Niklas Aggelidis
Dr. Blackwood
English 11
6 March 2015
Genetic Engineering – How far will we go?
We are living in a world which is changing with an exponential pace; every day humans are creating new inventions, gathering new knowledge about scientific phenomena and starting new empirical projects. Genetic engineered organisms are yet part of our life on a daily basis, even though we do not recognize it as that. Already today there are heated debates about how far we should go with genetically modified plants or animals. In the future, perhaps just a couple decades, we might even create a new species of humans, genetically enhanced and superior to us. Undoubtedly we will be capable of performing such an endeavor some time; the question is where are we standing right now and what consequences will further progress in Genetic Engineering have?
However, first of all we must understand what Genetic Engineering basically is and how it works in order to evaluate it and weight its advantages against its disadvantages.
What is Genetic Engineering?
In general, Genetic Engineering (GE) is the process of altering the genetic makeup of an organism by extracting certain genes from the donor organism and inserting them into the genome of the recipient organism (“What”). Genes are small segments consisting of DNA …show more content…
Traits such like intelligence, beauty, endurance, strength, other personal characteristics and tendencies and individual preferences could be enhanced (“Gene”). People have the chance to predestinate the life of their children in the way that they think is best for them. They could decide if they want a boy or a girl, what tan it will have, if it is going to be blonde or brown haired, what eye color it will have, and also you can enhance certain traits that are in your favor. Do you rather want an athlete or a scientist, a lawyer, a doctor or a model
Dr. Blackwood
English 11
6 March 2015
Genetic Engineering – How far will we go?
We are living in a world which is changing with an exponential pace; every day humans are creating new inventions, gathering new knowledge about scientific phenomena and starting new empirical projects. Genetic engineered organisms are yet part of our life on a daily basis, even though we do not recognize it as that. Already today there are heated debates about how far we should go with genetically modified plants or animals. In the future, perhaps just a couple decades, we might even create a new species of humans, genetically enhanced and superior to us. Undoubtedly we will be capable of performing such an endeavor some time; the question is where are we standing right now and what consequences will further progress in Genetic Engineering have?
However, first of all we must understand what Genetic Engineering basically is and how it works in order to evaluate it and weight its advantages against its disadvantages.
What is Genetic Engineering?
In general, Genetic Engineering (GE) is the process of altering the genetic makeup of an organism by extracting certain genes from the donor organism and inserting them into the genome of the recipient organism (“What”). Genes are small segments consisting of DNA …show more content…
Traits such like intelligence, beauty, endurance, strength, other personal characteristics and tendencies and individual preferences could be enhanced (“Gene”). People have the chance to predestinate the life of their children in the way that they think is best for them. They could decide if they want a boy or a girl, what tan it will have, if it is going to be blonde or brown haired, what eye color it will have, and also you can enhance certain traits that are in your favor. Do you rather want an athlete or a scientist, a lawyer, a doctor or a model