Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Is genetic modification ethical
Is genetic modification ethical
Is genetic modification ethical
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The film Gattaca directed by Andrew Niccol is a science fiction that discovers the overall effects of genetic engineering. This is shown through the idea of a imminent society compelled by eugenics, where hypothetical children are conceived within a world of genetic manipulation. By doing this, it ensures that the upcoming generation posses the finest hereditary traits to benefit the future.
I think the most important impact Gattaca has made for me is that I was fascinated with the likelihood of genetic enhancement that took place. Nearly all of the characters in this film underwent the process of having their DNA modified to eliminate flaws before birth. As a consequence this was perfecting the offspring of the future so that they could only have the best of best society possible. "They used to say that a child conceived in love has a greater chance of happiness. They don't say that anymore." My initial reaction throughout the film was majorly influenced across cultural circumstances of society’s idea to fill in the gaps of what they comprehend as “flaws”, or common imperfections, ...
...e the quality of life of children. A big consequence to the use of genetic modification, shown in the movie Gattaca, is the prejudice that can be against those without genetic modifications. To create an idea of what the consequences of genetic modification will look like, a real world example would be racism and the use of eugenics to justify the prejudice against those who were not light-skinned or of caucasian descent. Neo eugenics is a very controversial topic that has a lot of possible benefits and consequences and will affect many generations to come.
When one thinks of a society of genetically advanced individuals at first glance it might seem like an advantage, but upon taking a closer look you can see the flaws in these perfect people. The world of Gattaca is superficial and judgmental; the only way to measure the worth of a person is by the wholesomeness of one's blood. They do not know for sure that someone will die or develop a heart condition all they have to work with is a percentage of the chance of it happening. This brands the world of Gattaca as an unfit and inferior world than our own. When a society discriminates against a group of people they lose valuable and productive members of society. In Gattaca the hardest working, most driven person was someone that they thought should
...he reader, which creates many questions about the particular subject of genetic engineering. It also conveys the authors idea, that we really need to be careful about what we do with this new scientific marvel, effectively to the reader, thus raising the reader's awareness about genetic engineering.
Identity is often thought of as what people consider themselves, not how others see you. In the movie “Gattaca” however this is not the case. Identity is something you are born with. When you were born you were tested for diseases and life expectancy and therefore treated accordingly. In the world where technology has been fast forwarded to be able to pick which genes or gender your child inherits and becomes to create the best possible outcome, kids that were not genetically changed were called “invalid.”
In the movie Gattaca they barely showed the moral consequences of the actions. Anton’s father showed more pride in his brother than Anton, but what about Anton making friends, was he doomed to be a social outcast in friendships also? The second rate swimmer so depressed by being second in a race almost committed suicide, what about him? The movie never revealed how poor nations around the world dealt with eventually becoming a nation of an inferior human race. The movie pretty much shows how Hitler’s plan of creating a perfect human race would be like.
The use of genetic modification in enhancing human characteristics has brought about negative issues, such as discrimination, ethical issues and corruption. With this in mind, genetic modification has benefitted humans immensely; developing the knowledge of the human mind, preventing hereditary diseases and improving the physical attributes of individuals. Nevertheless, the disadvantages surrounding the enhancement of human characteristics through genetic means outweigh the advantages as portrayed by the film and text, “Gattaca” and “Flowers for Algernon” respectively. In conclusion, the enhancement of human characteristics through genetic means should be strictly advocated against.
This is the natural fallacy genetic engineering creates in the new world seen in Gattaca. We know this because in the film the main character, Vincent, who uses another man named Jerome Morrow’s D.N.A and identity to rise up the ranks within Gattaca’s staff. He does this because genetic engineering pre-determines every aspect of one’s life that is scientifically possible. This would include diseases, life expectancy, cause of death, jobs/careers you can have and even who you should marry all from a sample of blood given when first born. Vincent’s D.N.A to others deemed him chronically ill, making him invalid, meaning that there would be very little opportunities for him in life; though he felt he can do things just as well as anyone. It is in Gattaca that we can look at genetic engineering as determining one’s instrumental worth to
Savulescu, Julian. “Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Human Beings.” Readings in the Philosophy of Technology. Ed. David Kaplan. 2nd ed. Lanham: Roman & Littlefield, 2009. 417-430.
General Science is a study involving biology, chemistry, physics and environmental sciences. Students from Year 7 to Year 10 are introduced to these various disciplines to gain general knowledge about science and can later be develop into deeper concepts. Science is not just fat laboratory coats, Einstein’s equations, mixing chemicals, massive space shuttles, or peeking through microscopes but involves critical thinking, analysing data and apply understandings in the natural world to solve real problems. Science is an approach of learning what make this world and how things work decades ago, how they work today, and how they are expected to work in forthcoming years. Some of the social justice issues hidden behind science can cause major consequences. For example, in low income communities of colour there has been excessive supply of toxic and waste discharging from industries disrupting the nature and causing heavy pollution.
The lack of knowledge has always tricked people because they only focused on the negative perspective of genetic engineering and not the positive perspective. In this paper, I will be talking about how Genetic engineering is connected to Brave New World, how the history of genetic engineering impacts the world, how genetic engineering works, how people opinions are influenced, how the side effects can be devastating, how the genetic engineering can be beneficial for the society and also how the ethical issues affect people’s perspective. Brave New World is a city that produces mechanical offspring and manipulates science to genetically modify citizens. In the novel, Brave New World, the citizens are all genetically modified.
Rather than leave genetics up to chance, technology offers expectant parents the opportunity to genetically enhance their children before they’re born. These genetically superior offspring are known as “valids” and are given the best opportunity in Gattaca’s society. For example, when Vincent, an invalid, borrows the identity of the valid Jerome Morrow, an interview to work for Gattaca consists only of a urine test. It’s assumed that his genes carry all his potential. There’s no need for him to answer questions his DNA can answer for him.
Genes are, basically, the blueprints of our body which are passed down from generation to generation. Through the exploration of these inherited materials, scientists have ventured into the recent, and rather controversial, field of genetic engineering. It is described as the "artificial modification of the genetic code of a living organism", and involves the "manipulation and alteration of inborn characteristics" by humans (Lanza). Like many other issues, genetic engineering has sparked a heated debate. Some people believe that it has the potential to become the new "miracle tool" of medicine. To others, this new technology borders on the realm of immorality, and is an omen of the danger to come, and are firmly convinced that this human intervention into nature is unethical, and will bring about the destruction of mankind (Lanza).
Which is similar to what Socialism was as defined by Karl Marx’s socialist slogan “from each according to his labor, to each according to his needs” (Pevzner, I. a. 1994). Could a scientifically engineered socialistic society last without a revolution to the system which controls it? The author and director of the film Gattaca Andrew Niccol takes the audience through a tour of the main characters lives, in this tour we find the actions of each character has an impact on another. The society in Gattaca is defined as two classes, Valid and Invalid. The Valids are genetically engineered humans, before birth the best parts of the parent’s genes are analyzed to build a human better than they were.
Genetic engineering often has a negative meaning associated with it, such as science fiction and post-apocalyptic scenarios. For some, the thought brings forth the images of gruesome and unrealistic mutations. Genetic engineering is often linked with poisoning food with dangerous chemicals, in result, causing a natural dislike for what they think are contaminated and fake foods.