Human Genetic Engineering: A Hero Discovery or a Society Divider?
In 1997, the film Gattaca was created, which showed the public a futuristic idea of humans being able to edit and modify human genes to create “valid” humans as well as “invalids”. Today, this futuristic idea from 19 years ago has become a not so out of reach reality for society today. Human genetic engineering is the process of either adding improved DNA or deleting sections of a person’s DNA and then adding more efficient DNA in its place. This process is used to enhance and modify human lives, by preventing many harmful genetic diseases as well as simply altering certain characteristics about a person. This controversial topic of human genetic engineering has been an arising …show more content…
Scientist first started their studies on mice and, “have reproduced Alzheimer 's disease in mice by modifying genes believed to be responsible for the disorder. By so doing, they can use the mice to assess treatments and conduct studies that would be virtually impossible to do on human subjects” (Christopher). With researchers running many tests on mice who have virtually the same ailments that many humans have, it gives an insight to how exactly the genetic engineering process needs to be done in order to finish with the best results. For years, scientists have been genetically engineering many animals in order for them to produce better results in their meat or milk that human’s use and rely on in many ways. In China, the world’s leading country in research and studies on genetically engineered food, has successfully inserted human genes into ordinary milk cows to produce a nutrient rich milk, with a very high success rate. The mastermind behind this discovery, “Professor Ning Li, the scientist who led the research and director of the State Key Laboratories for Agro Biotechnology at the China Agricultural University insisted that the GM milk would be as safe to drink as milk from ordinary dairy cows” (Gray). If scientists are able to successfully insert human genes into dairy cows safely, with …show more content…
The human gene engineering process is most popularly done by inserting a disarmed virus that carries the genes within itself, but "there is no guarantee that the viral enzyme that is responsible for this step will be able to introduce the correct gene at the specific point in the host chromosome. In case, there is an error in this process, it could result in error in the genetic makeup of the cell, which in turn can result in serious disorders” (Bose). With no guarantee that the inserted virus will target the correct genes, the safety of this process falls, with the plausible chance that any sort of error can result in a more serious disorder. Another safety worry is that "most scientists say that what is preventing them from embarking on HGE is the risk that the process will itself generate new mutations, which will be passed on to future generations" (King). The risks of creating new and even more harmful diseases in the future is making many researchers skeptical about this process, and are holding many back from continuing with this
In 1997, the film Gattaca was created, which showed the public a futuristic idea of humans being able to edit and modify human genes to create “valid” humans as well as “invalids”. Today, this futuristic idea from 19 years ago has become a not so out of reach reality for society today. Human genetic engineering is the process of either adding improved DNA or deleting sections of a person’s DNA and then adding more efficient DNA in its place. This process is used to enhance and modify human lives, by preventing many harmful genetic diseases as well as simply altering certain characteristics about a person. This controversial topic of human genetic engineering has been an arising …show more content…
Scientist first started their studies on mice and, “have reproduced Alzheimer 's disease in mice by modifying genes believed to be responsible for the disorder. By so doing, they can use the mice to assess treatments and conduct studies that would be virtually impossible to do on human subjects” (Christopher). With researchers running many tests on mice who have virtually the same ailments that many humans have, it gives an insight to how exactly the genetic engineering process needs to be done in order to finish with the best results. For years, scientists have been genetically engineering many animals in order for them to produce better results in their meat or milk that human’s use and rely on in many ways. In China, the world’s leading country in research and studies on genetically engineered food, has successfully inserted human genes into ordinary milk cows to produce a nutrient rich milk, with a very high success rate. The mastermind behind this discovery, “Professor Ning Li, the scientist who led the research and director of the State Key Laboratories for Agro Biotechnology at the China Agricultural University insisted that the GM milk would be as safe to drink as milk from ordinary dairy cows” (Gray). If scientists are able to successfully insert human genes into dairy cows safely, with …show more content…
The human gene engineering process is most popularly done by inserting a disarmed virus that carries the genes within itself, but "there is no guarantee that the viral enzyme that is responsible for this step will be able to introduce the correct gene at the specific point in the host chromosome. In case, there is an error in this process, it could result in error in the genetic makeup of the cell, which in turn can result in serious disorders” (Bose). With no guarantee that the inserted virus will target the correct genes, the safety of this process falls, with the plausible chance that any sort of error can result in a more serious disorder. Another safety worry is that "most scientists say that what is preventing them from embarking on HGE is the risk that the process will itself generate new mutations, which will be passed on to future generations" (King). The risks of creating new and even more harmful diseases in the future is making many researchers skeptical about this process, and are holding many back from continuing with this