Nayelic Mejia 1

Nayelic Mejia

Mrs. Knighten

English 11

10 December 2016

The Sides on Human Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering has multiple and equal pros and cons. The line between those for it

and against it are separated by those who understand it and those who don't. People educated on

the topic tend to go for it, sometimes hesitantly. There are also people who are pro for it because

they can see a future where a certain genetic malformation no longer exists. These are usually

people who live with a health problem or have someone close with a genetic health problem.

The first signs of something similar to genetic engineering appeared early in mankinds

history. This is selective breeding, the first example of this is the dog. From wolf to mans best

friend it took many years for the first wolves to befriend humans.

There are just as many positive highlights to human genetic engineering as there are

negative highlights to it. Some people have chosen the positive side and are pro. Their argument

is that can genetic engineering can successfully tackle genetic disorders caused from a mistake in

the genetic material. Currently many genetic disorders are passed down from parent to child.

They are usually treated just for the symptoms when possible.

Many people believe that genetic engineering is a risky project and highly immoral when

it is used to give certain attributes to children. It has only been a relative amount of short time

since we first were able to rewrite dna. There is simply a lack of knowledge to know what effect

we would make on the human genome. Some people propose that we should only allow use it to

add in normal healthy genes into children but even that is risky. For example the CCR5 mutation
 Nayelic Mejia 2

can protect against HIV but can also elevate the risk for West Nile Virus. What we know about

all of these genetic variables is not all there is. There can be other effects that were are oblivious

of. (Lander) It is very hard because the subject is still new it needs many more years of research

before it can be used on human beings.

The topic of genetic engineering is already debated heavily. A large population of the US is

against genetically engineered foods or genetically modified (Congress). A large percentage of

the population are against this but there are also scientists with the knowledge that agree

similarly. This technology is very recent and going full speed into it would be extremely risky.

We should exercise great caution before we begin to rewrite it. We remain terrible at predicting

the consequences of even simple modifications in mice. An example of this is that of the tp53

gene that protected against cancer in mice but caused premature ageing (Lander, Ph.D.). The

debate on genetic engineering is a difficult topic. We may first use it for the means of health

exclusively but it's highly possible that its purpose would switch to a more cosmetic intention.

Parents would do anything to help their child sail smooth through life. This would include giving

them extra attributes and picking out certain pretty traits like blue eyes or red hair. It comes

threatening close to the idea of perfect eugenics in the human race. This technology would likely

be expensive and only fall easy in the hands of rich. This would create a larger gap between the

rich and poor. The poor being unable to the standards of beauty through genetic manipulation.

Polls were taken from 2001 to 2006. Only 26 to 27% of the people questioned in the polls

supported the introduction of GMOs. The polls showed support for labeling genetically modified

food. (Congress II. A.) The reasoning for this is that we lack info on what our changes to these

new crops would do in the long run. They may not be harmful to us but in the future years we

may find that it might be detrimental to other creatures. This has happened previously, such as in
 Nayelic Mejia 3

the use of pesticides. Used to kill crop pests and thus keeping more crops healthy but

inadvertently hurting all other type of animal life as well as those pests.
 Nayelic Mejia 4

Works Cited

Acosta, Luis. "Restrictions on Genetically Modified Organisms: United States." Law

Library of Congress. Library of Congress, Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.

"Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering and Transgenics." ActionBioscience.

ActionBioscience, Nov. 2013. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Hana, Kathy E., M.S. Ph.D. "Genetic Enhancement." National Human Genome Research

Institute (NHGRI). NIH, Apr. 2006. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

"Ifgene Home Page: Student's Help Desk -- A History of Genetic Engineering." Ifgene

Home Page: Student's Help Desk -- A History of Genetic Engineering. 23 Apr. 2005.

Web. 20 Dec. 2016.

Lander, Eric S., Ph.D. "Brave New Genome." The New England Journal of Medicine.

The New England Journal of Medicine, 2 July 2015. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.

Rangel, Gabriel. "From Corgis to Corn: A Brief Look at the Long History of GMO

Technology." Science in the News. SITN, 9 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.

Rifai, Ryan. "US Scientists Urge Ban on Human Genetic Modification." Al Jazeera

English. Al Jazeera English, 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 21 Dec. 2016.

Sivapatham, Renuka. "Ethical Implications of Human Genetic Engineering." SAGE.

Buck Institute, 19 Aug. 2015. Web. 20 Dec. 2016.