Negative Effects Of Genetic Engineering

The Negative Effects of Genetic Engineering on Organisms Genetic engineering is a very controversial topic that most people wither strongly agree with or strongly disagree with. In the article “Genetic Engineering is Natural and Should be

Pursued”, Jeffrey Coker argues that genetic engineering is the most efficient way to make oneself into the “ideal human”. Coker practically claims that by engineering one’s own DNA or the DNA of certain crops, all of the world’s problems could be solved. According to his argument, there would be no more weak or futile plants, animals, or human beings. However, there are many people who disagree with this position. These people believe that genetic engineering is unnatural and could disrupt the progress nature

Coker claims that “[h]umans have many faults, but we are not dumber or less trustworthy than random chance” (Coker. 2013. para. 3). The “random chance” mentioned is actually considered by many people to be some type of a greater power or a God. Possibly the main reason people do not agree with genetic engineering is because they do not believe human creation is random, they believe each person is made individually with care. If this is true, then it is inconceivable as to why someone would want to change the work of an omniscient God. Besides this, humans cannot necessarily be trusted to engineer their own DNA when they can barely be trusted to keep up with their own health. One could argue that bodily maintenance would not be needed if genetic engineering was possible but in reality, there is no “skinny gene” or “healthy gene”. The human body is constantly working and being introduced to new bacterium, therefore it is always adapting in order to stay alive. Because of these responsibilities and constant changes, creating the perfect human is not possible, and even if it were, humans should not be trusted to perform this