Natural Selection Pros And Cons

Natural selection could soon be in the hands of humans. In the 1970s, scientists began to isolate certain genes in DNA for the first time. Gene therapy arose in the 1980s as more researchers became curious. Gene therapy is defined as a "technique where the genes causing a defect are themselves substituted by correct genes in the patient to cure a disease" (Macer, 1990). Natural selection is the process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment survive and therefor, reproduce more offspring. Darwin wrote, "natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, the slightest variations; rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that are good" (Darwin, 1859). With the rise of gene therapy technology, humans will be able to speed up, and possibly control the process of natural selection.
Natural selection has always been a slow process. Darwin wrote, "we see nothing of these slow changes in the process, until the hand of time has marked the long lapse of ages" (Darwin 1859). When scientists study evolution they look at the differences or adaptions that occur in one species over millenniums. Natural human genetic engineering has gone on for a long time, ancient viruses have always modified human DNA. However, nonrandom and intentional human …show more content…
With the new ability to 'shape our evolution' many ethical questions will form and boundaries will become necessary. The original goal of gene therapy was to "cure hereditary diseases, not make any one person or race superior" (Fleck, 1998). However, once humans have the ability to edit out undesirable traits in themselves and their children many complex issues will arise. Overtime, scientists may learn about genes associated with intelligence, health, longevity, and other appealing traits. There will be numerous unknown consequences, many of which humanity is not currently prepared to