This assignment will discuss the ethical concept of genetic engineering and how it demonstrates its relevance to midwifery professional practice and maternity care. Before analysing genetic engineering and looking at the arguments as to whether it is ethically right, an understanding of what the terms and lawful procedures mean should be determined.
In order to construct this assignment, multiple resources were accessed. These resources included analysing books, both hard copies and electronically. Books are a logical source of information as they allow the reader to locate specific areas of study through the use of index and contents pages. Reputable web addresses were also used to locate relevant information that could be used within
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Buxton and Turney (2007) argue that there is only one way of curing genetic disorders or diseases, and that is through the process of gene therapy, which is to replace the defective gene with a healthy copy. Any offspring that the carrier has in the future will be free from the gene, which on the bigger scale will effectively wipe out the disease. Doctors can now diagnose certain genetic defects in a fetus by studying samples of cells taken from the amniotic fluid that surrounds the fetus (HFEA, n.d.). Rapp (1999) states that the process is called amniocentesis and is thought to have been first developed by German doctors in the 1980s to relieve pressure on the fetus. Genetic screening is usually offered when a family has a history of an inherited disorder or the mother is comparatively old. Amniocentesis is carried out from 10 weeks gestation and can identify certain genetic defects such as Down’s syndrome which can be detected directly as the additional chromosomes are easily seen, “it is also able to detect other chromosomal and fetal problems such as Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, Fragile X and neural tube defects such as Spina Bifida” (Coulter, 2012). Milunksy (2004) observes that the use of amniocentesis increased dramatically in the 1950s as spectrophotometric analysis of bilirubin demonstrated its worthiness in monitoring fetuses with rhesus isoimmunisation.
Genetic screening can be carried out on unborn
Though the use of pre-natal hereditary screening is as of now utilized as a part of high-hazard pregnancies for recognition of illness, for example, Down syndrome and Huntington 's chorea (Ridley 55, 98). As researchers decide the qualities for extra hereditary conditions, screening of incipient organisms will give more data to potential biological parents, former to their offspring has advanced. On the off chance that a screened embryo were found to convey qualities for a specific malady or inability, its guardians may specifically prematurely end it. This gives parents a choice of raising a child with a disability or back out if they don’t have the means to support the child financially, physically, emotionally or mentally. This is a good thing despite what others say because if a child is born with a disability in to family that doesn’t have the means to support it, it is unfair to all parties
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.
The morality of genetic enhancement (GE) differs from person to person. The stance Michael J. Sandel’s takes is that eugenics and GE has no morality. He states in his work, “The case against Perfection”, that manipulating ones genes makes one less human; since, humans are not perfect which is what makes one human and by designing a perfect person one is taking away their humanity. He thinks eugenics are morally problematic in the cases of abortion; in which the mother would be free to determine if she would like to abort the baby by looking at its genes for illnesses, physical appearance and sex, this would test and even change ones moral values. Sandel is opposed on the quest of perfection due to the fact that one is not looking at the big picture, human life is a precious gift. He argues that one’s faults and quirks are what makes one unique from the other seven billion people on earth. And if one takes away what makes one who they are and becomes the perfect person there will be no originality since many would want to also become perfect. Imagine how many parents would want their child to become the next Einstein or Shakespeare. The freedom to become one’s own person would be taken away. For example, a boy that was GE to love soccer and no other sport and a boy that gets to pursue whatever he chooses, the other boy never had the opportunity or liberty to choose what sport he would like he was programed to love soccer for the rest of
An Enhanced Genotype: Ethical Issues Involved with Genetic Engineering and their Impact as Revealed by Brave New World
In other words, they are worried that parents having the ability to control what their child will be like will disrupt the plan that God has created for them. Some also believe that it is unethical to make a decision that will affect a person without their consent, which is exactly what genetic modification would be doing. By changing the plan that God has created and making a decision on behalf of a person without their consent are both seen as unethical and going against religious
Genetic Engineering, for most individuals not knowledgeable on the topic, conjures visions of sci-fi movies and humans being grown in a lab far off in the future. What more and more individuals in the early 21st century are coming to realize is that Genetic Engineering has already exceeded our wildest imaginations in a dark corner of a lab, outside of the view of the main stream public. Indeed, in 2017, genetic engineering is in full swing on both plant and animal life. Only from hearing major news stories such as Dolly the world 's first cloned sheep or GMOs already being a major part of North America 's corn production, have the masses been made aware of the sweeping advances that science has been able to make. Now that we as a
Technology, it 's a word that defines the means and ways of everyday life today. In the 21st century, technology is a crucial thing. From plasma televisions, to ipods and iphones, technology conquers all. Apart from everyday uses of technology, science and research technology is making a huge impact in medical and research science. Teens and young adults today are unaware of these growing trend of using technology in medical science. Currently, the use of technology in gene manipulation and engineering is creating a hype. Genetic engineering is the process of taking any specific gene from a living thing and genetically manipulating it to be added into the genetic code of another living thing. This means, since plants and humans, and
Cloning has always been a symbol of advancement and intelligence in our society. Its uncertainty may cause people’ hostility towards this unknown technology. I think the exploration of cloning should be supported and we should pursue further improvement. The knowledge should be widely applied to medical, agricultural and reproduction uses, but should be withheld to the stage of physical characteristics or phenotypes modification. I think genetic engineering is a very promising scientific field which can benefit the human society profoundly especially for the medical uses. The research of genetic engineering can also largely contribute to solving scarcity and increase reproduction of limited resources to higher economy of scale. Nevertheless genetic engineering is still a very controversial problem and many opposed opinions may be raised. I will try to prove otherwise that people can obtain more advantages from mastering this technology.
Determining if genetic engineering is morally good is only half the battle with this ethical issue. Regardless of whether morally good reasons are used to justify it, genetic engineering is an attempt to use human intelligence in order to try to overthrow God’s original creation or plan for humans. Scientist are trying to perfect his creation or change it. God has laid out the way things should happen naturally and humans are attempting to overthrow it. A key word to note is “attempt” because Scotus would see genetic engineering as a failed attempt at playing God because he believes that God is all powerful and it would be impossible for a human to possess that same type of power. In the article “Freedom Beyond Practice Reason: Duns Scotus on Will- Dependent Relations” the author Tobias Hoffmann discusses freedom of will according to Scotus. Hoffmann explains that, “for Scotus, the will is free to will any good either for its own sake alone… or for the sake of something else.” (Hoffmann 1077). God gave humans the freedom of will which allows individuals to live a life they choice. This means an individual could choice a life of virtue or a life of sin and God would not intentionally interfere in their life and force that individual to choose God’s preferred path of righteousness. God has given humans a choice, and permits them to do what they want with their own lives. Likewise, God has given humans intelligence and what humans do with their intelligence is also up to them
In the past thirty years, humans are witnessing a huge revolution in the genetic engineering industry. Having identified most of the Human Genome, gene sequencing has become programmed and extremely fast, and laboratory techniques in molecular biology allow for in-vitro fertilization and transfer of genetic material. Gene therapy and repair based on stem cells research allows for replacement of a defected allele in the DNA, and even a whole damaged tissue in the patient. In general, it is accurate to say that genetic engineering is a controversial topic about which people tend to have strong opinions. The genetic engineering issues that mainly catch the attention of the moral community involve the
1. Is it ethical for researchers and/or biotechnology firms to patent DNA? What are some of the arguments used in support and against the patenting of human genes?
Genetic engineering to the human body is a touchy subject on both sides of the political aisle
Genetically modified organisms are living organisms whose DNA is replicated in order to survive harsh conditions and they are also known as transgenic organisms because it involves the transfer of genes (author pg #). The use of biotechnology and artificial selection develops the way GMOs are created by finding desired traits in different organisms (Phillips 1). Phillips, author of “Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and Recombinant DA Technology” includes in her article, “Crop plants, farm animals, and soil bacteria are . . . examples . . .that have been subject to genetic engineering” (Phillips 1). The ethics of GMOs is a widely controversial topic that has been discussed ever since
Genetic engineering obviously frightens a lot of us, possibly due to the fact that a large amount of sci-fi films and video games have walking humanoid abominations of nature that are the mistakes of experiments gone quite wrong. And, while the sheer idea that genetic mutation sounds like Something out a horror movie, it probably seems less wrong to the person who actually needs
Genetic engineering has to do with manipulating organisms and DNA to create body characteristics. The practice of genetic DNA has shown an increasing amount over the past years. The process of genetic enhancement involves manipulating organisms by using biotechnologies. The technique is by removing a DNA from one life form and transferring it to another set of traits or organism. Certain barriers are conquered, and the procedure involves changing a form of cells, resulting from an improvement or developed organism. GMO which is a (Genetic Modified Organisms) is the operation done in a laboratory where DNA genetic from one particular species or animals is directly forced into another gene from an unrelated subject of plants or even animals.