Research Paper On Flowers For Algernon

Mother Nature Knows Best: Leaving Genetics to Fate

What if man could build the perfect human? I would like my child to be a girl, with green eyes, blonde hair, freckles, an IQ of 170, and a sense of adventure. In the story Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes, Charlie, a 37 year old man with an IQ of 68, undergoes a scientific experiment to triple his intelligence, but in the end, Charlie loses everything he gained from the operation, and ultimately dies. Because the experiment Charlie underwent failed, trials like this should not be practiced on humans to gain intelligence or to modify genes. Science should not be used for human advancement, in the realm of modifying human embryos because no one knows the risks that could come to future

What would happen in all of the future generations? By changing just one trait, the result could be a change in an entire genetic makeup, continuing on to all future generations. “The prospect of modifying human embryos is deeply controversial because the DNA changes, and any unintended potentially harmful effects, would be passed on from generation to generation” (Sample, "GM Embryos: Time for Ethics Debate, Say Scientists"). All generations to come would be the same as the first. If something were to be wrong with the embryo after the modification, the after effects could be momentous. Changing a single gene could cause all of the others to rework themselves. Today, scientists still don’t understand all of the risks in which these trials could

Who are humans to say that one trait is superior to another? By altering embryos, we would be obliterating individuality and uniqueness. The person to come from that embryo will be a completely different person because they are missing the gene they were supposed to be born with. People learn from their experiences, and that’s how they find themselves, and who they are. Without the experience of having a rare disease, or even a certain eye color, they could be so different. After Charlie Gordon had the operation, he wrote in his journal, “Thank God for books and music and things I can think about. I am alone in my apartment at Mrs. Flynn’s boardinghouse most of the time and seldom speak to anyone” (Keyes 75). So for all his enhanced intelligence, Charlie finds himself both mentally and physically alone. People assume a high intellect is important, but when Charlie gained intelligence, he lost something else. Who is to say that he was better off after the