Saturday, March 8, 2008

Genetic Engineering

Think about a future world where a life began when the parents picked the genes. After screening for any unwanted genetic diseases, they select the sex, hair color, height, and skin color. They might also choose genes that affect intelligence and sexual orientation. Would the world get too out of control? Are there too many long term risks we are failing to see? Where is it that we need to draw the line? The risks of genetic engineering seem to outweigh the positives of it.

Genetically engineering human beings to no longer have certain diseases is a wonderful thing. Many lives could be saved and many children could grow up normally without any mental illness or disease. People could live longer healthier lives. Aside from helping humans directly, genetic engineering can help in the fields of industry and the environment to make our lives better and easier.


Scientists say that there is a risk that the process itself will generate new mutations, which could then be passed on to future generations. Also there seem to be very few examples where human genetic engineering is the only solution to the medical problem of genetic disease. In almost all cases, existing technologies of prenatal and preimplantation genetic testing of embryos allow the prevention of the actual disease. There are only a few very rare cases where human genetic engineering is the only option.

There are safety issues, the loss of identity and individuality, and human diversity all associated with genetic engineering. Then you have the moral and religious issues related to the killing of human embryos. Man would become simply another man-made thing. The cloned child will be dehumanized.

Human genetic engineering leads to man playing God as the creator and designer of life. No longer will a child be considered a blessing from God, but rather, a product manufactured by a scientist. Having a baby wouldn't bring about the joys that it does today. Man will be created by man. Man is supposed to be created by God.

The possibility of someone or some government using the new tools of genetic engineering to create a superior race of human beings should be considered. Every human would be the best that it could be. Any undesirables would simply be removed from society. What kind of world would we be in if everyone was the same. Life would be boring.


As time goes on genetic engineering will become more of an issue. Science will have more of a breakthrough than they have already had. The question we must ask ourselves is where we are going to draw the line, so our world does not become like the one in Brave New World.