Alexis Romanov: Oracular And Divinatory Power Of DNA

The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee is not just a book about cancer; it is a story about one disease’s ability to change the course of humanity. My father handed me the book when I was thirteen, and it changed the way I thought about medicine. This new perspective complemented my fascination with maps, which allowed me to understand the many places and people I could never see. After years of flipping through atlases and reading about cancer in my father’s office, I realized the remarkable role doctors have had in pushing the progression of the human race. I quickly became infatuated with medicine and its impact on the world. From stepping into the emergency room at my local hospital to see the effect of medicine on people first-hand to presenting a website about

Gregory Stock, in his article Choosing Our Genes, asserts that at this point not ethics are important, but rather the future of genetic technology. Stock supports his conclusion by providing powerful examples of how genetic modifications can benefit our population anywhere from correcting genes at the time of conception to extending lifespan. He wants to inform his audience about all of the benefits of genetic technology in order to prove that there are way more advantages in this technology that are highly desirable by people of different ages. He reaches his readers by writing a very detailed yet coherent article that brings awareness to various groups of people from parents to be to older populations.

Eugenics is defined, in some way or the other, as the process of reshaping the human race by determining the kinds of people who will be born. As such, there is much debate in the field of eugenics, with authors, like Philip Kitcher, who support laissez-faire or a minimalist approach of eugenics in which eugenic decision-making should be limited only to avoid neurological illnesses and in which parental free choice is valued. Gregory Stock’s essay, The Enhanced and Un-Enhanced, presents otherwise by supporting the position of maximalist eugenics, allowing individuals the full extent in the selection of genes. On the other hand, the film, Gattaca, raises major ethical problems by illustrating a dystopian society resulted by extensive

But genetics could also become a tool for reducing the class divide" (517). The issue with this is if we can manipulate genes to make them better, or even get rid of diseases as Green argues, then surely we would want we have paid for. When a parent can alter their child's abilities and life for the better, they have control over what they want in a child. Examples of this would be to make a child not obese because the parents have the obesity gene. This is what critics mean to Green and genetic manipulation, when a person has control over the production of another they are "playing God."

According to Antonio Regalado, 15% of adults think it would be fine to alter a baby’s genes to make it smarter. However, 46% think it is acceptable to fix a newborn’s genes to reduce the risk of serious illnesses (Doc. 4). The unique thing about the world is that every single person is different. If genetic engineering gets out of hand, it could lead to a “dystopia of superpeople and designer babies for those who can afford it” (Doc. 3). Once altering the genes of humans is feasible, international rules should be made so that diseases from mutated genes can be fixed, but messing with the child’s attributes are illegal. That way, every country’s government can prevent a future dystopia before it

Through studies such as the Human Genome Project, researchers have discovered more information than ever about genes, chromosomes, DNA, and specific medical conditions and diseases. Although, we cannot hold modern medicine responsible for discovering biological markers and treatments for certain medical conditions, historical events such as Buck v. Bell need to be brought into the classroom for students to understand how linking complex human traits and behaviors to heredity is erroneous and may lead to unjustifiable social policies. Human traits and behaviors are more so based upon an individual’s environment rather than the genes an individual inherits. Many historians worry that contemporary economic and social problems can give rise to a new eugenics movement. Given the constant struggle over limited resources, we can expect eugenic proposals to resurface overtime. The story of Carrie Buck provides a point of departure for discussing and understanding multifaceted issues including the understanding of linking traits to certain behavioral aspects, the understanding of the legislative system and court rulings and understanding what decisions and when these decisions should be justifiable to people within society. Providing education on such controversial and political issues to future generations could

“I pity the Tsar. I pity Russia. He is a poor and unhappy sovereign…He is obviously a good and quite intelligent man, but he lacks will power, and it is from that character that his state defects developed, that is, his

In the ‘not-to-distant future’, the world of Gattaca is where genetic engineering has become the normal approach to procreation. Gattaca’s society involves a culture of self-advancement through genetic determinisms, a caste system of valid and in-valids and social discrimination based on ‘genoism’. This sterile and cold society of elitist collaborations like Gattaca promotes competition, isolation and discrimination. This is something that is dangerous to individuals and relationships and shows an arrogant belief to the world of science. Despite this hierarchical world it isn’t the technology that stands alone as dangerous to individuals, instead it is the human sprit or lack of it and the desire one has to reach their dreams that have an

Americans today are faced with a number of health issues, mainly as a result of poor diet, lack of exercise, and lifestyle choices; but, of course, genetics does play a part. My family, for example, has a history of several issues. My father suffers from diabetes and asthma, which my children have as well. My older sister and I both suffer from stress, which is most likely causing our chronic heartburn and my headaches; and, both my husband and I are borderline obese, which is a gateway disease to many others. While some of these issues are linked genetically, many of them are due to lifestyle, which can be viewed as both negative and positive. Negative because we brought these ailments onto ourselves, but positive because we can

In The Fearless Vampire Conservator: Philip Kitcher, Genetic Determinism, and the Informational Gene, Paul Griffiths defines genetic determinism as “the idea that significant human characteristics are strongly linked to the presence of certain genes.”(pg number). Griffiths argues that the common characterization of genes as informational, in both science and general society, is problematic because it causes our concept of genetics to be inextricably linked to genetic determinism. He explains that “the predominant vernacular conception of information is intentional information,” which is context-independent, leading to an association between genetics and determined health and behavioral phenotypes. To provide evidence for this thesis,

existence of evil and depression as consequences of “bad” genes. The idea that genes are the

The idea that our genetic code controls most aspects of our lives is arguable. Nowadays, scientists (cell biologists, neuroscientists, etc.) are uncovering concrete evidence that are genetic code is only one of the many complex system of the human body that sways our lives. According to one new study, (“Do

It has been argued that if genes influence behaviour and character, and we cannot choose our genes, then our behaviour is outside our control and we are not responsible. However, we take the view that genes are not deterministic, and that there is scope for an

For example a person living in a deprived council estate, with a very low income has been proven to be more at risk of developing health issues compared to someone from a higher social class as there is a strong correlation between poverty and ill health. This has been backed up by (WHO, 1946) that state that ‘poverty creates ill-health because it forces people to live in environments that make them sick.’

Genes build the phenotype of humans as well as the underlying genotype. Competition between cultural genes leads to varied success of genetic determinism. It can therefore be said that learnt traits such as those espoused within a specific culture, can produce what may seem to be the genetic genotype of an individual. Genes are not always advantageous in the