Genetic Engineering In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

We live in a world that is blessed with people who crave knowledge and use it to advance the human race by finding new ways to solve problems that have existed for eternity. This is a necessary and inherently good characteristic to have within the world’s population because without a desire for knowledge, humanity could never increase its quality of life and therefore would theoretically be stuck in a cycle of mediocrity. One downside of humanity’s desire for knowledge is that it can sometimes lead to scientific and technological advancements that have the potential to harm not only the human race, but also the world in which we live. Mary Shelley’s early 19th century novel, Frankenstein, examines the danger of obsessing over advancing science

Genetic engineering can improve the overall health of the human population by eliminating diseases such as HIV, hypercholesterolemia, sickle-cell anemia, hemophilia, and even forms of genetic blindness. Genetic engineering can also be used to affect many other non-health related traits such as prevent baldness, improve one’s height, or change the size of one’s nose. This is accomplished by changing the genetic code in babies before they are born. Most people are in favor of using this technology to prevent illnesses in babies, but question the advantages of using it to alter the physical appearance of children. To some people, the concept of “designing babies” is a wonderful way to ensure their children are products of their exact liking; others find it to be invasive of human nature. Some scientists think the applications of genetically modifying babies could be slightly dangerous, but feel that “environmental uses are more worrisome than a few modified people” (Regalado2). The real issue at stake however is when the dynamics of families across the world are so drastically perversed, society as a whole will suffer (Regalado2?). With the lack of regulations on genetic engineering, people are basically free to entirely create their children however they like. Most people find similar qualities of children to be desirable, so genetically modified people will lack less desirable and unique qualities, which will inevitably lead to a less diverse human race. By deciding for ourselves how we want our children to look, we are essentially playing the role of God and are stripping nature of its right to create pure, naturally evolved life. Not only does designing children interfere with nature, but it also undermines the relationship between parents and their children “by increasing the power of parents to control the biological properties of their offspring” (Foht).