Genetic Modification In Brave New World

Genetic Modification is often perceived as the answer to humanity’s faults because it will enhance human abilities, prevent the survival of incapacitating disabilities, and guide the innovation of the future. Sounds pretty good, right? That is not the reality. Genetic modification is not the solution to the ubiquitous problems of the human race, but rather infringes on individual rights, decreases diversity, permits too much power to the human race, and contributes to overpopulation.

“‘We also predestine and condition. We decant our babies as socialized human beings, as Alphas or Epsilons, as future sewage workers or future…’ He was going to say ‘future World Controllers,’ but correcting himself, said ‘future Directors of Hatcheries’ instead.” (Huxley 56).

Genetic engineering is a very controversial topic. People either agree with genetic modification, or they don’t. According to dictionary.com, genetic engineering is the development and application of scientific methods, procedures, and technologies that permit direct manipulation of genetic material in order to alter the hereditary traits of a cell, organism, or population. While researching this topic, I learned many interesting facts. I found out that genetic engineering first started in 1973, I did not know it had been around for so long. I learned that two men, Herbert Boyer and Stanley Cohen, were the first people to genetically modify an organism, which was bacteria. Yourgenome.org states that, “Genetic engineering can be applied to

Genetic Engineering is one of the current hot button topics of our world today and its also the fundamental theme in widely know novels such as Brave New World and My Sister’s Keeper. But what exactly is Genetic Engineering? What exactly does Genetic Engineering entail? Genetic Engineering in its self is a mammoth and board field, yet not many people actually know or even understand the diversity that Genetic Engineering entails.

Despite this setup we are introduced to Bernard Marx, an Alpha who due to complications when he was a blood surrogate, left him physically stunted, 8 centimeters shorter than the average Alpha. With this disadvantage, Marx is rather pessimistic, finding himself inferior to that of the other Alphas around him and that the other castes believe in this notion as well. He is the first character introduced that is shown to go against the premise described by the Director. He is unhappy in his place in society, he feels emotions that were have thought to be eliminated or numbed away. “Contact with members of the lower castes always reminded him painfully of his physical inadequacy… Would the creature [in reference to a Delta] treat him with the respect due to his caste?” (pgs. 64-65) His lowered feeling of self worth is also exemplified when he compares himself to his friend Helmholtz Watson, he find himself jealous of a man perceived to be almost “too able.” (pg. 67) These instances where Marx compares himself to his fellow caste members show how in his mind he is exiled or different from the other Alphas and struggles to fit in. Others recognize this and talk about him negatively. This is ironic since his identity as an Alpha member makes him above the population.

Scientific advancement is generally used to lead humanity into a state of perfection. Humans are anything but perfect, but through science they can continue to enhance themselves and their surroundings in order to reach this state. Huxley, in his novel Brave New World, argues that this is not the case. Through the creation of a type of scientifically led world order, the society has destroyed the one thing that people cherish most, their individualism (Brander 71). They are no longer individuals; they are consumers assimilated into an overall society by the power of genetics. However, that is not all. Baker contends that “Huxley’s greatest fear was the potential misuse of genetic engineering, but Brave New World also reflects his warnings

Similar to reality, society is shaping the children’s minds of how everything is before even experiencing it themselves in the book. As children grow, they learn that the mere idea of parents is “obscene”, erotic play is expected, and that standing out is not acceptable. In Brave New World, the boys blush when the Director speaks about parents and life-bearing which is now considered "taboo" in this dystopia (Huxley 18). In real life, children learn that having traits such as intelligence, height and fitness are desirable. They also learn that being an individual is detrimental to the structure and foundation of the society they occupy in. In essence, the child’s mind is molded into not what it experiences but by the State (Huxley 21). In addition, Huxley reminds us that the embryos are bottled up and is saying metaphorically that the citizens of the dystopia are trapped within the laws of the World Controllers (Huxley 38). Huxley’s intention of using these potent words is to make readers realize that society is indeed heading towards this new path. Families are deciding to unnaturally create children through in-vitro fertilization, a process of fertilizing eggs in a laboratory then placing it inside a woman. In the book, children are created in test tubes, exposed to many substances like alcohol to train them to be the role they were chosen to be. The parents are basically planning out a kid’s life before even conceiving and this

Some people may argue that the genetic modification of human beings should be allowed for a variety of reasons. Genetically modifying a zygote’s or embryo’s DNA may possibly reduce the risk of the child growing up with a dangerous or even fatal genetic disorder his or her parents may have had the gene(s) for. Others may argue that a child’s parents deserve the right to decide exactly what they want their child to be like. For example, some parents may want their child to be more athletic rather than academic, and vice versa. A child’s genes will never be 100% predictable when he or she is conceived naturally, so there is a high likelihood that there will be physical differences in his or her looks when compared to the parents. The parents might want the child to look like them by having the same eye color, hair color, face shape, or even body shape. Although modifying a baby to fit one’s expectations and desires may seem like a great thing to do, there are several reasons why it is not the right choice.

Genetic modification (GM) is the use of modern biotechnology techniques to change the genes of an organism such as plants or animals. No one is permitted to deal with a genetically modified organism (GMO) in Australia unless the Australian Gene Technology Regulator has determined that the GMO is safe to human health and the surrounding environment. As the world’s population continues to increase and is expected to double within the next few years, the world’s demand for food and fibre has increased drastically. GM foods and fibres seem to be the only means for a solution to provide for the high demand in which we now face. (Agric.wa.gov.au, 2014)

Daisy the cow was born with a birth defect. She had no tail. The process of the genetic transfer is most likely to be the cause of this. Stefan Wagner, a scientist on the team, said "This congenital abnormality is rare in cows and not something we have seen in animals we have cloned previously," However, they are still in the process of confirming whether or not this defect is link to the genetic transferring method. This deformity makes us question whether she has any other health issues. If she was born without a tail, there is a chance she could have other deformities as well. This is not good news as it any form of health problems could affect other parts of the cow.

Over the past few decades genetic engineering has caused plenty of controversy not only in politics, but as well as in science and the lives of everyday people. Controversy is not new to this subject, in fact it has a rich history of it, from cloning to patenting several types of DNA. Some scientist in this field even oppose this subject. While there are many cons in this subject such as people taking advantage over the technology, there are also a lot of pros that come out of it and has helped society such as creating cures for diseases that are not yet curable today. This paper will not only present the pros and cons of genetic engineering, but also part of the history and the basic principles and concepts behind it.

Over the past 30 years, the field of genetics has blossomed into one of the fastest growing and most funded fields of science around the world. One major breakthrough known as Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) has shifted the way we view DNA and might be the single most important discovery for the future of life on planet Earth. Once there is a better understanding of CRISPR and its CAS9 enzyme, and any potential shortcomings are addressed, the amount of change that CRISPR could make on society could be world changing.

Aldous Huxley published a Brave New World in 1932 in which he depicts a society in which babies are born in bottles, the concept of an individual cell does not matter as people do not believe in intimacy, science is used as a form of control, subjugation and conditioning, and drugs as well as sex are forms of escaping the horrors of reality. Or as Laurence Brander (1970) put it, “Affection and loyalty are unnecessary, beauty is a synthetic product, truth is arranged in a test tube, hope is supplied in a pill, which by its action annihilates identity.” By linking science, technology, and politics, Huxley predicted that human individuality would wither away . He believed that his book was not only a “satire on contemporary culture, a prediction of biological advances, a commentary on the social roles of science and scientists” but also “a plan for reforming society” . Influenced by events taking place during his lifetime, he anticipated various developments such as World War II. Additionally, his novel was able to prophesize the major themes and struggles that dominate society even today.

Genetic modification (GM) is the use of modern biotechnology techniques to change the genes of an organism such as plants or animals. No one is permitted to deal with a genetically modified organism (GMO) in Australia unless the Australian Gene Technology Regulator has determined that the GMO is safe to human health and the surrounding environment. As the world’s population continues to increase and is expected to double within the next few years, the world’s demand for food and fibre has increased drastically. GM foods and fibres seem to be the only means for a solution to provide for the high demand in which we now face. (Agric.wa.gov.au, 2014)

The use of genetic modification of organisms is the process of extracting deoxyribonucleic acid from an organism and combing fragments (genes) of it with DNA of a separate organism. Consequently introducing new characteristics into the separate organism which alter its phenotypes and genotypes, furthermore when bred it will provide it’s offspring with different genotypical and phenotypical traits due to its parent/s alteration. The repercussions of genetic engineering with the intentions of increasing food production can vary in numerous ways. Evidentially the altering of organic natural material into something suggestively artificial and synthetic is popularly revealed as hazardous. Considering this, people often demand food in its natural form, despite GMO’s exceptional properties.