Genetic Ownership

2872 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethics behind genetic engineering

Genetic Ownership

In the past century, advancements in science and technology have allowed man to further investigate his origin. Science has demonstrated all living things are made up of cells and cells contain genetic material. Scientists soon will be able to take genetic material from one party and create their traits in another. In doing so, individuals, scientists, and society will be faced with new challenges as to the ownership rights of genetic material. The following will examine ethical issues of genetic ownership by looking at current and future applications of technology and the ethical challenges they provoke.

In 1978 the science of reproduction exploded into public consciousness with the birth of Louise Brown, the first baby born as a product of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Today using IVF, a couple with fertility problems can give their own genetic material in the form of sperm and eggs to a clinic, combine them to create embryos, and insert the embryos into a mother’s womb. Society accepts an individuals right to provide their own genetic material to an IVF clinic and create children. Today IVF is a multibillion-dollar, international business providing healthy children to caring parents.

In 1997 another explosion of public consciousness occurred when the Roslin Institute announced they had successfully cloned a sheep named Dolly. Dolly was not the product of sperm and eggs, rather she was an exact clone of her "donor parent". The embryo of Dolly was created from genetic material of a donor "parent" and implanted into a surrogate mother. Dolly and her "donor parent" currently live as the property of the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, UK. As owner of sheep, Roslin possessed the right to collect genetic material, perform research, and eventually produce a cloned animal. Today this right of ownership is currently accepted by society.

In the future, individuals may have the right to use their genetic material to reproduce vital organs to be used as transplants for diseased, deformed, or damaged body parts. This process is called therapeutic cloning. Science has demonstrated all living things are made up of cells and all cells contain genetic material. At the core of all genetic material is a primary component of life, DNA. Simply put, DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) instructs cells how to divide and grow into the living things we see every day. Every human possesses unique DNA. No two persons DNA is exactly alike with the exception of identical twins.

Show More
Related

  • Ethical Issues Surrounding Genetic Screening and Genetic Engineering

    1918 Words  | 4 Pages

    In today’s modern age science is moving at a rapid pace; one of those scientific fields that has taken the largest leaps is that of genetics. When genetics first comes to mind, many of us think of it as a type of science fiction, or a mystical dream. Yet genetics is here, it is real, and has numerous ethical implications.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of DNA Analysis

    1216 Words  | 3 Pages

    DNA is the genetic material found in cells of all living organisms. Human beings contain approximately one trillion cells (Aronson 9). DNA is a long strand in the shape of a double helix made up of small building blocks (Riley). The repeat segments are cut out of the DNA strand by a restrictive enzyme that acts like scissors and the resulting fragments are sorted out by electrophoresis (Saferstein 391).

    Read More

  • Frankenstein Today

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Case Against Perfection by Michael Sandel

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ethics behind genetic engineering have been discussed and argued for years now. Some arguing points often include competitive advantages, playing God, and the polarization of society, but Sandel takes a different approach in explaining society’s “unease” with the morality of genetic engineering. Broadcasted through several examples throughout the book, Sandel explains that genetic engineering is immoral because it takes away what makes us human and makes us something else. He states that by taking control of our genetic makeup, or the makeup of our progeny, we lose our human dignity and humility. Our hunger for control will lead to the loss of appreciation for natural gifts, whether they are certain talents, inherited from the genetic lottery, or the gift of life itself.

    Read More

  • What Are The Pros And Cons Of In Vitro Fertilization

    1234 Words  | 3 Pages

    In vitro fertilization is a procedure to treat the genetic failure in the ovaries that allow a women to naturally conceive a child. Today’s advancements in technology has changed the in vitro fertilization market in many different ways. Personally being a product and witness of the “test tube” baby generation, I understand the happiness and completeness a family experiences when these procedures are successful. On the other hand, although people know a lot about this procedure, most don’t understand the negative effects it can have on families due to extreme technological advancements if government doesn’t enforce strict regulations on this market. I believe this market needs extreme government intervention in order to prevent the harmful future

    Read More

  • Designer Babies Case Study

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the increased rate of integrating In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), there has been a steep inclination within the associated needs of specifications. Observably, the development of babies using scientific measures was initially formulated and specified for developing the diverse range of development associated with the same (Turriziani, 2014). However, these developments are noted to be creating an adverse impact on the natural course of events and subsequently, resulting with an adverse impact on the natural process of the development of babies. The initial integrations within the system of IVF for developing babies have further been initiated with the effective use of science to develop a healthy baby. Hence, the use of such progressions can be argued as not hampering the ethical needs associated with the same. Conversely, the initial progression within the same and the changes in the use of such practices are identified as unethical, as it has been acting as a threat in the natural course of development of embryos and altering the natural course of events, suspected to be imposing significant influence on infant mortality (Turriziani,

    Read More

  • Designer Babies: Genetic Engineering

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    For just thousands of dollars more, women going through in vitro fertilization can later choose to have a certain gender with perfect vision, a great heart, a natural ability for sports, and being able to avoid diseases (Angelle). Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis was first inaugurated in 1990. “It has become an important complement to the presently available approaches for prevention of genetic disorders and an established clinical option in reproductive medicine” (Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis). This has come in handy because it gives you the opportunity to create a baby free of health risks and you are able to freeze your eggs if you miscarry or if something harmful goes wrong with the first egg. Designer babies are created using In Vitro Fertilization. Using this technique, doctors can fertilize the egg with sperm inside the laboratory using a test tube. Doing so you can reduce the chance of the child being born with a genetic disorder and the parents can actually then on choose the sex of the baby. In some cases couples have used PGD to their advantage to save one of their children. Some babies sole purpose is to be created to save the life of their own sibling. Jamie was the first “designer” baby in Britain. “He was genetically matched to his four-year-old brother, Charlie, in the hope to curing a rare type of anaemia which threatens the older boy...

    Read More

  • The Case Against Perfection by Michael Sandels

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Recent breakthroughs in the field of genetics and biotechnology have brought attention to the ethical issues surrounding human enhancement. While these breakthroughs have many positive aspects, such as the treatment and prevention of many debilitating diseases and extending human life expectancy well beyond its current limits, there are profound moral implications associated with the ability to manipulate our own nature. Michael Sandel’s “The Case Against Perfection” examines the ethical and moral issues associated with human enhancement while Nick Bostrom’s paper, “In Defense of Posthuman Dignity” compares the positions that transhumanists and bioconservatists take on the topic of human enhancement. The author’s opinions on the issue of human genetic enhancement stand in contrast to one another even though those opinions are based on very similar topics. The author’s views on human enhancement, the effect enhancement has on human nature, and the importance of dignity are the main issues discussed by Sandel and Bostrom and are the focus of this essay.

    Read More

  • Human Cloning: Genetic Advancement or Genetic Manipulation?

    1725 Words  | 4 Pages

    First, what exactly is cloning? In biology, cloning is used in two contexts: cloning a gene, or cloning an organism. Cloning is the reproduction of a human or animal whose genetic substance is identical to an existing being, such as an embryo or fetus. This is reproductive. Cloning a gene means to extract a gene from one organism and insert it into a second organism. Cloning an organism means to create a new organism with the same genetic information as an existing one. This is therapeutic.

    Read More

  • The Ethical Issues of Genetic Testing

    1419 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • IVF and the New Eugenics

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    The addition of a child into a family’s home is a happy occasion. Unfortunately, some families are unable to have a child due to unforeseen problems, and they must pursue other means than natural pregnancy. Some couples adopt and other couples follow a different path; they utilize in vitro fertilization or surrogate motherhood. The process is complicated, unreliable, but ultimately can give the parents the gift of a child they otherwise could not have had. At the same time, as the process becomes more and more advanced and scientists are able to predict the outcome of the technique, the choice of what child is born is placed in the hands of the parents. Instead of waiting to see if the child had the mother’s eyes, the father’s hair or Grandma’s heart problem, the parents and doctors can select the best eggs and the best sperm to create the perfect child. Many see the rise of in vitro fertilization as the second coming of the Eugenics movement of the 19th and early 20th century. A process that is able to bring joy to so many parents is also seen as deciding who is able to reproduce and what child is worthy of birthing.

    Read More

  • The Surrogate Mother - Womb For Rent

    1489 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 2000 the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) defined reproductive rights as "the basic rights of couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children; to have the information and means to do so; and to have the right to make decisions concerning reproduction, free of discrimination, coercion or violence."[1] Traditionally society defines reproductive rights in the context of one's being able to make decisions about his or her own reproduction; other individuals, unrelated to that person, were not considered as being involved in the decision. With the onset of in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1978, reproductive processes have become more complicated. For example, in gestational surrogacy a surrogate mother, not genetically related to the embryo, is brought into the process of reproduction. This technique allows infertile couples to carry a child or children in the womb of a carrier, rather than in the womb of the biological mother.[2] As a result of this ethically controversial technology, society must modify its reproductive rights. In vitro fertilization (IVF) alone will not solve people's reproductive problems and protect everybody's rights. Society, therefore, must distinguish whose rights-the rights of biological parents or those of the surrogate mothers-should be protected.

    Read More

  • Genetic Modification In Brave New World

    1779 Words  | 4 Pages

    "Reproductive Technologies." Bioethics for Students: How Do We Know What’s Right?, edited by Steven G. Post, vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 1999. Opposing Viewpoints in

    Read More

  • Pros and Cons of Genetic Testing

    1221 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • IVF Argumentative Essay

    1411 Words  | 3 Pages

    As a young adult, it may seem foolish to predict what your future family life will look like, especially in regards to children.  Often times this reality is forced upon a select few, particularly homosexual couples; however, with the innovation of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a couple is met with promise and the hope of a successful family life.  IVF can be described as a process by which a fetus is genetically formed in a laboratory setting.  Though this process may seem unnatural in essence, it allows for a more diverse family arrangement through medical innovation.  This procedure, though controversial, is seen by many as an advancement in the medical field and can be accredited to procuring a healthy child for an unfortunate family, whether

    Read More

More about Genetic Ownership

Open Document