6]. Babies with heart problems or Down syndrome, people with drug and alcoholic addictions or the ones born with health problems will no longer exist in society. In case this happens, there would no more careers left because doctors and scientists would automatically lose their careers. If scientists gain their recognition from creating creatures without any diseases, like babies without Down Syndrome, then their job will only be to check up on their patients once a year. What is next for these scientists to create- genetically enhanced insects that have the ability suck blood out of the people imperfect human beings left? Genetic engineering can pose a large risk to the human society from an economic and lethal perspective. Some natural lethal pathogens can be improved or even remade by this technology, which may then be used by criminals to kill millions of people. Chemical institutions have been proven that chemicals made by genetically modified bacteria pose a deadly risk to human health; this was experienced for years during the EMS in the United States [7]. However, economically, enhanced organisms, despite being cheaper can cause destruction the environment. Moreover, some anti-material is created to destroy infrastructure, which can cost the government huge amounts of money to repair. For farming, genetically modified crops could cost farmers more money than they could save in the end because genetically modified crops could be destroyed by “evolving parasites”. Therefore, genetically enhanced organisms can cause potential damage to the society. Moreover, researchers are looking for new methods and applications of genetic engineering because they believe there are vast opportunities in this field. To protect the safety of humanity, scientists should experiment with all other available options before resorting to genetic engineering. Therefore, it is dangerous for scientists to rely on this field of science as it is a harmful, unpredictable, and inaccurate type on engineering. History has shown that science is not always accurate in assessing new chemicals, substances, and technology. We have seen cases in the past years, where chemicals that have been approved caused an huge amount of damage to the environment. For example, CFC’s and DDT, both which were first thought to be a miracle that gave humans better lives, turned out to be dangerous pollutants which caused drastic harm to the environment [9]. Genetic engineering has brought serious environmental ethics questions, which mean the relations between human beings and their environment. It has been proven by the long that animals and plants mean a lot to human beings. More importantly are they having a “Commercial Value” to humans, meaning that if we can gain something from a species or a living creature then it sure has a value. This means environmental ethics requires us to treat living organisms respectfully regardless of whether they have a commercial value to us or not. Another risk of genetic engineering is the production of virus–tolerant crops. These crops are produced through engineering components filled with viruses into plant Genomes. Such plants can create other risks such as more hazardous viruses. This can be done in two different ways: recombination-which produces viruses that can infect a wide range of hosts or transcapsidation, in which a plant produces proteins that encapsulate the genetic material of a different virus [10]. Genetic engineering can cause serious weed problems to plants either intentionally or accidentally farms, resulting in disruption of the ecosystem. Genetic engineering has the potential to create weed problems by adding traits to plants which make them grow abnormally eventually turning into weeds. For instance, switch grass or turf grass causes dryness in areas in which it grows. Scientists propose that genetic engineering is morally right because it provides a brighter future for humanity; because it has the ability to find cures to deadly diseases that affect people throughout the universe, and can provide the right solution to abnormal genes. They also believe that the use of genetic engineering could save or prolong people’s lives. But the risks it poses to living organisms outweigh its benefits because it uses unnatural medicine or creation. There are other reasons as to why genetic engineering is unethically justified is because it means people born this way will not be rewarded the sanctity of life. I think this technology of genetic engineering can be used to extent, such as finding cures to diseases and therapeutic cloning. In my opinion, it should not be used to create babies and design them up to the standards of what their parents like. Not only for ethical reasons but also for useful reasons, because our planet is already overpopulated. So, if cloning continues to improve, we will run out of resources to keep everyone fed and alive. As we all know, safety is the number one priority in science, it cannot be assumed, and it needs to be guaranteed. Science is a history of ideas; some of these ideas may be bad, good dangerous or mild. The truth is genetic engineering is new to us and too dangerous for everyone whether citizens, scientists, farmers or government officials to just take it out of the lab and set it on out dinner tables. The point of this is that we do not know if these foods are safe to eat or safe to our environment. At the very least, these modified foods must be labeled and choose whether we will eat them or not. The government must take action to establish “stringent pre-market” safety testing on modified foods. And remove them from our kitchens and our fields, because they need to be scientifically proven safe for us to deal with as well as our environment. When these protocols take place, federal regulations can then authorize the accurate and clear labeling of all modified foods and meats [5]. We as citizens must take responsibility for our future and the future of our kids. We are in a position where we cannot violate the laws of nature in our haste for progress. We have to start honoring not only knowledge the relationship between nature and us. We have to cast off our quick solutions and make the right decision as one society and promote the technologies that support creatures and can benefit the environment, and not damage anything or any living creature in the process. It is the role of engineers to help the public by getting the results they need. Because this issue lies in how much longer conducting experiments will last, and how easy conducting these experiments can feed off of desperate patients. The guarantee of good results can be ignored, and the costs for procedures like these can be in hundreds of thousands. The best action that governments should take to help patients is to monitor each case and find this profit making companies shut them down. Therefore, it is imperative to think about environmental ethics when it comes to genetic engineering. Because they are developed by organizations and institutions that wish to keep the environment as their top priority [3]. Benefits The most significant beneficial impact of genetic engineering is gene therapy. Gene therapy refers to the medical treatment of a disease by fixing or replacing imperfect genes or introducing curative genes to fight the disease. This technique has been used over the years to treat some heart disease and autoimmune disease. Using gene therapy, there’s hope of finding the cure to other diseases caused by a defective gene. Creation of more superior pharmaceutical products through cloning of genes and treatment of fetus before birth are other possible future benefits of genetic engineering. Achieving a Common ground The tremendous rate of transformation and development of genetic engineering comes with risks and benefits as discussed above. There risks and benefits must be weighed in terms of their moral, spiritual and ethical perspectives in order to achieve a common ground on the subject of whether this technology is right or wrong. The potential of genetic engineering is accompanied by need for great responsibility. Conclusion Despite the debate about genetic engineering, the laws in most countries seem to uphold genetic engineering research and development by permitting genetically engineered organisms to be patented [2]. These patents give scientists domination over their genetically engineered species. Regardless, we must not linger and see the impacts genetic engineering will have on the earth. We must form informed opinions, advocate government regulation and anticipate that a whatever path this technology takes us, is an affirmative step towards enhanced environmental sustainability, reduced animal torment, and overall considerate regard for the earth and its valuable life [1]. Work cited Book [1] A.Brenda, Ethical Issues in the New Genetics: Are Genes Us?Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003. Book [2] B. Roberta, The Ethics of Genetic Engineering. London: Routledge, 2010. Book [3] S. Michael, The Case against Perfection: Ethics in the Age of Genetic Engineering. Cambridge, Mass: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2007. Book [4] C. Marina, Genetic Engineering. New York: Crabtree Pub, 2010. Book [5] M. Pete, The Debate About Genetic Engineering. New York: Rosen Pub. Groups Rosen Central, 2007. Book [6] R. John, The Ethics of Inheritable Genetic Modification: A Dividing Line?Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006. Book [7] J. Nossal and R. Coppel, Reshaping Life: Key Issues in Genetic Engineering. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Book [8] S. Jane, Genetic Engineering: Principles and Methods. New York: Springer, 2005. Book [9] H. Russ, Genetic Engineering: Manipulating the Mechanisms of Life. New York: Facts On File, 2009. Book [10] M. Sally, Genetic Engineering: The Facts. London: Evans Brothers, 2006. Read More