An Enhanced Genotype: Ethical Issues Involved with Genetic Engineering and their Impact as Revealed by Brave New World

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.

The Declaration of Independence describes individual rights as “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (Congress). These inalienable rights are threatened by genetic modification. Specifically, Tony Wang, in his research on the ethics of genetic

Starting in the late 19th century, American philosophers, theorists, and scientists began experimenting and theorizing the idea of eugenics. Derived from Darwinian theories and the extensive works of Gregor Mendel, eugenics is known as a set of practices aimed at enhancing the human genome into sameness. Edwin Black’s “War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race” looks at the horrific background of eugenics, the ones who supported it, and the twisted ends it came to. This source, along with the two others, brings light to the awful means pursued to obtain a brilliant, but illogical and immoral goal of sameness. Overall, a negative vibe is shown through these sources.

Nowadays, people will claim that the world is on the verge of scientific revolution that leads to the most controversial idea; genetic engineering of humans. When science technology grows exponentially faster than moral understanding, therein lies the argument between these two aspects. One can argue that genetic engineering is some sort of vast achievement in technology especially in this modern era whereby people live in full of access. However, if we look closely at the impact of this technology towards human beings, genetic engineering has many flaws and ramifications that can be debated thoroughly. Arguments and points of view are explained by Michael J. Sandel, the author of “The Case Against Perfection” and Nicholas Agar, the author of “Liberal Eugenics”.

In the afterward to this book, author Lee Silver, professor of molecular ecology and evolutionary biology and neuroscience at Princeton, states, "My goal has been to present both the scientific and the political realities of reprogenetic technologies as I see them, along with the ethical dilemmas their use will raise. I leave it to philosophers and bioethicists to figure out how these ethical dilemmas might be resolved." As the book opens, the reader is moved scene by scene further into the future when, ultimately, the development of genetic engineering and its accessability will have formed a world even more polarized

The last 150 years have seen the origin of—and rapid expansion in—human knowledge involving the nature and mechanisms of trait and disease inheritance in human beings. Advances in genetic research hold great promise for the future development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for a great many, often devastating, heritable conditions. However, these advances also raise a series of policy, legal and fundamentally ethical questions concerning what we should and should not do with the knowledge and technology we acquire. These questions are numerous and both imminently practical and speculative, ranging from the exhausted, yet still largely unresolved, question of the moral status of the human embryo to fears about slippery slopes into a Brave New World or Gattaca-style dystopic future characterized by designer children and a genetic underclass.

It is incredible to see how far genetic engineering has come. Humans, plants, and any living organism can now be manipulated. Scientists have found ways to change humans before they are even born. They can remove, add, or alter genes in the human genome. Making things possible that humans (even thirty years ago) would have never imagined. Richard Hayes claims in SuperSize Your Child? that genetic engineering needs to have limitations. That genetic engineering should be used for medical purposes, but not for “genetic modification that could open the door to high-tech eugenic engineering” (188). There is no doubt that genetic engineering can amount to great things, but without limits it could lead the human race into a future that no one

The term designer children is unnerving at first to many. The idea of parents designing the genetic makeup of their offspring makes children seem like a commodity in a genetic free market. Thoughts of a dystopian society like the one in the film “Gattaca” come to mind. However, taking an immediate repugnant stand against genetic enhancement is not well-founded. A more open-minded inspection of the issue reveals that the idea of parents improving their children’s life prospects through genetic engineering (provided it is safe) is, at its core, not unethical. In fact, some genetic enhancement in addition to correcting deleterious genes to prevent disease is a moral obligation. It is moral to make rational decisions using the science and

Biology is the science of life. Technology uses science to solve problems. Our society has progressed in its understanding of life to the point that we are able to manipulate it on a fundamental level through technology. This has led to profound ethical dilemmas. The movie Gattaca explores some important bioethical issues that are currently the focus of much dispute. The underlying thematic issue presented is the question of the extent to which biologically inherent human potential determines the true potential of a person. Perhaps the most controversial issue in Gattaca is the use of genetic engineering technology in humans to create a more perfect society; this is, essentially, a new

If man could prevent his child from having Tay Sachs Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome and other life threatening genetic disorders, should he be able to? Using human genetic engineering, scientists have developed the skills and techniques to do just this. Human genetic engineering, however, is fairly new in the science world and many questions and unresolved problems still remain. This technology is the center of many arguments in the science world when debating the ethical standpoint (Cyranoski). Both sides have their arguments; however, the pros will far out weigh the cons when the technology is perfected and used under strict rules and regulations. Human genetic engineering is one of the most controversial topics in the field of science that has the potential to improve the human species for the better as a whole, and I support the use of this technology.

Although it may be unethical to change a human being without its consent, ethics should not hinder the development of technology. Genetic engineering eliminates physical and intellectual limitation improving human potential(“Cho”) . Some people believe it is unfair

In an ever-expanding world of technological and scientific innovations in science and medicine, Genetic Engineering is a black sheep among its peers. Genetic Engineering is a highly debatable science with some countries outlawing its research in some of its three major subcategories of plants, organisms and humans. As a member of society it’s a critical responsibility that one understands what effects Genetic Engineering in the three subcategories could have on society, the laws that restrict and permit Genetic Engineering in the subcategories around the world, the moral and ethical responsibilities as a human being, the rights of the people that, Genetic Engineering in the subcategories ,could help enhance their way of life and our right to choose.

Imagine a world where disease and impairments could be cured or no longer exist. Where humans no longer have to live with or fight cancer, diabetes, HIV, blindness, hearing impairment or Alzheimer’s. Genetic modification may make all of this possible in our near future, but there is a question that continues circling people’s minds: is this ethically right? First, we should understand what ethics is. Ethics involves classifying, and defending the standards and concepts of right and wrong behavior. It is the study of systems of moral duty. Furthermore, being ethical is more than understanding what the right thing to do is; therefore, you should avoid what is wrong and bad.

Genetic Engineering is the editing, erasing, or replacement of a gene to evoke positive change in a patient’s health. This is a serious moral conflict in today’s society where scientific research and experiments have yet again attempted what was once the impossible. It is incredible that we are capable of creating life saving devices and tools, but at some point we need to find a limit. Sometimes research and curiosity exceeds its boundaries and can become harmful to other people. Genetic Engineering is controversial because it is intended to be beneficial to one’s health but it may eventually expand from preventing disease to choosing your baby’s eye color and intelligence levels. These babies with unnecessary changes to their phenotype are called “designer babies” because their parents are picking traits rather than trying to escape pain and disease. This technology is not fully developed and commonly used today, it is more theoretical for future testing.

A multitude of modern day movies, books, television shows, magazines, have depicted a utopian society that manufactures and molds citizens into the “ideal” human through genetic modifications. This theme is omnipresent through these different forms of media and is seen as impractical and merely fictional. But how distant is this future? The advancement of human technology is proliferating and bringing along with it new forms of genetic modification. Procedures one once could not even begin to fathom are slowly but surely becoming our reality. With major progression in genetic modification, it is inevitable that discussion will emerge on whether tampering with genes prior to birth is ethical or not.