Genetic engineering in humans
Imagine if you were to see a young, newlywed couple sitting down on their sofa and flicking through a catalogue, browsing at the variety of different options available, and daydreaming about all these different options that could potentially be a part of their future. Is this catalogue for houses? Or the latest and greatest furniture? No, this catalogue contains all the traits possibly available, phenotype and genotype that this couple wants their baby to have. This includes the gender, physical appearance, personality traits and talents that they want their baby to have. This catalogue is basically a way for parents to design their own babies by picking and choosing the traits that they want the baby to have and …show more content…
The genome is the full set of DNA, including all of the genes that the organism originally has. Each genome contains genetic information needed in order to create the individual. Scientists could also end up having to delete or turn off a gene to prevent the expression of the trait or introduce a new copy of a foreign gene. This could involve taking out the gene from another organism’s genome and combine it with the DNA of the other individual, this will enable the genetically modified human to express the trait, coded by the new gene. More and more scientists are eager to explore this particular field of science and this brings with it one of the most contentious topics of all time: genetically engineering humans. Initially, if genetic engineering were to take place the enhancements would be minor, but how far will society actually go with this process? How far will we actually go in order to change ourselves? And will there be a limit? It’s human nature to always want to improve and be superior to others so if we decide to genetically modify ourselves, would it make others want to be even more superior? Nobody can answer these questions. However, I believe that it is ethically wrong and the question that we should ask ourselves is, should we enhance the …show more content…
Gene therapy is when the scientist introduces a normal gene into the cells to replace a mutated gene, which causes the disease, or by repairing an abnormal gene or inserting a new gene into the body so that the new gene will help fight off the disease. There are two different types of gene therapy that can be carried out, somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy .In somatic cell therapy, the genes are conveyed into any cell of the individual except for the gametes (sperm or ova). The somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual and can therefore not be inherited by the future offspring. The germline gene therapy gametes are altered by the insertion of the new genes into the gametes of the individual. By inserting the new genes into the gametes of the individual, it will cause all of the organism’s cells to contain the new gene. This means that this new gene can be inherited by the offspring of the individual and be passed on to future generations. Scientists that advocate genetic engineering includes Christopher Gyngell, a bioethicist from Oxford University in the U.K. He states that “round 7.9 million children each year are born with a Genetic defect and that “30% of deaths are caused by chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and other cancers.” He believes that Genetic engineering would be beneficial to the human race because it
Imagine if you were to see a young, newlywed couple sitting down on their sofa and flicking through a catalogue, browsing at the variety of different options available, and daydreaming about all these different options that could potentially be a part of their future. Is this catalogue for houses? Or the latest and greatest furniture? No, this catalogue contains all the traits possibly available, phenotype and genotype that this couple wants their baby to have. This includes the gender, physical appearance, personality traits and talents that they want their baby to have. This catalogue is basically a way for parents to design their own babies by picking and choosing the traits that they want the baby to have and …show more content…
The genome is the full set of DNA, including all of the genes that the organism originally has. Each genome contains genetic information needed in order to create the individual. Scientists could also end up having to delete or turn off a gene to prevent the expression of the trait or introduce a new copy of a foreign gene. This could involve taking out the gene from another organism’s genome and combine it with the DNA of the other individual, this will enable the genetically modified human to express the trait, coded by the new gene. More and more scientists are eager to explore this particular field of science and this brings with it one of the most contentious topics of all time: genetically engineering humans. Initially, if genetic engineering were to take place the enhancements would be minor, but how far will society actually go with this process? How far will we actually go in order to change ourselves? And will there be a limit? It’s human nature to always want to improve and be superior to others so if we decide to genetically modify ourselves, would it make others want to be even more superior? Nobody can answer these questions. However, I believe that it is ethically wrong and the question that we should ask ourselves is, should we enhance the …show more content…
Gene therapy is when the scientist introduces a normal gene into the cells to replace a mutated gene, which causes the disease, or by repairing an abnormal gene or inserting a new gene into the body so that the new gene will help fight off the disease. There are two different types of gene therapy that can be carried out, somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy .In somatic cell therapy, the genes are conveyed into any cell of the individual except for the gametes (sperm or ova). The somatic cell gene therapy only affects the individual and can therefore not be inherited by the future offspring. The germline gene therapy gametes are altered by the insertion of the new genes into the gametes of the individual. By inserting the new genes into the gametes of the individual, it will cause all of the organism’s cells to contain the new gene. This means that this new gene can be inherited by the offspring of the individual and be passed on to future generations. Scientists that advocate genetic engineering includes Christopher Gyngell, a bioethicist from Oxford University in the U.K. He states that “round 7.9 million children each year are born with a Genetic defect and that “30% of deaths are caused by chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and other cancers.” He believes that Genetic engineering would be beneficial to the human race because it