Genetic Engineering Research Paper

Genetic Engineering is a controversial technology that has a lot of debate and discussion surrounding it. Scientists and researchers work diligently in labs to improve and experiment with the new technology, while bioethicists look at the possible effects of the technology. The effects that the bioethicists must study consist of society, future, religious, and many more. Some families are eager for the use of genetic engineering to be widespread so that they can eradicate fatal diseases or other disorders from their family line, while other couples want to use genetic engineering to conceive a baby that will turn out to be a certain way. The government is concerned with the use of genetic engineering in humans, because a lot of resources

such as time and money are needed to successfully conduct all of the research which should be done before deciding on whether or not it is sensible to actually use the technology. The government is responsible for allocation of resources, and if the testing is successful, the country’s government is praised, but if it were to lead to a problem, the country would face backlash from its own citizens, and the global community.
This technology has only evolved and become more useful since its discovery in 1973, the term revolutionary cannot even begin to describe the technology. One of the first uses of genetic engineering for humans was when scientists altered the genome of bacteria and yeast to create human insulin from Type 1 Diabetes patients. The use of this technology has now grown to foods, other animals, and most important-humans. As scientists are researching these technologies and possible uses, there are many ethical implications and concerns that must be explored and discussed before we can be certain that the technology should be used. It is imperative that we look at all of the possible consequences, positive or negative, of the use of genetic engineering in humans before making a decision, which everyone should adhere to. Many countries have surpassed the United States in their research of this technology, which has caused some tension and problems between agencies in the governments (Knapton, par. 2). Although Genetic Engineering has a variety of benefits, I believe that it should only be used in certain cases, and an ethics committee or board would adhere to a set of guidelines to determine the ethicality of the use.
Genetic engineering is currently being used on humans in select countries, with the exception of the United States.

Just six months ago, a baby was born with the DNA of three parents so that scientists could prevent the baby from inheriting a mitochondrial disease which was carried by the mother. The DNA was taken from the couple who wanted to conceive, and then they inserted that fertilized nucleus into a third donor egg cell which was enucleated. Although the donor egg was enucleated of the DNA, it still had mitochondrial DNA, and so that baby technically has DNA from three parents. This raised many ethical concerns such as how the germline of that family changed and the psychological effect that this action will have on the embryo when it will grow up. China also recently genetically engineered non-viable embryos to rid them of thalassemia, which is a fatal blood disorder. The developing embryo was killed just after a couple of days of development, but this action did not occur without backlash from other countries (Knapton, par.5). Some scientists tried to rationalize that what China did was not unethical, but many ethicists believe that all of the countries who are experimenting with genetics should set boundaries and strictly adhere to them, so that problems like these do not come up in the future (Zhai et al.,1). Many ethical concerns have been raised with the extent to which we should use genetic engineering, and I believe that we should only use it in

specific situations.
According to a research study from the Pew Research Center, about 49% of adults are enthusiastic about editing genes to reduce the risk of a baby having a disease, but only 36% are enthusiastic about giving an embryo synthetic blood to gain enhanced physical abilities.

I agree that we should use genetic engineering to get rid of fatal diseases, and to help decrease the pain and suffering that accompanies these diseases. Many scientists agree that it is ethical to edit genes, as long as it only affects that one gene, and doesn’t cause any effects that are worse than the disease itself. The technology of CRISPR has allowed Chinese Doctors to edit the genome of embryos to eradicate the thalassemia disease, and the US Doctors who went to Mexico were able to create a baby who was free of the mitochondrial disease (Hartenian et. Al., 4). This technology can definitely help us get rid of many diseases, which are only caused by a single gene, and could in turn help family lines to survive (Simmons, par.6). Although Genetic Engineering seems great for this use, there are other scenarios in which the use of this technology seems like a

nightmare.
Many researchers and bioethicists have brought up the concern of “designer babies” and how they could affect society as a whole. Pete Shanks, author and scientist, believes that the concept of eugenics could become a real concern if designer babies became popular, or even legal. The concept of a designer baby is that a couple could essentially go into a geneticist’s office, and they can select for certain genes that can make their offspring look one way or another. The technology could become so advanced, that some scientists even believe that traits such as physical ability and intelligence could even be selected for. If this very to happen, some social scientists have predicted that society would completely change, and the people that could afford this type of technology would use it and move to the top of society, while the less wealthy would remain lower in society. This would cause the socioeconomic gap to widen even further than it already is, and could be very dangerous. As of now, gender selection is becoming more and more popular in some cultures, so that families can preserve their names, or because some cultures find it more beneficial to have boys rather than girls. Parents always want the best for their children, but if this procedure were to fail, or present different results than anticipated, they would have to live with what they have. The children may not like the specific traits that their parents have chosen for them, which could lead to tension or conflict within families. Genetic Engineering could lead to problems with designer children, but they could cause an even bigger problem -super human diseases.
Super human diseases are diseases that can be caused because pathogens have to adapt to a more resistant human. An analogy of this situation that is occurring right now, is with antibiotic resistant bacteria. We have started treating some diseases with the same antibiotics for many, many years, and therefore, they have developed a resistance to that antibiotic. When the antibiotic is resistant to the condition, the antibiotic will be ineffective, and a new cure must be found for it (Moyer, par.2). The same exact thing could happen with humans, except instead of it being simple colds or staph infections, cancers and viruses will become super diseases that we will have no method of eradicating. It will take time and hopefully scientists will be able to find cures, but even that is not guaranteed. Although these diseases aren’t a definite result of Genetic Engineering, this is a real concern in the minds of many scientists, especially after scares such as Ebola. Possible implications such as these make it hard to determine whether the costs outweigh the benefits, but the benefits of using this technology are immense.