Imagine a world where life threatening diseases are a thing of the past, where child are born without birth defects or serious illness. Imagine a world where parents could choose what their child looks like, or make sure their child is not susceptible to drug addictions, alcoholism, depression or violence. Imagine a world where parents could make their children genius or amazing athletes. Does this idea scare you or make you excited? Through the use of genetic engineering this imagined world could become reality. To answer any of these questions or to imagine this world, first I want to know what genetic engineering is and how it works.
I first found this source, a two minute and thirty-two second YouTube video while absent mindedly watching …show more content…
I first watched the movie GATTACA in my tenth grade biology class. GATTACA is set in a “not so distant future”. The movie focuses on the controversial topic of human genetic engineering. The world in the movie 'GATTACA' is established on the foundations of eugenics. The world is divided not on money, race, or sexual orientation but on ones genes. Society and social status is between the “vailds”, the genetically enhanced or engineered by having all flaws and defects or faults removed; and the “invalids” the genetically inferior those who were born naturally. In the beginning of the film the narrator states “I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of your skin. No, we now have discrimination down to a science” (GATTACA). Human genetic engineering could be a huge benefit to our world if use properly, but if unchecked it could cause destruction. There are many potential risks that could occur by genetically engineering humans. The risks mainly revolve around the over use and eugenics taking place. Our world could turn into a real life GATTACA where status is defined by a person’s gene. Those who are not genetically perfect are cast out of society. I like this source ever though it is a fictional movie because it shows a good depiction of what a highly genetically modified world could look like. I also like this movie also because it was made in the late 90s, so …show more content…
When I found this next source, by typing “Human genetic engineering” into google and 18,700,000 results popped up. Genetic inequality: Human genetic engineering by Danielle Simmons Ph.D. a Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, her article was the first result after the scholarly article on the page. I clicked on the link because the title interested me. The article talks mainly about how as the knowledge of genetic advances, so does the curiosity and the danger of what could be done with this technology. Simmons points out that Genetic engineering is not new technology but has become more popular and controversial within the last few years. Simmons mentions since plants and animals have been successfully genetically engineering, its only natural people start to wonder about the possibilities of genetically modified humans. This occurs through In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of Assistive reproductive technology (ART) already being use as a form of genetic modification. IVF is the fertilization of an egg outside the women’s body in a petri dish then implanted into the womb. Simmons also says that through the use of IVF, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) was born, leading the way for genetic modification of the unborn child. PGD was first used in 1989. PGD is the testing of embryos for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. PGD could help children live healthy
I first found this source, a two minute and thirty-two second YouTube video while absent mindedly watching …show more content…
I first watched the movie GATTACA in my tenth grade biology class. GATTACA is set in a “not so distant future”. The movie focuses on the controversial topic of human genetic engineering. The world in the movie 'GATTACA' is established on the foundations of eugenics. The world is divided not on money, race, or sexual orientation but on ones genes. Society and social status is between the “vailds”, the genetically enhanced or engineered by having all flaws and defects or faults removed; and the “invalids” the genetically inferior those who were born naturally. In the beginning of the film the narrator states “I belonged to a new underclass, no longer determined by social status or the color of your skin. No, we now have discrimination down to a science” (GATTACA). Human genetic engineering could be a huge benefit to our world if use properly, but if unchecked it could cause destruction. There are many potential risks that could occur by genetically engineering humans. The risks mainly revolve around the over use and eugenics taking place. Our world could turn into a real life GATTACA where status is defined by a person’s gene. Those who are not genetically perfect are cast out of society. I like this source ever though it is a fictional movie because it shows a good depiction of what a highly genetically modified world could look like. I also like this movie also because it was made in the late 90s, so …show more content…
When I found this next source, by typing “Human genetic engineering” into google and 18,700,000 results popped up. Genetic inequality: Human genetic engineering by Danielle Simmons Ph.D. a Senior Research Scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine, her article was the first result after the scholarly article on the page. I clicked on the link because the title interested me. The article talks mainly about how as the knowledge of genetic advances, so does the curiosity and the danger of what could be done with this technology. Simmons points out that Genetic engineering is not new technology but has become more popular and controversial within the last few years. Simmons mentions since plants and animals have been successfully genetically engineering, its only natural people start to wonder about the possibilities of genetically modified humans. This occurs through In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a type of Assistive reproductive technology (ART) already being use as a form of genetic modification. IVF is the fertilization of an egg outside the women’s body in a petri dish then implanted into the womb. Simmons also says that through the use of IVF, Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) was born, leading the way for genetic modification of the unborn child. PGD was first used in 1989. PGD is the testing of embryos for genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. PGD could help children live healthy