Melissa Simeon
Professor Seesholtz
English 202A
Science Fiction Concepts Turning into Medical Reality:
An informative essay on human genetic engineering
Imagine creating a real life “super human”, a human with both physical and optimal, health by altering their biological make up? This idea would seem to be one straight of a science fiction story, but with biotechnology this may soon be possible. Biotechnology is defined in Webster’s Medical Dictionary as the manipulation, as through genetic engineering, of living organisms or their components to produce useful usually commercial products. Biotechnology has been around for quite some time in pharmaceutical and agricultural industries, in forms of vaccines and pest resistant crops.
More recently with human genetic engineering where it is possible to modify the human body’s genes. Human genetic engineering is the group of applied techniques of genetics and biotechnology used to cut up and join together genetic material and especially DNA from one or more species of organism and to introduce the result into an organism in order to change one or more of its characteristics, according to Webster’s Medical Dictionary. This innovation may seem right out a sci-fi movie or book but it is real and happening. Though the procedure of engineering genetics in humans is relatively new the sooner it becomes available and used, the more people begin to understand it and form opinions.
The Essay on Human Genetic Engineering Dna Genes Cells
Introduction What if you could design your child before it was even born? What if you could cut out any life threatening diseases, make sure that your child is not susceptible to smoking addictions or alcoholism, and then make your child genius? Would you? Are you asking yourself how this could be done? Have you ever considered human genetic engineering? What is Human Genetic Engineering? Lets ...
The primary use for human genetic engineering concerns the removal of genetic diseases that are debilitating and ultimately fatal diseases such as cystic fibrosis. To treat many life-threatening illnesses genetic engineering aims to ride the body of the faulty genes. It will increase the level of immunity in people. Increased immunity will make them resistant to several severe diseases. The potential is incredible (Arnold).
Human genetic engineering is a more advanced procedure than gene therapy. One of the most important benefits of human genetic engineering is gene therapy.
gene therapy is, as defined in Webster Medical Dictionary, as the insertion of usually genetically altered genes into cells especially to replace defective genes in the treatment of genetic disorders or to provide a specialized disease-fighting function, such as the destruction of tumor cells. Over the past decade, gene therapy has succeeded in finding treatments for certain heart diseases. The first gene therapy trial in humans corrected a life-threatening immune disorder in a two-year-old girl who, more than ten years later, is doing well. The gene therapy required dozens of applications but has saved the family from a $60,000 per year bill for necessary drug treatment without the gene therapy (Jaroff).
According to the University Of Missouri School Of Medicine, gene therapy and genetic engineering are two closely related technologies that involve altering the genetic material of organisms. But, there are many variations on the technology to achieve this goal. Gene therapy introduces a new gene into the body to help fight a disease, whereas human genetic engineering arranges the genes for the desired functions. Researchers are now hoping to detect, modify or remove the faulty or disease causing genes early on, before gene therapy is even needed, by using genetic engineering. Human genetic engineering in some cases can minimize and or prevent the suffering and damages, caused by certain defective genes.
Consider the story of a parent of sickle cell anemia, a genetic disease that many researchers have proposed treating through human genetic engineering;
The Essay on Genetic Engineering Therapy Dna Scientists
... time to come, all of these diseases will be able to be treated by genetic engineering, specifically gene therapy. "Gene therapy is used to supply a functional ... times the life span of a human being has been put at roughly 70 years. Genetic engineering raises the question "Is this number ...
Our sickle cell anemic children are now young adults. Only rarely can we all be home together as a family. Usually one or two, sometimes all three, are in the hospital being treated for acute disease crises or for the debilitating effects of the disease. This is now a way of life, or I should say a way of existence….the removal of their gallbladders. At one point my daughter experienced a blockage of blood vessels causing a thrombosis in the brain, which in turn produced a stroke….I hear her cry for a normal life, and if this cannot be, I have heard her ask, “Why can’t I die” (Evans 2).
Stories like these help demonstrate that there are good and strong reasons for a continuing effort to implement these life changing techniques.
Human genetic engineering, such as gene therapy could also be sought to alleviate a condition that is less than life-threatening and perhaps considered by some to simply be one of life’s inconveniences, such as a gene that may offer resistance to AIDS or may enhance memory. Such genes are known now and many are suggesting that these goals will and should be available for gene therapy (Bohlin).
A future benefit of human genetic engineering is that a fetus with a genetic disorder will be treated before the baby is born. Parents will be able to look forward to a healthy baby. In case of in-vitro fertilization (IVF), gene therapy can be used for embryos before they are implanted into the mother. For instance a number of parents undergoing IVF have selected their embryos to be free from genetic mutations. In the UK in January 2009 a mother gave birth to a girl whose embryo had been selected to be free from a genetic form of breast cancer and ovarian because both ran in her side and her husband’s family history. This is as a valuable use of genetic engineering to prevent disease from ending someone’s life (BBC).
Some of the apprehensions for using human genetic engineering are that this will lead to human genetic engineering being used for other non-medical reasons such a trait selection and enhancement in embryos. This in turn may lead to questions and concerns such as does selecting for particular traits pose health risks that would not have existed otherwise? The safety of the procedures used for human genetic engineering are currently under investigation, and because this is a relatively new form of reproductive technology, there is by nature a lack of long-term data and adequate numbers of research subjects. Still, one safety concern often raised involves the fact that most genes have more than one effect. For example, in the late 1990s, scientists discovered a gene that is linked to memory (Tang et al.,).
The Essay on Gen Engineering
"Those who are ignorant to history are destined to repeat it." Although genetic engineering is an entirely new field, it brings up issues, especially in eugenics, that society has previously had to deal with. It gives people the power to change many aspects of nature and could result in a lot of life-saving and preventative treatments. However, if this power is misused or abused, the damage could ...
Modifying this gene in mice greatly improved learning and memory, but it also caused increased sensitivity to pain which is obviously not a desirable trait.
There are other risks associated with human genetic engineering, such as getting genes into a human body and having them carry out the desired function. Also some genes are carried in on viral vectors and these bugs have been altered so as not to infect a patient with disease. However, a small number of gene therapy trials have resulted in the deaths of some subjects (Stolberg).
Furthermore, it is simply not known the long term potential ramifications of altering genes. The human genome and the body are a maze of complicated biological signals, pathways and interrelationships. A positive change upstream could cause a negative effect downstream (Arnold).
Other than safety, issues of individual liberties also arise. It’s also granting the power to engineer desirable traits into humans. In terms of society, it is not feasible for everyone to have access to this type of expensive technology. Thus, perhaps only the most privileged members of society will be able to have “designer children” that possess greater intelligence or physical attractiveness. This may create a genetic aristocracy and lead to new forms of inequality (Simmons).
As of now, creating a “superhuman” is still a speculation. Some of the required technology may still be impossible, considering that most traits are complex and involve numerous genes. However, with some many technological advances and knowledge of the human blue print, it could be very well become an eventuality. As with many innovations, such as human genetic engineering, there are positive and negative side effects. Discussions and knowledge of these and other issues related to human genetic engineering are very important should the ability to create genetically engineered humans ever become available.
The Term Paper on Genetically Engineered Gene Genetic Cells
... of biomedical research, especially human gene therapy. o Dangers of genetic engineering: What is wrong with genetic engineering? Genetic Engineering is a test tube ... systems completely enough to perform DNA surgery without creating mutations which could be harmful to the environment ... power, of the technique come in. Normally new traits are acquired by conventional breeding and selection, and ...
