Genetic Engineering
Anti-technologists and political extremists misinform, and over exaggerate statements that genetic engineering is not part of the natural order of things. The moral question of genetic engineering can be answered by studying human evolution and the idea of survival of the fittest. The question of safety can be answered by looking at the current precautions of the industry. The concept that society needs to understand is that with the right amount of time and money genetic engineering will help reduce disease and save countless lives. Many people do not realize that genetic engineering plays a role in many lives through out the world. Genetic engineering includes artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, sperm banks, cloning, and gene manipulation (Goetz 178). Synthetic insulin is now available for use to treat diabetes. This man made insulin has many positive aspects, which include its life span, cost to manufacture it, and the amount that is available. The synthetic insulin lasts two to three times longer than its natural form and costs substantially less to manufacture than to extract it from an animal, primarily pigs. One other benefit is the amount that can be manufactured. In pigs, the
Another opposing view to genetic engineering is the idea that doctors and genetic engineers are trying to control something that man was not supposed to be able to control. These ideas stem from people's fear and religious affiliation. This is based on opinions that people have formed, once again, because of their ignorance towards genetic engineering. Safety of genetic engineering is something that presents much concern. Looking at the current precautions and previous precautions of the biotechnological industry can clear up the safety issue. Today the Federal and State Governments set many limitations on biotechnological industries. The FDA and State Governments impose limits such as the illegalization of human cloning and limits on other genetic engineering processes. The only legal forms of genetic engineering that are used today are in vitro fertilization, artificial insemination, and sperm banks. Another form of genetic engineering is the use of gene therapy. Gene therapy is illegal because people should not be able to create the perfect child, but they should be able to correct a gene in a child if it has a chance of being born with Down syndrome. The safety precautions are in effect in order to save the lives of unborn babies. Gene therapy cannot be used on humans until it is perfected and there is little or no chance of failure. These sciences are not perfect but give it a few years and it will be a great benefit to the human race. The replication of insulin is not the only way biotechnology is being utilized. Today people receive synthetic hormones that their body cannot produce such as growth hormones, thyroid, estrogen, and testosterone. Vaccines are also another form of genetic engineering that has been used for many years. Vaccines already protect against disease to a certain extent, but for a virus like HIV, it is too risky to inject somebody with a vaccine. The reason for this is because a vaccine is a solution that contains a dead or weakened virus that has been synthetically prepared. Further work on a HIV vaccine could save many lives and possibly eliminate the disease. This biotechnology makes it possible for more people to live the lives that would not have been available without genetic engineering. The moral question of genetic engineering is answered by looking at the advances in medicine. Today the advancements in medicine are evolving at an extremely high rate. If the science of genetic engineering is wrong, then so are the rest of the advances in medicine. The reason is because genetic engineering is just another form of medical advancement. Gene manipulation is not going to be used for any other purpose except for the treatment and elimination of disease. The one thing that people need to realize is the potential of genetic engineering. Try to visualize what parents of a child is dying from a disease like multiple sclerosis think about the benefits of genetic engineering. Do they think that it is morally wrong or right? They think that it is right because it is going to save their child's life. It is not safe to clone a human. It took 277 tries to successfully clone Dolly the sheep. This should not stop scientists from trying to clone organs that could save many
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Approximate Word count = 2194
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)
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