Against Altering The Genetic Code

“Just because we can, should we?”  A very controversial situation that we are putting into question.  My belief is that we should not be able to alter the genetic code even if we have the technology and knowledge to.  If we were to alter the genetic code we would have no diversity as a human race.  I feel that altering the genetic code would almost be like someone having all the power of altering a human being in their hands.  Also, we do not know a whole lot about the effect of changing the human genome.

In the world we live in everyone is so unique and we have so much diversity.  We have so many different skin tones, hair types, eye colours, and so many different abilities that we all have that is unlike one another's.  If we were to alter the genetic code we would all be similar to one another and would no longer have this beautiful diversity.  Our genes and DNA are what make us so unique and make us ourselves.  Altering the genetic code would not only take away our diversity but we would also be more susceptible to diseases.  This is because when our genetic diversity decreases so does our sustainability and our fitness which would allow disease and illness affect us more easily.  In an extreme case, some diseases or viruses could affect us to the point of extinction if we are not able fight the virus due to a lowered fitness level.

Imagine, your entire life being in someone else's hands.  What you look like, your abilities, how tall you are, your finances and more is all decided by someone else.  It's a pretty scary thought when you think about it.  Having someone decide what is best for you can often lead to a bias in what genes are altered and changed.  For example, it is known that taller people and people with pale skin often make the most money at their job.  Does this mean that we are going to change the human genome to only consist of people who are tall with pale skin so that we can prosper most at our job.  This is quite bias in saying that we have to be tall with pale skin in order to excel.  We should not have to change our genes for us to make the most money, we should be saying that we have to change society’s mentality of how we view people or pay people based on how we look is what we need to change, not our genes.
 
We may have the the technology and some knowledge on how to change our human genetic code, but we do not have all the knowledge on DNA alteration.  Just because we have discovered the human genome and have the knowledge of how to alter it, it does not mean that we know all the possible side effects that come along with it.  There could be some long term effects that we do not know about and have yet to discover.  If these side effects potentially lead to death or a shortened lifespan, it would not be worth it to alter the DNA code for the so called “perfect” human being.  When altering the genetic code there is possibilities that the functional gene placed in the human genome to alter the mutation could replace some important genes instead of the mutation and could result in disease or medical conditions that were not there before the alteration.  Not having enough knowledge on the side effects can be a huge risk when altering the genetic code.


Yes, as humans we may not be “perfect” by definition and may have flaws but these flaws are what makes us who we are.  Also, altering the genetic code seems to have many risks attached to it.  In my opinion, it is not safe enough to be testing out on humans especially with the knowledge that we have.  We need genetic diversity in our world, it is what makes our world a beautiful place.  Us humans may have flaws, but without flaws and imperfections, we wouldn't be who we are today.


Citations:

Uppangala, Nidhi. "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Genetic Engineering in Humans." The Advantages and Disadvantages of Genetic Engineering in Humans. N.p., 09 June 2010. Web. 16 June 2017.

Porostocky, Art By Thomas. "Pro and Con: Should Gene Editing Be Performed on Human Embryos?" National Geographic. National Geographic, 14 June 2017. Web. 16 June 2017.

Christian Wolfe, Washington & Jefferson College. "Human Genetic Diversity and the Threat to the Survivability of Human Populations." Human Genetic Diversity and the Threat to the Survivability of Human Populations. Ohio University, 27 July 2009. Web. 16 June 2017.

Comments

  1. Anonymous18 June 2017 at 18:28

    If previously you had been told that you were not going to live past 30 years old, how would you cope with this information? Now, what if someone told you that you could live a life as long as potentially 60 or even 80 years. Would you take this chance? This is the case for the over 4000 children, adolescents, and adults in Canada, as well as over 30000 people in the United states suffering with cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that occurs when a child inherits two defective copies of the gene responsible for cystic fibrosis, one from each parent. Approximately, one in 25 Canadians carry one defective copy of the cystic fibrosis gene. Cystic fibrosis is a multi-system disorder that produces a variety of symptoms including: a dreadful persistent cough with thick mucous, wheezing and shortness of breath, frequent chest infections (which may include pneumonia), Bowel disturbances, such as intestinal obstruction, weight loss/failure to gain weight despite increased appetite, as well as Infertility. People with cystic fibrosis take over 20 pills a day just to maintain a decent metabolic system that will not fail them. Although you do make some agreeable points, I do believe we should be able to alter our human genome. I believe that for the benefit of society, we can rid of the suffering many genetic diseases inflict on others, such a cystic fibrosis. People suffer daily with these types of diseases, and this gives an opportunity to enhance the quality of their life.

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    1. Anonymous21 June 2017 at 10:20

      I agree that this could be tragic and the effects of a disease such as cystic fibrosis could have some difficult effects to deal with. But I believe fixing the disease by altering the genetic code has the potential to do more harm than good. There is not enough research done on altering the genetic code to say that doing so will for sure solve the issue. Altering the genetic code could bind to important genes instead of the mutated gene, such as the one responsible for cystic fibrosis. This could cause different effects and issues that instead of helping the person could make their situation worse. There is not enough research out there to guarantee that the person's cystic fibrosis would be cured. "For example, Chinese researchers have caused an uproar when they declared they were altering the genetic code for embryos. They noted that out of the 86 embryos they worked on, only 28 of them were successfully changed." (Julia Savo, Against DNA Alteration). As you can see altering the genetic code is not guaranteed to work and is too much of a risk for us to be using, as it could have the potential to make matters worse.

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