Genetic Engineering : Defining Our Children 's Traits

“With genetic engineering, we will be able to increase the complexity of our DNA, and improve the human race. But it will be a slow process, because one will have to wait about 18 years to see the effect of changes to the genetic code”(Hawking). Scientists have been practicing editing the DNA of organisms in order to remove unwanted genes and or enhance their survival rates. As technology advances, it allows this practice to become more precise and successful. Scientist have been having successful test in modifying human dna which causes more controversies on whether it should be allowed or not.Genetic engineering should be permitted due to its ability to benefit the medical and environmental future.To begin with the idea of potentially removing unwanted traits in DNA sequences, to aid in removing hereditary diseases.

DNA are like legos, they work together to build the traits of living things. They are the building blocks of the body. Many scientists today have been figuring out different ways to manipulate, change, add, and subtract genes from the DNA in living things; this is process is called genetic engineering. Some of the living things being experimented on are live people, plants, and animals. Today scientists are debating on the morals of genetic engineering due to what the community thinks of it, because of the christian 's viewpoint of genetic engineering. To some christians it may pose a threat to their, but to others it may be a blessing or a gift. Genetic Engineering is a growing breakthrough in the science community. “Over the last 30 years, the field of genetic engineering has developed rapidly due to the greater understanding of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as the chemical double helix code from which genes are made. The term genetic engineering is used to describe the process by which the genetic makeup of an organism can be altered using “recombinant DNA technology.” This involves the use of laboratory tools to insert, alter, or cut out pieces of DNA that contain one or more genes of interest.”(Pocket K No. 17) Scientist have yet to unlock the full potential of genetic engineering, but the information and the use they have found for it today has reached farther than anyone 's expectations.

We are living is a world where very soon it will be possible for people to create ‘designer babies’ that have all the features they wish for. In the article Building Baby from the Genes Up, Ronald M. Green talks about all the positive impacts that genetic modification of human beings can have on our future generations. Green acknowledges some of the negatives such as parents creating perfect children and being able to give them any trait the parent wants. However in the end he comes to the conclusion that the positive impacts of getting rid of genes that cause obesity, cancer, learning disorders, and many other diseases and disorders, outweighs the negative aspects. Richard Hayes, author of Genetically Modified Humans? No Thanks, takes the stance that we should not be able to change anything about human beings through genetic modification. He believes that once we start modifying a few features, it will slowly turn into every parent altering as many of their babies’ genes that they want. While he does acknowledge the positive impacts of getting rid of negative genes such as Tay-Sachs, he believes that it is not worth the risk of having parents manipulate all their future children’s genes to their liking. Green and Hayes stand on opposite sides of the debate about genetic modification of human beings and this essay will explore the similarities and the differences of their articles.

Although this may be the case in many areas of people’s lives today, it is not always beneficial, or necessary. People may have trouble deciding whether messing with human genes and cells is ethical. Designing the “perfect child” in many parent’s eyes becomes a harsh question of reality. The concept of a parent’s unconditional love for their child is questioned because of the desire to make their child perfect. If genetically engineering humans becomes a dominant medical option, people could have the chance to create their child however they like: from physical appearances, genetically enhanced genes, and the possibility to decide what a child thinks and acts, parents have access to designing their entire child. Naturally, people could be creating a super-human. Issues between different races, and eventually creating new prejudices against genetically engineered humans may increase. People may not realize how expensive genetic screening is at first. With only the rich being able to “enhance” their children, another social issue might occur, giving the world another type of people to outcast.

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

Genetic engineering is the science of altering genes to produce a specific trait in an organism. Although it seems beneficial and inventive, genetic engineering is growing into a big problem. Genetic engineering may have its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages because it is negatively changing our society. In the book Frankenstein, Mary Shelley demonstrates how technology has become monstrous, and genetic engineering is just as malicious as the monster in her novel.

Genetic engineering is so expansive and unpredictable that there is no certain line of attack to illustrate precisely what the future has in store for it development. It would seem that the most logically need for genetic engineering would be in medicine. Since disease and viruses have a genetic component, it is said that healing may be sped along in the future by using bacteria-made proteins to augment the healing process. The genes regulating the production of these proteins can be inserted into bacteria, "teaching" the bacteria how to make the identical proteins. (Future of Genetic Engineering)

Genetic engineering is a process that has been dreamed of for generations by the most ambitious of scientists. With current science making this once far off dream a reality, two men were quick to throw their opinions into the air, making their stance clear on the subject. In “Building Baby from Genes Up” Ronald M. Green encourages people to embrace the inevitable benefits that genetic modification will shower upon the world. Contrasting this article is the more reserved Richard Hayes with “Genetically Modified Humans? No Thanks”, in which he warns of the harm it will undoubtedly bring to humanity.

Genetic engineering is the alteration of an organism’s genotype using recombinant DNA technology to modify an organism’s DNA to achieve desirable traits. (OpenStax 459). The main purpose however of genetic engineering is to deepen the understanding of how genetics works, as well as how it can be applied to the rest of the world. For example growing body parts on mice, or make crops resistant to pesticides, help them grow faster, make them produce faster and much more. The process of genetic engineering according to FAO Corporate Document Repository occurs in 9 steps:

Genetic engineering has become a rising controversial issue in the world today because of its possible positive uses but further more its likely serious consequences and downsides. To understand the controversy we must first understand exactly what human genetic engineering is. Genetic engineering is the manipulation of the human genome to alter or get rid of undesirable genes; these include negative physical traits along with health related genetic problems such as disease and disability. Potentially, it could allow us to decide and design exactly which traits a newborn would inherit before birth.

1976, p.45) . Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genes. It uses the

Genetic engineering is widely used today. Genetically altered bacteria are used to make human insulin, human growth hormone, and a vaccine for hepatitis B. Two vaccines against AIDS created with genetic engineering have begun clinical trials here in the United States ("The

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.

Genetic engineering is the manipulation of genetic material in a cell to produce desired characteristics; desired “new” genes are placed into a little virus like organism that is allowed to get into your cell and insert the new genes into the cell along with the “old” genes. Scientists have learned how to pair and mix different characteristics of unrelated organisms by moving genes from one organism to another. Genetic engineers modify human genes using three approaches: cloning, somatic cell manipulation, and human germline manipulation.

Genetic engineering is the process whereby new DNA is added or existing DNA is altered in an organism 's genome. This may involve changing one base pair (A-T or C-G) or deleting entire sections of DNA or adding additional copies of a gene. This results in creating new traits that were not previously present in the organism’s genome. This is done to selectively breed desired traits or to create plants with increased resistance to pesticides and increased tolerance to herbicides. For example insulin is a protein that regulates sugar content in our blood and is produced normally in the pancreas. Genetic engineering is used to produce a form of insulin that is similar to yeast and bacterial cells. This genetically engineered insulin is called