Human Genetic Engineering and Its Glitches
Everybody deserves the right to have control of their own body. When the choice is made by a parent(s) to use genetic engineering to create their wanted child, the fetus has no choice but to be the way it was designed to be. Although human genetic engineering (HGE) is helpful to prevent harmful diseases and disorders, some people selfishly use this method to make a “designer baby,” for which they can create a child with the physical traits they desire. No matter the reasons one has for making the complicated choice for using genetic engineering to create their offspring, the same problems and concerns go along with it. Human genetic engineering has many ethical issues and unnecessary risks; therefore, …show more content…
The process of human genetic engineering is not offered to just anybody. Not many people have their patent approved for this action. In the year of 2002, only 7,763 patents were approved in the United States that granted a person to take part in biotechnology (see Figure 1). This is a very costly procedure and because of this, many insurance plans do not cover this action. Even people that have trouble with getting pregnant or keeping a baby, such as Tonya Brittle, would agree that the expense of genetic engineering is absurd. “I did consider it only for the genetic defect component but the cost was $15,000 per attempt with no guarantee I would not miscarry again. I could not afford this option as insurance does not cover it” (Brittle). Some may feel hopeless at this point if they are unable to get pregnant or cannot afford this procedure, but there are still other options. There are plenty of children/babies in the world that need to be adopted, and there is always the option to use donor eggs or sperm. Although it is a terrible situation for people to have to go through, it may benefit the community a substantial amount because of how little is truly known about genetic engineering and its long term effects, so there may be something huge that the scientists do not know about that could affect everybody. Genetic engineering is still new to the world, so “the technology used is not 100% safe yet. It is only in the experimental stages at this point” (“Pros and Cons of ‘Designer Babies’”). There is a great amount of unknown information on this topic that should be considered before one decides to participate in this act of
Everybody deserves the right to have control of their own body. When the choice is made by a parent(s) to use genetic engineering to create their wanted child, the fetus has no choice but to be the way it was designed to be. Although human genetic engineering (HGE) is helpful to prevent harmful diseases and disorders, some people selfishly use this method to make a “designer baby,” for which they can create a child with the physical traits they desire. No matter the reasons one has for making the complicated choice for using genetic engineering to create their offspring, the same problems and concerns go along with it. Human genetic engineering has many ethical issues and unnecessary risks; therefore, …show more content…
The process of human genetic engineering is not offered to just anybody. Not many people have their patent approved for this action. In the year of 2002, only 7,763 patents were approved in the United States that granted a person to take part in biotechnology (see Figure 1). This is a very costly procedure and because of this, many insurance plans do not cover this action. Even people that have trouble with getting pregnant or keeping a baby, such as Tonya Brittle, would agree that the expense of genetic engineering is absurd. “I did consider it only for the genetic defect component but the cost was $15,000 per attempt with no guarantee I would not miscarry again. I could not afford this option as insurance does not cover it” (Brittle). Some may feel hopeless at this point if they are unable to get pregnant or cannot afford this procedure, but there are still other options. There are plenty of children/babies in the world that need to be adopted, and there is always the option to use donor eggs or sperm. Although it is a terrible situation for people to have to go through, it may benefit the community a substantial amount because of how little is truly known about genetic engineering and its long term effects, so there may be something huge that the scientists do not know about that could affect everybody. Genetic engineering is still new to the world, so “the technology used is not 100% safe yet. It is only in the experimental stages at this point” (“Pros and Cons of ‘Designer Babies’”). There is a great amount of unknown information on this topic that should be considered before one decides to participate in this act of