The Debate Over Genetics

[Striker9 0]

The 20th century has witnessed major advancements in various scientific fields. The achievements that have been made by the world?s brightest scientists and thinkers enormously contributed to the prosperity of the human civilization. Among the most important advancements of the 20th century were those that were accomplished in molecular biology and genetics, such as the applications of genetic engineering and cloning. But the development of such honorable technologies, from a scientific point of view, was accompanied by a furious debate from an ethical one.Genetics is the branch of biology that deals with heredity, especially the mechanisms of hereditary transmission and the variation of inherited characteristics among similar or related organisms.. This science is considered one of the most recent ones, since the major discoveries and applications were achieved in the last quarter of the 20th century. Those achievements astonished commoners as well as the scientists, because two centuries ago talking about something called ?cloning? would be considered insanity and blasphemy.Genetics as a pure science is something no one could argue against, and everybody would agree that this science grants a badge of honor and pride to everyone who contributed in its development and to the whole human civilization as well. Some scientists, socialists, religious men, and commoners stand against this science and refuse it completely. But others do not find anything wrong about it and have no problem in applying its techniques. Also, others take a midway position and accept some of its applications but at the same time refuse others. Those who refuse this science claim that it is unethical because they believe it is wrong to manipulate human life. Others say it is religiously forbidden because it is a defiance of God?s will and an intervention in His creation. But the fact is those who say that clearly fell into a misconception because genetics did not find a new mean of creation; it is simply discovered God?s secrets allowing us to utilize them. Basically, cloning was a clear answer to scientists? wondering about whether all cells are capable of producing a complete organism, or is this ability restricted to fertilized zygotes only. Therefore, cloning which involves the insertion of a nucleus into a cytoplasm of any cell proved that reproduction and fertilization have no significant relationship and any cell is capable of producing a complete organism when put in an appropriate medium. Thus this discovery of the secretes of reproduction shall make the belief in God more profound and not the opposite. But let?s be real for a moment; if cloning and genetic engineering techniques weren?t applied on humans, this whole ethical and religious debate wouldn?t have been raised in the first place.The application of genetic engineering techniques and cloning could avail humans vastly. It could increase and ameliorate plant production by modifying the genome of the plants to produce better strains. Also, cloning of animals could increase meat production and probably save certain animals from extinction. Moreover, cloning can produce human organs that could be utilized when needed, which means these organs would be used as replacement parts in case someone had a damaged or non-functional organ. Furthermore, genetic engineering could help cure some hereditary diseases by locating the gene responsible for the expression of the disease and replacing it with another gene that does not cause the sickness. In addition, this same technique could be used to develop new abilities in humans which would help them resist certain environmental factors or improve human current abilities such as vision, hearing? etc.On the other hand, genetics has its downsides as well. Those disadvantages ? if we can say so ? are in general considered from the ethical, religious and humanitarian side. Genetic engineering allows us to modify the genome of the zygote/cell and thus determining all the characteristics of the upcoming embryo, including all the different outer features of a human. This is considered unethical and against God?s will, because it is wrong to intervene in the genetic program of the embryo unless it is for the sake of removing hereditary diseases. Also, let?s consider this hypothetical situation: a cytoplasm is taken from a woman?s bone marrow cell, and then a nucleus from her FATHER?s skin cell is inserted inside this cytoplasm; in this case, the resulting embryo would be produced carrying all the features and characteristics of the nucleus donator (where the genetic program is found) that is the father. Analyzing this hypothetical situation, we?d fall in an extremely unpleasant controversy, because we wouldn?t be able to determine whether the fetus is her father or son! Moreover, abusing the huge capabilities of genetic engineering might lead some insane scientists to do crazy things such as producing genetically mutated animals or even monsters. Similarly, some lunatics might abuse human cloning to create an army of brainwashed clones that serve their interests in probably conquering the planet! The options are diverse, and you can expect anything from people that have no ethics and values with such massive technologies at the reach of their hands ? the results could be devastating!So after this brief demonstration of the pros and cons of genetics and its applications, we need to take a stance towards this controversial issue. It?s clear now that abusing the technologies provided by genetics could lead to destructive and totally unethical consequences, but on the other hand genetics provides us with technologies and applications that could be very beneficial to the whole human race. As a result, we cannot just dump this advanced science into the dumpster just because abusing it could be destructive! Therefore, the logical thing to do is to take benefit of this science as much as it provides and restrict it to scientists and geneticists that are trustworthy and are known for their integrity and ethical principles. But even this wouldn?t be enough because human instincts and love for power could corrupt the most honorable man, thus there must be an international committee that would supervise any genetic experiments or projects according to pure scientific and ethical regulations. In the end, we can ask or wonder whether these huge capabilities of genetic engineering could abolish the word ?disease? from our dictionary or even serve to achieve the human dream of immortality?!

[moutonoir 0]

Genetics is indeed a very controversial issue. I found the movie Gattaca very interesting since it presented the idea of being able to choose traits of one's children. This, I believe, is very controversial. It involves allowing humans to decide which traits are acceptable and which are not, and thus would lead to a homogenous society. Is this truly what we want? As technology advances, there is becoming less and less tolerance for indvidual differences. Anyone who does not fit the mold is deemed ill and given whatever treatment would make them like everyone else. This is not necessarily a good thing. It is important to to have a variety of individuals in order to maximize skills and capabilities as a whole. By controlling people's abilities and characteristics through genetics, such variety will most likely be reduced. Those who are different will face an even greater challenge since they will be in a much smaller minority, and people will wonder why their parents didn't choose more normal genes for them.

Another issue involvong genetics concerns stem cell research, since the embryos used to produce the stem cells end up dying. To some, this is akin to abortion, and they do not support stem cell research. I disagree with this view. Most often, these embryos would not have been allowed to grow into human babies anyway; their sole purpose was to be used for research. By not going forward with such research, people who are currently suffering from severe illnesses are left to continue suffering when there could be treatment for them. By saving the "lives" of these embryos, others lives are being lost.

Luckily, it looks like there may be a way to continue with this research without the cost of embryos. Recently, a scientist has found a way to get stem stems from adult cells. This would be wonderful if it proved to work; the controversy mentioned before would be minimized and new treatments could be available for those in need. NOVA did a story on this: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/stem-cells-breakthrough.html

There are many ethical issues to consider in the field of genetics. Ultimately, it comes down to the idea that humans are trying to play "god" and become more powerful than nature intended us to be. It will be interesting to see how this technology evolves over the next few decades, and how we deal with it.