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Human genetic modification ethical issue
Debate over genetic engineering being ethical or not
Debate over genetic engineering being ethical or not
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Background to the Project
In early 1995, an M.D-Ph.D student, Jennifer Brown, was breeding mice with an inactivated form of the gene FosB. With the inactivation of the gene, healthy pups from the mutated mice died quickly. Observing this occurrance, Brown found that the mother mice ignored her offspring. From this discovery, Brown proposed that the inactivation of the immediate early gene FosB causes a defect in the nurturing behaviors of female mice. To prove this, Brown bred a series of knockout mice with the inactivated FosB gene. She then observed the nurturing behaviors of the knockout mice and compared them to those of the normal mice.
The Test Results
FosB Mutant Development and Abnormalities:
FosB mutant homozygous females were born and developed as any normal mouse, but were ten percent smaller than wild type mice. When the fosB homozygous females were mated with fosB homozygous mutant males, the resulting pregnancies were normal and carried to term. However, twenty-four to fourty-eight hours after delivery, the mortality rate of the pups was in excess of fifty percent. The high occurrance of lethality could be attributed to either the mutant mothers, the mutant pups, or both. To isolate the cause of the high mutant pup mortality rate, heterozygous males were mated with homozygous females and vice versa. As a result, it was found that the number of surviving pups in any given pregnancy relied primarily upon the genotype of the mother, and was independent of father or pup genotype. This supports the idea that the survival relies heavily on the nurturing ability of the fosB mothers.
Physical Trait Analysis:
To isolate the defect in the mother that contributed to the death of her pups, a physical trait ana...
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...aper think that this is involved with the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is located in the brain stem.
The gene mutation did not effect any other functions of the mice. This indicates that FosB is exclusive to nurturing behavior. The discovery of the functions of the FosB gene in mice could lead to similar discoveries for the human genome. Ethical ramifications of such discoveries are a hot topic in current scientific society. What questions might be raised by such a discovery? If this gene does exist in humans, should people with mutated alleles not be allowed to raise their children? Should it be corrected in some way by science? Is having a mutated gene an excuse for child abuse? Is it a defense in court? The answers to these questions are not clearly defined, but there are several sources of information for the public to access before making up their minds.
Even though mice reproduce so rapidly, it is still not 100% certain that pregnancy will occur
Broad, K.D, J.P Curley, and E.B Keverne. "Mother–infant Bonding and the Evolution of Mammalian Social Relationships." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. Royal Society, 2014. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
...e in the brain to deliver electrical stimulation to targeted areas that control movement (mayoclinic.com, 2013).
Hundreds of thousands of puppies are raised each year in commercial kennels (Puppymills Breed Misery). Puppy mills keep breed stock in horrible conditions for their short lives and produce unhealthy puppies with many issues. Not only are they committing “inhumane care,” but puppy mills are responsible for customer fraud. Many puppy mills are small and contain about twenty breeding dogs in basements, garages, or sheds “in cages stacked to the roof.” The dogs will stay in those cages without “exercise or sunlight.” Also, the dogs have two “litters” a year till about the age five. Other puppy mills contain hundreds of breeding dogs. The operators keep the puppies in “relative darkness” so the puppies seldom cry or draw attention. The dogs in puppy mills rarely receive medical attention. The females are dissipated because of the never-ending period of “producing and nursing litters.” Most dogs have “chronic ailments, rotten teeth, and ear, eye, and skin infections.” Many of the puppies purchased from puppy mills are un-healthy and not well-adjusted. The puppies have a high prevalence of hereditary syndromes and illnesses, and difficulties that occurs following the “purchase.” After the females cannot produce anymore liters...
M. Yang, V. Zhodzishsky, and J. N. Crawley, Social Deficits in BTBR T+tf/J Mice are Unchanged by Cross-Fostering with C57BL/6J Mothers, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience 25(8) (2007), pp. 515–521. doi:10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2007.09.008
to the brain because it is the control center of the cell. It too sends and
Boston: Bedford/St. Martin,. 304 - 316 mm. Print. The. Newman, Stuart A.. “The Hazards of Human Developmental Gene Modification.”
In the early 1950s, Harry Harlow’s famous study of rhesus monkeys to determine attachment relationships demonstrated that infant rhesus monkeys raised in isolation, preferred the comfort of a cloth-covered surrogate mother to that of a wire-mesh surrogate with an attached feeding bottle. Harlow wished to dispute the traditional view that affection and mother–infant attachment was based on food, and his experiments had clearly demonstrated that the foundations of attachment were not associated solely with the need for nourishment. A more important facet of human nature was that the profoundly meaningful act of physical intimacy plays a greater role in the health of an infant than nourishment alone. (Vicedo 2009)
...hich inherited traits, such as those for genetic disease, can be tracked over generations. Throughout out the course of human development, scientists will continue to find new new ways to help the human race through the discovery of the human gene inside of each of us, its uses, as well as complications, that can help the survival of our species.
Harlow’s experiment shows the connection of mother and child using monkeys. From this experiment you can see that withdrawal or removal can cause depression in the rhesus monkeys. Harlow further relates that to children and their mothers. Seeing that there was too much maternal contact he notes that over attachment can cause severe depression.
In October of 2013, the US Food and Drug Administration held a two-day public meeting to talk about genetic mutation involving the human egg and which changes will be passed on generationally (“Genetically Modified Children”). Human gene mutation has been practiced since 1990, but most of the practices involved non-heritable genes which was called a somatic gene mutation (“Genetically Modified Children”). Somatic gene changes only affect the individual and are not passed on to future generations, and so these somatic gene mutations do not affect the human genome (“Genetically Modified Children”). Genetic mutation changed with the first successful birth of 30 attempted genetically mutated children by 2001 (“Genetically Modified Children”)....
M Dufrasne, I. M. (2013). Journal of Animal Science. Animal Genetics , Volume 91 (12).
R. L. Paul, M. M. (1972). The Species of the Brain Research, 1-19. pp. 113-117. S. A. Clark, T. A.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. eMedicineHealth.com - eMedicineHealth.com - eMedicineHealth.com - eMedicineHealth.com - eMedicineHealth.com - eMedicineHealth.com - 2013. The. Anatomy of the Central Nervous System. Pictures and Information on eMedicineHealth.com.
Scientists and the general population favor genetic engineering because of the effects it has for the future generation; the advanced technology has helped our society to freely perform any improvements. Genetic engineering is currently an effective yet dangerous way to make this statement tangible. Though it may sound easy and harmless to change one’s genetic code, the conflicts do not only involve the scientific possibilities but also the human morals and ethics. When the scientists first used mice to practice this experiment, they “improved learning and memory” but showed an “increased sensitivity to pain.” The experiment has proven that while the result are favorable, there is a low percentage of success rate. Therefore, scientists have concluded that the resources they currently own will not allow an approval from the society to continually code new genes. While coding a new set of genes for people may be a benefitting idea, some people oppose this idea.