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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
Your request that readers "think about a future world where...parents picked the genes," conjures all kinds of images. I see a magnet board with all kinds of colored dot magnets lined at the top, each labeled some identifying trait. As they are moved around the board, am image comes to light. Or, maybe we sit at a computer and enter various codes and an image appears. A click of the mouse changes it. Then when we are finished we "send." I am not sure where we send. Your comment just awakened my imagination this far.
You write: "People could live longer healthier lives." I wonder if this would be possible. Oh sure we have come a long way from the days of the Black Plague, polio, and scarlet fever, though I think scarlet fever does break out now and again. Today we have AIDS and a variety of "social" diseases. We still have tuberculosis and pneumonia that can be life threatening. As you note, there are mutations of diseases occurring. Will genetic engineering ever really eradicate disease?
I am wondering why people want to live "longer lives."
You offer another challenging thought: "In almost all cases, existing technologies of prenatal and preimplantation genetic testing of embryos allow the prevention of the actual disease." I wonder where you obtained this information? What "existing technologies" are you thinking about? I really am interested in this.
Your statement, "the cloned child will be dehumanized," causes me to ask if there is any difference between cloning and genetic engineering.
Finally, you bring up an important point. You ask if we are failing to see long term risks. I call this looking at the dark side. There often are more than one or two ways to view a situation or activity or belief. If we are going to consider something like genetic engineering in terms of altering embryos, then yes, we must consider as many scenarios as possible, even if they seem farfetched.
Take care to use your words carefully. You do not know much, if anything, about your readers' attitudes, knowledge, or background. You want to be clear and concise to make sure your point is understood. Keep writing!
I like how you opened your essay with posing a scenario to your audience. You also did an excellent job of thoroughly proving your point. Good job!
I can see how the questions I posed could really get you thinking about many things. I do think that if genetic engineering got to a severe point as in Brave New World, we would be able to eliminate disease completely. In World State they no loner have disease. I think people want to live longer lives because some don't want to leave their loved ones and because death can be a very scary thing. The statement where I got the information about there being other options, I found that information on a website. It seemed to be reliable but one never really knows these days. I truely do believe that if we are going to move forward with genetic engineering everything must be considered.
I think that getting people to realize what the world could eventually come to was really important. There was so much information to use in help proving my point that it was difficult to choose what to include in the essay.
You write, "The statement where I got the information about there being other options, I found that information on a website. It seemed to be reliable but one never really knows these days."
When you use a reference, you should include the citation so that your reader will know the source of the information. You are correct, it may have seemed reliable but might not have been. By including the website URL, you protect your integrity. If the website happens to contain misinformation, a reader may know this and share that information with you.
Keep writing!!!
Post a Comment