headlines nearly every day. With the successful cloning of mammals and
the completion of the Human Genome Project, scientists all over the
world are aggressively researching the many different facets of human
genetic engineering. These continuing breakthroughs have allowed
science to more deeply understand DNA and its role in medicine,
pharmacology, reproductive technology, and countless other fields.
The most promising benefit of human genetic engineering is gene
therapy. Gene therapy is the medical treatment of a disease by
repairing or replacing defective genes or introducing therapeutic
genes to fight the disease. Over the past ten years, certain
autoimmune diseases and heart disease have been treated with gene
therapy. Many diseases, such as Huntington's disease, ALS (Lou
Gehrig's disease), and cystic fibrosis are caused by a defective gene.
The hope is that soon, through genetic engineering, a cure can be
found for these diseases by either inserting a corrected gene,
modifying the defective gene, or even performing genetic surgery.
Eventually the hope is to completely eliminate certain genetic
diseases as well as treat non-genetic diseases with an appropriate
gene therapy.
Currently, many pregnant women elect to have their fetuses screened
for genetic defects. The results of these screenings can allow the
parents and their physician to prepare for the arrival of a child who
may have special needs before, during, and after delivery. One
possible future benefit of human genetic engineering is that, with
gene therapy, a fetus w/ a genetic defect could be treated and even
cured before it is born. There is also current research into gene
therapy for embryos before they are implanted into the mother through
in-vitro fertilization.
Another benefit of genetic engineering is the creation pharmaceutical
products that are superior to their predecessors. These new
pharmaceuticals are created through cloning certain genes. Currently
on the market are bio-engineered insulin (which was previously
obtained from sheep or cows) and human growth hormone (which in the
past was obtained from cadavers) as well as bio-engineered hormones
and blood clotting factors. The hope in the future is to be able to
create plants or fruits that contain a certain drug by manipulating
their genes in the laboratory.
The field of human genetic engineering is growing and changing at a
tremendous pace. With these changes come several benefits and risks.
These benefits and risks must be weighed in light of their moral,
spiritual, legal, and ethical perspectives. The potential power of
human genetic engineering comes with great responsibility
Article from: http://www.
However in my opinion genetic modification is not good .one reason would be because it creates an even more bigger gap between the poor and the rich . Since genetic modification is expensive the poor would not be able to afford it but since the rich can they would easily achieve success in whatever they do . This the poor would have to work 2 times more harder to achieve what the rich can achieve easily . This causes the caste system to reappear
ReplyDelete