Playing God through Genetic Engineering

The people of today live in an age of opportunity. Vast amounts of knowledge, far greater then in any previous century, are easily available with a simple click of a button in the search bar of an Internet browser. Cars, airplanes and even city-sized cruise ships now operate faster and more efficiently. Jobs created by technology almost always disappear every couple of years due to some new invention, or a more advanced method of doing things. Despite all of the positive influences that technological advances have made on our society, one issue is attracting more and more attention: should we play God? Should we allow scientists to take what has been made in nature and artificially transform it to fit our needs? Is there a line that must be drawn? If so, then where would that line be put? These questions, although presented in a much different setting then today’s world, are beginning to have more and more meaning as these once theoretical ideas are actually becoming scientific processes.

Barbara Kingsolver explains and demonstrates her love and respect for nature in an excerpt of her writing found in “American Earth.” The most important thought that I feel that she expressed was the fact that too many children have grown up surrounded by streetlights for trees and pavement for grass. She explains that she lives a “cabin build of chestnut logs in the late 1930’s,” (American Earth pg. 939) and then goes on to describe how the drizzle of rain enhanced the overall beauty that was to be found in the environment surrounding her house. Imagery used in this depiction include: “listening to the woodblock concerto of dripping leaves… and the wood thrushes… with their minor-keyed harmonies as resonant as poetry.” (American Earth pg. 940) Na...

... middle of paper ...

... years. In my opinion, people should continue to cry out for more organic and local foods as opposed to paying for a scientist to engineer an artificial substitute in a lab. Another main problem is what would happen after the artificially made food hit the shelves because if we begin such a gene splitting process with animals, then logically we will eventually use the same method on other, more complex forms of nature such as humans. As I said before, the question that is being debated is whether or not we should. Morally and ethically, playing God in such a way may simply be taking what technology can do a bit too far. Nature is something that is pure, something that has existed for millions and millions of years. No science can completely replicate the impact that it has on the human race, and so attempting to copy it is an idea that seems destined for the trash.