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The ethics of genetic engineering
Genetic engineering ethical implications
Genetic engineering ethical implications
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According to Greek mythology, the griefs of life came into existence as a result of the introduction of a woman into a purely man inhabited world. The gods were said to have only created men, until Zeus became angry with mankind and devised the most horrible punishment he could conceive, creating Woman. Zeus instructed the smith of the gods, Hephaestus, to create her from the materials of earth and make her irresistibly beautiful. Each of the Greek gods gave her a gift of skill, and aptly named her Pandora, meaning "all gifted." The messenger god, Hermes, with his winged sandals, took Zeus' ghastly creation down to earth, and with her a box given to her by the gods with instructions that it never be opened. One of the gifts that the gods had bestowed upon Pandora was a lively curiosity. After restraining her eagerness to view the contents of the box, Pandora finally lifted the lid and mistakenly released all nature of evil into the world: sickness, hatred, jealously, suffering, and greed. Just as each of the gods had endowed Pandora with a wonderful gift, so had they each stored in the box the greatest evil they could create. Pandora remorsefully tried to replace the lid on the box, but this awful creation had already instilled its evils forever into the life of man. Only one good thing resulted from Zeus' creation: the spirit of hope, which lay at the bottom of the box. (Geocities, "Pandoras Box") It is this hope for the possibility of extraordinary things in the future that motivates mans' curiosity and persistence in all walks of life. Such innate curiosity and hope is instilled in many by the prospect of eradicating all human suffering from debilitating genetic diseases. Through the discovery of the structure of DN... ... middle of paper ... ...atastrophe- before being given the clearance to proceed" (Watson, pg.400 DNA). The potential for good far outweighs the risks of repeating history, the abuse of technology, or the possibility of offending someone's beliefs. Modern genetics has learned from the mistakes of the past and recognized the lessons learned from the eugenics. Unlike the motives and reasoning behind eugenics, DNA sequence is a definite science that is not open to bias, prejudice, or interpretation. Although prospective parents should be given the choice of whether they want to genetically modify their children, this should only be attempted after bioethical guidelines have been laid, and the science unpinning it has been perfected. Once this science is perfected and fears of new evils have been subdued, then finally the hope that lay at the bottom of Pandora's Box can be made a reality.
Hesiod suggests that the arrival of womankind is the sole cause of the world’s strife—including the necessity for both hard labor and reproduction. Her one redeeming quality is portrayed through the hope that remains in the jar after Pandora closes the lid, entrapped in the “unbreakable container” (Lombardo 26). This remaining Hope in the jar is symbolic of a woman’s uterus and her ability to bear children, and in turn provide her husband with an heir to his property (Fantham et al. 39). Raising these children properly was the next crucial duty of a mother, so that they may go forth and fulfill their respective duties just as their parents had before them. In relation to this, the Hymn to Demeter demonstrates the attachment a mother had to her children, because once the children were old enough to marry, the mother’s sole purpose in life had been completed. Demeter’s grief over having her daughter snatched away from her shows how difficult the transition was for
Almost a century has passed since two revolutionaries have been born to change the world: television and drugs. It is clear that both drugs and television made their way to society at the same time, but it doesn't seem that obvious what is that made them escalate together. Some studious people say that it may have to do with the presence of drugs in the media, but it remains a mystery. In 'Crack and the Box' by Pete Hamill, there is an intention to explain the reasons to this phenomenon. Hamill accuses television to be the instigator of drugs. However, his statements fall into contradiction because the effects of television watching cannot be compared to those of drug consumption.
The more we know about genetics and the building blocks of life the closer we get to being capable of cloning a human. The study of chromosomes and DNA strains has been going on for years. In 1990, the Unites States Government founded the Human Genome Project (HGP). This program was to research and study the estimated 80,000 human genes and determine the sequences of 3 billion DNA molecules. Knowing and being able to examine each sequence could change how humans respond to diseases, viruses, and toxins common to everyday life. With the technology of today the HGP expects to have a blueprint of all human DNA sequences by the spring of 2000. This accomplishment, even though not cloning, presents other new issues for individuals and society. For this reason the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) was brought in to identify and address these issues. They operate to secure the individuals rights to those who contribute DNA samples for studies. The ELSI, being the biggest bioethics program, has to decide on important factors when an individual’s personal DNA is calculated. Such factors would include; who would have access to the information, who controls and protects the information and when to use it? Along with these concerns, the ESLI tries to prepare for the estimated impacts that genetic advances could be responsible for in the near future. The availability of such information is becoming to broad and one needs to be concerned where society is going with it.
According to the Greek poet Hesiod, the Titan demi-god Prometheus was responsible for the creation of men. He manufactured them from clay, from the natural earth. When Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus, she left little doubt that the creator of the monster, Victor Frankenstein, by making a living creature from inaminate parts was a new Prometheus. But her metaphor extends beyond the immediately obvious. In Hesiod’s myth, Prometheus had an inflated sense of self importance and was determined to be adored by men. Because men had no control over fire they were destined to remain mere animals. The forbidden knowledge of fire, the most basic and natural form of energy was the domain of the god, Zeus. The ego-centric Prometheus became obsessed with devising a means by which he could procure fire and with no other motive in mind than glory, he cunningly stole fire from Zeus and gave it to a grateful mankind. Prometheus’ trickery was bound to invite catastrophe. Zeus’ retribution was swift and twofold. Firstly, with the help of Hephaestus, Hermes and Aphrodite, he fashioned out of clay the first woman, Pandora. Thereafter, men would no longer be born directly from the earth; now through women, they would undergo birth by procreation, and consequently old age, suffering and death. She was given a box which contained all manner of misery and evils and was responsible for letting them escape, to torment humankind forever. Secondly, Zeus caught Prometheus, chained him to a rock, and each day an eagle would visit him and feed on his liver. Prometheus’ liver, however, replenished itself overnight, so he was condemned not so much to a single act of punishment but to perpetua...
In Hesiod’s version, Zeus created Pandora as a punishment to man and illustrated her as an evil, deceitful and supposed curse on mankind, “Evil conspirators. And he added another evil to offset the good...she was a real pain for human beings” (Hesiod, 149-164) On the contrary women in Ovid’s tale were treated as companions who worked together for the greater good, as depicted by the myth of Pyrrha and Deucalion, “Then, side by side, they went without delay to seek the waters of Cephisus’ stream.” (Ovid, 17) Deucalion and Pyrrha are portrayed to be righteous and true devotes of the Olympian gods and hence given the responsibility of repopulating earth. Ovid demonstrates that the humans in this myth portray the role of a god, where they repopulate Earth with righteous humans, thus creating order in the universe again. He portrays their role as a vital component in this occurrence as without their diligence and morals—this act would not have been possible. Thus, establishing the human-centered concept of his
Mortal females cause struggles among men and are portrayed as wicked in Greek Mythology. In the story of How the World and Mankind Were Created, the Father of Men and of the Gods, Zeus, swears to get revenge upon mankind because of the poor sacrifices made to the altars. Therefore, he “[makes] a great evil for men, a sweet and lovely thing to look upon… they [call] her Pandora… the first woman… who are an evil to men, with a nature to do evil… is the source of all misfortu...
Why suffering, tragedies, misery, and many other things that relate exists has always been a question that mankind has been attempting to explain for years. Different regions from around the globe all referred to this dark side as evil. It is seen that in the African myth, “The Quarrelsomeness of Man and How the Earth was Peopled” (PM 47) and the Near Eastern myth, “The Enuma Elish” (PM 91) that the existence of the female is the pure reason why earth consists of evil, as well as what a female is capable of that man is not. However, within these two myths, this process is executed differently. In “The Quarrelsomeness of Man and How the Earth was Peopled” (PM 47) a woman unintentionally allows evil to be summoned over mankind; while in “The Enuma Elish” (PM 91) where it is the female who makes the decision to create evil and command it over mankind.
Many people often ask, “Is it acceptable for human beings to manipulate human genes” (Moral and Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy). Most of the ethical issues centralize on the Christian understanding of a human being. They believe God made them the way they are and people should accept their fate.The Society, Religion and Technology Project have researched and found that countless people are curious if gene therapy is the right thing to do. They have a problem with exploiting the genes a person is born with due to the fact they consider it to be “playing God” (Moral and Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy). They are also concerned with the safety. On account of the unfamiliar and inexperienced technology. Gene therapy has only been around since 1990, so scientists are still trying to find the best possible way to help cure these diseases. Multiple scientists are cautious with whom they share their research. For the reason that if it were to get into in the wrong hands it could conceivably start a superhuman race. Author Paul Recer presumes using germline engineering to cure fatal diseases or even to generate designer babies that will be stronger, smarter, or more immune to infections (Gene Therapy Creates Super-Muscles). Scientists could enhance height, athleticism and even intelligence. The possibilities are endless. Germline engineering, however, would alter every cell in the body. People would no longer have to worry about the alarming and intimidating combinations of their parents’ genes. Genetic engineers are able to eliminate unnatural genes, change existing ones or even add a few extra. Like it or not, in a few short years scientists will have the power to control the evolution of
“The Remastered Race” is an article written by Brian Alexander a journalist who won the John Bartlow Martin award for Public interest journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill school of Journalism. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Esquire and Wired amongst others. The Remastered race is an article about genetic engineering and how to use it to the advantage of humans. Throughout this article, Alexander mentioned different ways Eugenics has evolved from time and how it is still evolving but stated his main concern as to how far geneticist should go in reference to engineering embryos.
... therapy. With further research and development it might just be possible to take the genetic evolution of the human genome into our own hands. However, it is no surprise that there are some that question the ethical background of such a procedure.
People should not have access to genetically altering their children because of people’s views on God and their faith, the ethics involving humans, and the possible dangers in tampering with human genes. Although it is many parent’s dream to have the perfect child, or to create a child just the way they want, parents need to realize the reality in genetic engineering. Sometimes a dream should stay a figment of one’s imagination, so reality can go in without the chance of harming an innocent child’s life.
We have to reach into Pandora’s box and give the rest of the world the one and only thing that was left and that was hope. Pandora’s box as a fable teaches us about moral truth. Myths are intended to instruct and the myth of Pandora’s box is no different. Bad things happen because; Pandora yields to her curiosity and decides to open this weird box that was given to her as a gift from Zeus. If Pandora’s curiosity and temptation didn’t get in the way and she would have left the box alone and no evil would have been released into the world. The moral of the story is very important because it makes sense knowing the Greek culture at the time, which valued obedience rather than curiosity. Anyone who is acting excessively curious may lead them to harm or even death. Temptation is the root of all evil and sometimes its better if it’s just ignored. According to the story of Pandora’s box, all of our problems fall back on her. Zeus just wanted to teach humankind a lesson. With Pandora’s box, Zeus got even with Prometheus because he got out of line along with teaching humans a lesson as well. From this myth itself, we learn that curiosity can kill the cat and the Greek golden age of
When created in 1923, the American Eugenics Society exemplified an air of reform with a seemingly positive purpose, however this cannot be further from the truth. In reality, the society polluted the air with myths of weeding out imperfections with the Galtonian ideal, the breeding of the fittest (Carison). The founder of the society, Charles Davensport , preached that those who are imperfect should be eliminated(Marks). From the school desk to the pulpit, the fallacies of the eugenics movement were forced into society. Preachers often encouraged the best to marry the best while biology professors would encourage DNA testing to find out ones fate (Selden). A...
In the 21st century, genetics will dominate our food, our health, and our environment. Scientists are now talking about the latest taboo on the horizon, hand picking the genes of our children. The questions arise everywhere from society. Have we gone too far with the human genome project? Do we risk creating children as a medical commodity? Could it ultimately lead to parents demanding genetically-engineered offspring with good looks, intelligence, or athletic abilities? It is my position, from a practical medical perspective, that although this research has much potential, the adverse effects outweigh the positive gains. When this research is used under the motives of cosmetics, it will adversely affect our society and the human race as a whole. Presented in this paper are the types of genetic engineering, their purposes, their potential, and the controversy of this research.
For much of human history, mankind has never been able to shape and alter its genetic information. But with modern day advances in technology and scientific research, the idea is slowly becoming a reality, and a major concern for many, scientifically, practically, and morally. It is only a matter of time before augmenting genetic information begins to modify humans; doing so could bring about positive change, but more likely, terrible consequences for humanity. Although the manipulation of the human genome through introducing foreign DNA has the potential to assist in health and development of organisms, doing so unrestricted ultimately proves to be unethical and problematic once applied to humans.