Rows upon rows of “perfect” people walk in straight lines. All have the same hair, eye, and skin color. They all resemble each other. The environment around them is lifeless; the lack of trees and living animals is awkwardly noticeable. Overhead a flying automobile soars past and swerves around enormous skyscrapers. All this was accomplished through both science and technology. Is this a farfetched notion of the future? Can science and technology really create a society like this? How will it affect our lives here in the Valley and in the world around us? Science has always been with us. Science is the observation of the problems of the world around us, and the experimentation to find solutions to these problems. It was science that allowed primitive man to wonder about his origins, his creator and the world around him. If we look at the role of science in the human race we see that it has allowed for the unified progression of all. In the beginning primitive man relied heavily on personal beliefs of both good and bad spirits and that of a Supreme Being. Later beliefs became more complex and religion was a vital part of everyone’s life. The ability to think differently grew due to increase advancement in science and technology during the Renaissance period. The freedom of thought and proposal of ideas by philosophers provided for exchanging and creation of diverse ideas. It was in that type of environment that ideas such as that of Darwin’s Origins of Species were proposed. In modern times when people hear of genetics images of cars overturned by dinosaurs gone mad, from the famous motion picture Jurassic Park, and of the cloned sheep Dolly prancing around in the prairie come to mind. The genetic revolution in particular gives us all an optimistic future to the world in which we are living in today. The genetic revolution will give a different facet to medicine, agriculture, and society as a whole.
The genetic revolution will help health professionals provide a different type of care for their patients. The genetic revolution offers enormous promises for those sufferings chronic diseases. Research laboratories around the world are busily sequencing, identifying, and switching genes among different species. Genetic engineering techniques promise cures for various diseases such as cystic fibrosis and kidney disease.
The age of genetic technology has arrived. Thanks to genetic technological advancements, medical practitioners, with the help of genetic profiling, will be able to better diagnose patients and design individual tailored treatments; doctors will be able to discern which medications and treatments will be most beneficial and produce the fewest adverse side effects. Rationally designed vaccines have been created to provide optimal protection against infections. Food scientists have hopes of genetically altering crops to increase food production, and therefore mitigate global hunger. Law enforcement officers find that their job is made easier through the advancement of forensics; forensics is yet another contribution of genetic technology. Doctors have the ability to identify “high-risk” babies before they are born, which enables them to be better prepared in the delivery room. Additionally, oncologists are able to improve survival rates of cancer patients by administering genetically engineered changes in malignant tumors; these changes result in an increased immune response by the individual. With more than fifty years of research, and billions of dollars, scientists have uncovered methods to improve and prolong human life and the possibilities offered by gene therapy and genetic technology are increasing daily.
CONTENTION 1: Human genetic engineering can cure disease when other methods may not exist. For example, at the Geron Corporation, a biotech firm in Menlo Park California, scientists have discovered how to make healthy cells will divide indefinitely. They are now working on a project that will result in...
Genetic engineering, the process of using genetic information from the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of cells to fix or improve genetic defects or maladies, has been developing for over twenty years. When Joseph Vacanti, a pediatric surgeon at Children’s Hospital, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineering professor at MIT, first met as researchers in the 1970’s, they had little knowledge of the movement they would help found. After they discovered a method of growing live tissue in the 1980’s, a new science was born, and it races daily towards new discoveries and medical breakthroughs (Arnst and Carey 60). “Tissue engineering offers the promise that failing organs and aging cells no longer be tolerated — they can be rejuvenated or replaced with healthy cells and tissues grown anew” (Arnst and Carey 58). The need for genetic engineering becomes quite evident in the promises it offers in various medical fields, as well to financial ones. Despite critics’ arguments about the morality or practicality of it, genetic engineering should continue to provide the essential benefits it has to offer without unnecessary legal impediment.
Genetic engineering has revolutionized over the years and it is being used to improve food, to discover new medicines, to remove environmental contaminants, to recycle waste, and to provide permanent cures for inherited diseases (Le Vine, 1999). The purpose of genetic engineering in the medical field has been to produce mass-produce insulin, human growth hormones, human albumin, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and many other drugs (Applications of Genetic Engineering,
Gene therapy is a relatively simple process. First, the mutated gene at fault for the cause of the condition being treated must be identified. Second, the site of the unhealthy cells in the human has to be found. Then, a health...
Imagine how it would feel walking into the hospital with a failing heart and being able to get a transplant of your own organ. Humans are born with only one copy of the organs for each function required by the body. Despite the ability to recover certain cells, not everything within the body is able to regenerate itself. With the now never-ending possibilities of our advancing technology, genetic engineering has entered the lives of humans in ways that were never before expected. Genetic engineering is a modern topic that should be implemented at a greater rate because it helps us fight problems that are beyond basic medicine, it prolongs life, and increases the quality of it by adding techniques to treatment rather then more medication.
However, genetic engineering is perhaps more closely associate with medicine than the other three. In medicine, genetic engineering has been utilized for solving health problems. With genetic engineering, scientists are able to produce large quantities of insulin, interferon, tissue plasminogen activator, urokinase, human growth hormones, follistim (for treating infertility), human albumin, monoclonal antibodies, antihemophilic factors, vaccines, and many other drugs (Applications of Genetic Engineering). The medical advances due to genetic engineering has saved many
What if the world can be free of all genetic diseases? What if a mother did not have to go through the pain of saying goodbye to her family because she is going to die from cancer? What if a daughter could avoid getting bullied because she had Autism? What if a friend did not have to go through the heartache of wanting a child but knowing she could not without passing on a genetic disease? What if the struggles could end? Would it not be a better life? One must think it sounds like a dream that cannot be reached. However, that dream can be a reality right now. The solution is in the human genes. Modifying the human genome can create a future full of humans that are genetically disease free, in other words, creating designer babies. Performing such an operation is a good thing and should be made officially legal everywhere in the United States.
Often, television will portray the future as people relying on robots and machinery to do the work and tell them what needs to be done and when. As farfetched as it may have sounded years ago, this type of technology is taking its steps into the real world. The future of medicine is being rushed in by a wave of new technology. A whole new type of therapeutics will be on the market. Among these advances health care and insurance could be drastically affected. These are the topics described in the following articles.
For this I am going to back to my ninth grade biology class. Part way through that class we started talking about genetics. That is what helped to fuel my desire to study molecular biology and hopefully get my Ph.D.one day in genetics. When we talked about genetics it was only on a basic sense but it drove me to learn more outside of the classroom. I was able to apply my newfound knowledge to my chickens that I recently began breeding. There is a lot more to breeding chickens that just putting some birds together and hatching their eggs. Each breed has their own standard of perfection that they have to bred to. I'm hoping to be able to apply my genetics knowledge that I learned in high school and that I will learn in college to my
Another area of medical advancement is genetic engineering. Genetic engineering will detect and possibly stop diseases before birth. Many diseases are associated with specific genes that can be checked for disease and replaced if dysfunctional. Genetic testing has already revealed genetic mutations that cause hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, colon cancer, polycystic kidney disease, Alzheimers disease, and others. (5) Replacing missing, altered, inactive, or dysfunctional genes will prevent diseases or even death. Also, progression of a disease can be monitored, and
For ages clinicians have been using the same trial and error approach to treating patients. Once a specific course of treatment was identified to cure a disease, that remedy became the standard by which to follow. But clinicians are realizing that new biological advances can be applied to the clinical approach of diagnosing patients. These clinicians are gaining knowledge of the molecular core of diseases and using this knowledge to apply genetic technology to patient care.
Genome engineering is a technology that has the potential to change the world as we know it. Recent developments have changed the face of genetic engineering and have opened up many new possibilities that simply did not exist in the past. One of these possibilities is precision medicine or the ability to treat a medical condition by taking into account genetics, environment and behaviors. Precision medicine has huge potential to change lives for the better. However, the technology used to provide precision medicine could prove to be a “slippery slope” (par. 6) that plummets from benefitting humankind to creating unanticipated outcomes or even sinister applications. “A Prudent Path Forward for Genomic Engineering
For example, considering the fact that genes control trait expression in the body, stretches of DNA found to code for lower intelligence or physical strength could be augmented using DNA from other organisms known to produce desirable physical traits. The foreign genetic code would be accepted into the genome, and expressed along with other genes - the now recombinant DNA could therefore be used to raise intelligence, strength, speed, or any other physical quality deemed desirable. (Peacock 12) Moreover, modern genetic technologies can alter an individual’s genome via DNA insertion or removal to the point where regions coding for hereditary diseases such as Huntington’s or Cystic Fibrosis can be completely removed or altered, producing a resistance or even immunity to such diseases. (Adams) This has already been accomplished in recent years; in 2008, patients suffering from the neurological condition Batten disease had the progression of the disease in their bodies slowed by inserting a corrective gene into their bodies, where it was incorporated into their DNA. It is hoped that such a technology can be improved upon and used in the future to help cure diseases such as muscular dystrophy, sickle cell anemia, and hemophilia, and beyond, producing humans who are genetically resistant to heritable diseases. (Peacock
Although genetic engineering seems to be more harmful than helpful, when used correctly, it will help the society prosper. Considering the technology our society has currently developed, genetic engineering is a difficult topic to discuss and confirm. If the researchers confirm this process, it may become easier for the scientists and will help cure the diseases easily. The debate, however, will still be on the rise because of the issue in human morals and ethics.