Genetic Engineering
Genetic Engineering: Improve the quality of life Who would have thought that Dolly the sheep would cause a scientific "war"? Genetic Engineering is the alteration of an organism's genetic, or hereditary, material to eliminate undesirable characteristics or to produce desirable new ones (Levine1). Two of a kind in a card game is great, how about in society. Genetic Engineering is beneficial and can significantly improve the quality of life. The first genetic engineering technique, still used today, was selective breeding. In selective breeding, only those plants or animals with desirable characteristics are chosen for further breeding (1). Over the last thirty years molecular biologists have made great strides in understanding inheritance. Beginning with James Watson and Francis Crick's description of the structure of DNA, scientists now understand how genetic information is stored in the cell and how that information is duplicated. Building on this knowledge, more recent discoveries have enabled scientists to move pieces of genetic information from one organism to another. Many people believe that discoveries in molecular biology and genetic engineering can significantly improve the quality of our lives, but t
As well as modifying the body's structural properties, it would also be convenient to pay serious attention to its metabolism. An engaging notion would be to increase the range of substances that the body can utilize as food. (Stableford68) hey also believe that intelligent use of this new knowledge depends on society's understanding of its potential and its limitations. (Beneficial18) One point that immediately calls itself to mind is that humans are not good at seeing in the dark. There are many animals, which are better at making use of low levels of light than we are-cats, for example. It would be very useful to enhance the ability of humans to see by night, provided that any modifications made to the eyes for that purpose are not prejudicial to the ability to see by day. (Stableford70) What a grand idea of night-vision for mankind. What does that mean? It means that mankind would be able to work outside day and night. In one of the most widespread modern hero-myths, an Everyman figure called Clark Kent harbours within an innocent disguise his true identity: Superman, the man of steel! The notion that a meek victim of circumstance can be transformed into an omnicompetent demigod is an appealing one; but designing new human species cannot give us the power of instant selftransformation, nor will it enable us to produce people invulnerable to injury, capable of levitation or possessing X-ray vision. Nevertheless, many improvements to our capabilities will be within the compass of the genetic engineers of the future, affecting not only the structure of our bodies, but also their metabolism and power of perception. The desires to improve on nature will probably be one of the first motives to encourage them to design the seed of a new kind of man. (Stableford66) Improving health of human beings would be a tremendous advantage of
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Approximate Word count = 1257
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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