The Human Genome Project
The human genome project is something that I have been very interested with ever since first learning of it. I had heard bits and pieces of what it is about, but my interest was greatly stimulated by Dr. Whited in basic genetics 311 last spring. The discussion that we had regarding the project left me with several ideas and questions about not only the process and ethics involved, but the future of the study of genetics as a whole.
To begin discussion about the HGP, we first must understand what it is. It is a massive undertaking of collaboration of geneticists that begin in 1990. Their goals are to identify all the estimated 80,000 to 100,000 genes in human DNA and determine the sequences of 3 billion bases composed of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The project is being funded jointly by the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health. This massive undertaking is estimated at a cost of three billion dollars, with the most current target date for the project's completion at the year 2003. They will then store this information in a centralized database so it can be used as tools for their analysis. Also as a first for science, they are going to address the logical, ethical, and social issues that the project will give rise to.
What is a genome and why is it important? A genome is the DNA that an organism possesses. The DNA is made up of combinations of the four bases (A,T,C,&G) that I listed above. The sequence of these bases code for proteins that determine how an organism looks, it's viability, and sometimes even how it behaves. That is why this project is so important. The possibilities of what we can learn about ourselves are endless.
The benefits of this project ar...
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...ts of what the public can handle. If tomorrow the scientific community released the first genetically perfect human, how would people respond? If 25 years from now the first genetically perfect human were to be introduced, how would we respond? I do have a fear of mimicking the movie "Gattaca". That is why I believe in a panel of geneticists and nonscientists to constantly monitor and review just how far we are taking our advanced knowledge. I know that when I have children, I don't want a doctor asking me to select everything about my child. I prefer to leave it up to chance.
References
http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome
http://www.ornl.gov/hgmis/resource/info.html
Consulting Resources Corporation Newsletter. Spring 1999.
http://www.geneletter.org
Gattaca. 1998
Whited, D.A. Genetics 311. North Dakota State University. Spring 1999.
One distinction between the two is the enormous size difference. While the Frick Museum has undergone several expansions, it is dwarfed by the magnitude of work the Met has the ability to display. The Frick can be viewed in its entirety within a few hours, while the Met would need several visits to fully explore. The rooms at the Frick are decorated with furnishings as it may have been when it was lived in. The works in each room were arranged according to Henry Frick’s lay...
Kafka wrote in a fashion that would allow a reader to interpret the story in a
The bizarre is endlessly fascinating, and Franz Kafka’s work is no exception. It pulls you in, glances dismissively at you, and spits you out, leaving you wondering what it knows that you do not. There is something at once familiar and deeply unsettling about his work, leading to the creation of a new word: Kafka-esque, meaning that something has a twisted, complex, nightmarish quality. Kafka’s longer works are invariably more bizarre, as there is more space and time for the work to develop. When a work is only 76 words like “Kleine Fabel”, however, each word has far more impact and significance. As such, Kafka deliberately chose each word, and each word in turn holds significance and meaning beyond a simple translation. In analyzing translations
Throughout the novel, Kafka breaks the normal structure of life in order to implement a deeper more analytical meaning to the human condition or whatever theme he is trying to convey. Also, the reasons leading to why he was turned into a bug was never explained. He just wakes up from a horrible dream and is now living a horrible life. In fact, he is a working man and seems to be a kind loving person in terms of his family. Id like to think that this could represent how Kafka feels as an artist. No matter how hard or how much he does for others, he is “punished” by the silence projected onto him from the outside
Kafka, Franz, and Mark Harman. Amerika: The Missing Person: A New Translation, Based on the
Imagine a parent walking into what looks like a conference room. A sheet of paper waits on a table with numerous questions many people wish they had control over. Options such as hair color, skin color, personality traits and other physical appearances are mapped out across the page. When the questions are filled out, a baby appears as he or she was described moments before. The baby is the picture of health, and looks perfect in every way. This scenario seems only to exist in a dream, however, the option to design a child has already become a reality in the near future. Parents may approach a similar scenario every day in the future as if choosing a child’s characteristics were a normal way of life. The use of genetic engineering should not give parents the choice to design their child because of the act of humans belittling and “playing” God, the ethics involved in interfering with human lives, and the dangers of manipulating human genes.
Though he clearly fulfills the role of the villain and main antagonist in this play, the character of Shylock is extremely complex and multi-dimensional. He seems to have two sides that can be emphasized or played up in order to create a fundamentally different play, as has been done many times throughout history; post-Holocaust reproductions, for example, are obviously radically unlike than ones that may have come before (Rich 1). In most modern adaptations, Shylock is seen as a sympathetic character, perhaps due in part to the widespread acceptance in most modern societies of those from varying religious and racial backgrounds. However, it is entirely possible that Shakespeare, who was a genius playwright famous for his complex and multi-faceted characters, del...
Greenberg, Martin. The Terror of Art: Kafka and Modern Literature. New York: Basic Books, 1968.
The Human Genome Project is the largest scientific endeavor undertaken since the Manhattan Project, and, as with the Manhattan Project, the completion of the Human Genome Project has brought to surface many moral and ethical issues concerning the use of the knowledge gained from the project. Although genetic tests for certain diseases have been available for 15 years (Ridley, 1999), the completion of the Human Genome Project will certainly lead to an exponential increase in the number of genetic tests available. Therefore, before genetic testing becomes a routine part of a visit to a doctor's office, the two main questions at the heart of the controversy surrounding genetic testing must be addressed: When should genetic testing be used? And who should have access to the results of genetic tests? As I intend to show, genetic tests should only be used for treatable diseases, and individuals should have the freedom to decide who has access to their test results.
The story's use of profound metaphors, symbolisms and allegorical abstractions, are too intricately bound and woven so that a singular interpretation of "A hunger Artist" is a total impossibility. Therefore, this paper will try to tackle only two of the possible interpretations: the story as an autobiographical representation of Kafka himself, and his commentary on the flaws and frailty of human belief.
In today’s world, people are learning a great deal in the rapidly growing and developing fields of science and technology. Almost every day, an individual can see or hear about new discoveries and advances in these fields of study. One science that is rapidly progressing is genetic testing; a valuable science that promotes prevention efforts for genetically susceptible people and provides new strategies for disease management. Unnaturally, and morally wrong, genetic testing is a controversial science that manipulates human ethics. Although genetic testing has enormous advantages, the uncertainties of genetic testing will depreciate our quality of life, and thereby result in psychological burden, discrimination, and abortion.
Franz Kafka wrote in a unique style, called Kafkaesque, and it was named after him. Displaying a combination of realism and nightmarish or dreamlike events, his writing style was darkly symbolic. In The Metamorphosis, Kafka shows his writing style, using symbols to portray a deeper message. Gregor Samsa had been separated, both physically and emotionally from other loved ones around him. The way Kafka portrays Gregor’s miserable life shows how isolated Gregor was from his family, society, and himself.
In 1991, The New York Times released an article titled The Essence of ‘Kafkaesque,’ detailing the influence of Czech-born 20th-century writer, Franz Kafka. More specifically, the article details what Frederick R. Karl believes represents the spirit of Kafka. Commonly using the adjective “kafkaesque” to describe particularly eerie situations that have remnants of Kafka, Karl claimed to the newspaper that kafkaesque is “when you enter a surreal world in which all your control patterns, all your plans, the whole way in which you have configured your own behavior, begins to fall to pieces” (Edwards Nytimes.Com). Releasing an intricate biography on Kafka the same year, Karl was still not the only man influenced by Kafka’s work. David Foster Wallace, William S. Burroughs, and Joseph Heller are just a few authors that were inspired by Kafka’s cryptic writing and dark outlook on
In Franz Kafka's short story, Metamorphosis, the thought of existentialism is acquired out an inconspicuous, yet unequivocal way. Existentialism is characterized as a faith in which an individual is eventually responsible for putting importance into their life, and that life alone is trivial. They don't put stock in any kind of extreme power and concentrate quite a bit of their consideration on ideas, for example, fear, weariness, flexibility and nothingness. This philosophical artistic development rose in the twentieth-century, when Kafka was setting up his composition style with respect to estrangement and misshaped uneasiness. A mirror to his very own way of life, this story takes after the short and tragic existence of a man not able to
Kafka encouragement during the course of Kafka’s writing and help combat any thoughts of self-