Celetia+G10

Genetic Engineering in Humans   **        
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Genetically engineered humans: //is it ethical?//         T he idea took off immediately. Scientists could screen embryos for genes and determine the general appearance of the baby before it is allowed to continue to develop. Even later, parents could choose features that they want their children to have, and scientists could re-arrange the DNA of the embryo to produce the desired traits. And yes, it is possible. These so-called "designer babies" are featured in all sorts of news media. People are questioning the validity of various claims that the technology that could make it a possibility would be available within fifty years. They wonder if, even though the science may be developed and refined by then, would it be available to the public? This is the new hot debate topic, as people are also questioning the morals of the idea. The issue is that, although there are several potential benefits of being able to pick-and choose the traits you want for your offspring, the question remains: //Should we, as humans, be playing God?//   **__How does genetic engineering work? __**  As you should already know, the traits of people (and most other organisms) are determined by their genes. The properties of each gene, in turn, are determined by the arrangement of nucleotides in the segment of DNA that comprises the gene. It is now possible for these genes to be switched around manually by scientists, which is where GM foods come from. This is done by first isolating the gene, and then inserted into a vector, a technique known as **gene splicing**. In 2003, scientists finally completed the [|human genome project], which left them with a complete catalogue of every single variation of every single gene (barring mutations) in humans. With this knowledge, people could easily genetically modify embryos using the same technique.

<span style="font-size: 9.5pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(45, 183, 225)"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(140, 233, 27)">The only thing that people are legally allowed to do with this technology so far is prescreen for desirable traits, mainly gender. However, it is also possible to look for things like congenital diseases. <span style="color: rgb(140, 233, 27)"> <span style="color: rgb(140, 233, 27)"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(140, 233, 27)">Genetically engineering humans, especially the prospect of potentially being able to alter a baby’s traits while it is still an embryo, is an extremely difficult topic to argue. Although it could possibly eradicate all forms of any congenital disease were it to become widely available, there are many downsides to it. First of all, the obvious fact that because it is technology, it will have flaws. Since it’s people we would be toying with, any mistakes would be drastic. However, there are also many ethical issues surrounding the subject. For one, parents could simply choose any desirable trait they wish for their children, which could lead many people to give their children pretty faces (and even possibly higher IQs and more amicable personalities) to make life easier for all of them. But is it right to mess with people that way? Many religions argue that it shouldn’t be done, as it’s God’s job to make people, not the job of other humans. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(140, 233, 27)">There is also questionable history involved. The idea is connected to eugenics, which is the practice of weeding out undesirable traits in a community to make everyone as perfect as possible, something practiced by the Nazis. This could bring about ucomfortable social situations as well. <span style="color: rgb(140, 233, 27)">
 * __<span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 192, 255)">What are the advantages of genetically engineering humans? __**
 * __<span style="font-size: 16pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(0, 192, 255)">What are the ethical issues? __**

<span style="color: rgb(140, 233, 27)"> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">__Works Cited__ <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">Agar, Nicholas. "Designer Babies: Ethical Considerations." __ActionBioscience.org__. <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext">[|http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html>. </span]> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">"BBC - GCSE Bitesize - Biology | Variation | Genetic engineering." __BBC__. <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext">[|http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/biology/variationandinheritance/4cloningandgenengrev5.shtml>.</span]> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">"Genetic engineering." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext">[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_engineering>. </span]> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">"Human Genome Project Information." __Oak Ridge__ __National Laboratory__. 16 July 2007. <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext">[|http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml>. </span]> <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(255, 117, 181)">Lemonick, Michael. "Designer Babies - TIME." __Breaking News, Analysis, Opinions, Multimedia and Blogs - TIME__. 11 Jan. 1999. <<span class="wiki_link_ext"><span class="wiki_link_ext">[|http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989987,00.html>.</span]>

__**<span style="color: rgb(226, 90, 90)">Mr. Covington's Comments

-Only 1 one world issue -No intext referencing

Crit A: 3 Crit B: 5 **__