Just Because We Can, Does Not Mean We Should

Humans should NOT be genetically engineered.
There is no such thing as "perfect pitch." Who decides what a perfect pitch is?

Genetic engineering is not a natural part of life, and should never be used. There has never been such thing as a perfect human, and there never should be. Humans are meant to be different, and possess traits specific to oneself. If genetic engineering is used, the technology will be used unethically, will cause nonspecific alterations in DNA throughout trial and error, and will attempt to make all humans the same. 


 Unethically Used Technology 
If genes are being manipulated to prevent disease, humans will want more. There will be a need to alter more than disease genes. Genetic engineering will be manipulated to alter characteristics such as hair and eye colour. For example, if a set of parents want their child to 100% have blonde hair and blue eyes, genetic engineering can make their wishes come true. Although the parents will be happy, biology will not be. Conception is an amazing process that helps humans understand how beautiful, natural, and endlessly fascinating our anatomy is. Once sperm fertilizes egg, they naturally create an embryo, which will eventually develop into a baby. Throughout the process, genes determine the baby's attributes based on dominant and recessive genes. Children should be a complete product of their mom and dad, inheriting traits transferred down the family line. Have you ever noticed that you and your mom perspire when you get nervous? Or that you and your brother hold your fork the same way? That does not happen due to coincidence. Both of those similarities are due to genes that run in the family. Once those genes are altered, natural biology gets played with, ruining family traits. Conception is called "natural conception" for a reason. 

Nonspecific Alterations in DNA
Another concern to genetic engineering is the trial and error process, causing nonspecific alterations in DNA. Science is not perfect, and must undergo multiple trials. Trials have to go wrong a few times in order to determine the correct method. Since genetic engineering is happening in humans, we do not have time for things going wrong, creating unforeseen consequences. If one of the four bases is altered incorrectly, mutations could occur. Mutations range in size, and could affect a single base pair or a large chromosome segment that includes many genes. Although not all mutations are harmful, some could disrupt development or cause a medical condition. Errors in genetic engineering will only increase the risk for harmful mutations to occur. 


What is Normal?
The definition of normal is, "Conforming to the standard or common type." What is the standard or common type? This is a question that can not be answered, simply because there is no normal. Genetic engineering will attempt to make all humans the same, which will take away the diversity that is currently present within the world. For example, the famous scientist, Charles Darwin, suffered from panic disorder with agoraphobia. His mental illness caused him to live a secluded lifestyle, and have a difficult time speaking in groups. Since he lived a secluded life, he dedicated a large amount of his personal time to science. Perhaps if he did not have any mental illness, he would not be a famous scientist with many discoveries. Overall, there is no need for humans to be alike. In order to have diversity, we must all be different. 



Overall, humans should not be genetically engineered. We are supposed to go through life naturally, rather than be built. 


Works Cited
Barloon, T. J., and J. R. Noyes. "Charles Darwin and Panic Disorder." JAMA. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 08 Jan. 1997. Web. 19 June 2017.

"How Can Gene Mutations Affect Health and Development? - Genetics Home Reference." U.S. National Library of Medicine. National Institutes of Health, n.d. Web. 19 June 2017.

Parry, Wynne. "Designing Life: Should Babies Be Genetically Engineered?" LiveScience. Purch, 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 19 June 2017.

Porostocky, Art By Thomas. "Pro and Con: Should Gene Editing Be Performed on Human Embryos?" National Geographic. N.p., 13 June 2017. Web. 19 June 2017.

"U of U Health | A Call for Caution Before Genetically Engineering Humans." Public Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 June 2017.

Comments

  1. Anonymous19 June 2017 at 18:27

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous19 June 2017 at 18:36

    Hey man, I think you made some very great reasons why we should not alter the human genome for changing ones physical appearance, but you did not state too many reasons why we should't use gene editing for medicine. So that being said I will have to say that I strongly disagree with not altering the genome. You see, I believe that all of God's beings do have the right to live. Just like you, I too think we should not alter genes to change ones physical appearance, but I believe we should use this technology to give others the right to life. I think it is just fair for those who are suffering from hereditary diseases like cystic fibrosis get to have the opportunity to live a long healthy life like us and thats why we should edit their genetic code. In all I believe that we should not prevent our siblings in Christ from having the same chances in life as we do, and we should alter their genetic code to give them the privilege to live a disease free life.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous19 June 2017 at 19:00

      Hi Gabriel. I like how you mentioned gene editing being used for ONLY medicine. If that were the case, then I would not be against the process. However, humans are known to always want more. Once genetic engineering is used for medicine only, there will be someone that will come along and use the process unethically. Laws and regulations must be set in stone in order for me to agree with genetic engineering.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just Because We Can Doesn’t Mean We Should

Image
Just Because We Can Doesn’t Mean We Should Do you take every opportunity that arises in your life? The answer is probably a no, because if you did, would you be alive? Every day, you are given the chance to do many things, like try new foods and talk to new people. Sometimes, you are given riskier opportunities like biking without a helmet (rebellious!) or even jumping into a freezing cold lake with nobody around. You sometimes know that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits , and deny these opportunities. Genetic engineering is no exception; we don't have to take this opportunity What is Genetic Engineering? Genetic engineering involves the manipulation of genetic material of organisms in order to attain desired traits. More simply, it is changing an organism to make it look, or act a specific way ( NHGRI, 2006) . In the past, plants have been genetically modified in order to grow crops with a higher product yield and to product more aesthetically pleasing produ
Read more

Why we Shouldn't Fear Genetic Engineering

Image
“Most people don’t want to hear important truth” - Jim Watson  I n 2015, Chinese scientists announced that they had modified human embryos to alter a gene that causes a life-threatening blood disorder, Cystic Fibrosis. This was the first experiment that exhibited genetic engineering to prevent inherited diseases.  Genetic engineering uses bacterial enzymes to delete/replace genes in DNA (Savulescu, 2015). By doing so, traits are added to the human genome that would not have been there previously.  Although its safety still needs to be tested, the likelihood of choosing the DNA of future children is high for many reasons.   “Nature can be cruel” What does Jim Watson mean by this statement?  In the documentary “Pandora’s Box - Episode 5” Jim Watson explains that genes can be “too short, too tall, too fast or too thin” which ultimately causes genetic diseases that are incurable and in many situations, life threatening.  With genetic engineering, there are many opportunit
Read more