Genetic manipulation (A.K.A Genetic modification or genetic engineering) is, by definition, is the direct modification of the genome of an organism. There are a couple ways of doing this, one being selective breeding. This method is not very efficient as you are left to chance to what will happen with the offspring's traits. Although this method has been used for thousands of years, it has become practically unused. Another method of genetic modification is called genetic engineering. In this process, scientists essentially will take out a part of DNA (this is called gene splicing) using restriction enzymes and then put the DNA into something called plasmids for the transfer of the DNA. They take the traits they want to give to an organism from an organism that has the trait they're wanting. They then will insert the plasmids into the organism that does not have the desired trait. This creates a transgenic organism (an organism with genes from another organism.) This will create DNA with both desired DNA and undesired DNA. "To recover the desired DNA, the current technology is to screen unwanted cells from the mixture and then use gel electrophoresis to separate the remaining genes by movement on an electric grid. Gel electrophoresis uses a positively charged grid to attract the negatively charged DNA fragments, thereby separating them by size, because the smaller ones will migrate the most." (Glen E. Moulton, infoplease.com) The result of this process is most commonly known as a Genetically Modified Organism, or GMO for short. This process is used in human genetics to get rid of genetic diseases, however there has been research put into this to modify whatever genes that people would want to modify (designer babies.) This has raised many ethical debates as to whether or not this technique should be allowed to be used to create a different baby and even at all.
"1. It can get rid of diseases
With genetic manipulation, it is possible to get rid of many diseases. This means that deadly diseases could just be wiped out before they even happen.
2. Getting Rid of All Illnesses in Young and Unborn Children
There are many things that a child can have before you give birth. i.e. we can see if a child will have Down's syndrome before birth. With genetic manipulation, it is possible that you could get rid of this.
3. Potential of longer life
In genetic manipulation, it is possible to have people live longer by getting rid of some things that would be harmful in later life, or even in early life.
4. Create new and better foods
With genetic manipulation, it is possible to create new foods! We can also make crops and other agricultural things be able to sustain themselves longer in harsher conditions as well as create more of them!
Cons
1. Is it right?
There have been a large number of concerns about whether or not genetic manipulation is 'right' or not. It might not be a good thing to be able to get rid of diseases or make lifespans longer (as we are overpopulated as it is)
2. It may cause genetic defects
Genetic modification has a certain risk to it. There are so many complex things in the human body that scientists cannot, with 100% safety, do genetic modification.
3. It limits genetic diversity
With people selectively choosing what traits they want or don't want, or what they want gone completely, this lowers the amount of diversity that we have between ourselves.
4. Can it go too far?
One of the biggest issues with genetic manipulation is that one day it could be taken too far. We may start to get out of hand with what we start to use manipulation for. We could end up creating super-soldiers for the army or incredible scientists or something to that effect." (Rinkesh Kukreja, Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering)
Should we use Genetic Manipulation?
Personally, I think that genetic manipulation is a very good idea that needs a lot of work and structure before we start getting into it. We definitely should not be creating 'the perfect child' or anything for a long time. In time, I think that this will be something that people will begin to turn to as a solution to many, many problems, but for now I don't think that this method is going to be used too much, which is a perfectly fine decision.
Sources:
"Genetic Engineering." Infoplease. Infoplease. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"Pros and Cons of Genetic Engineering - Conserve Energy Future." ConserveEnergyFuture. 2 July 2015. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
Steele, Erika. "Genetic Manipulation: Definition, Pros and Cons." Study. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"UNL's AgBiosafety for Educators." UNL's AgBiosafety for Educators. UNL's AgBiosafety for Educators. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"What Is Genetic Engineering?" Union of Concerned Scientists. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
One of the pros you mentioned for genetic manipulation is the eradication of disease. It seems to me that many times we open the door for more serious complications or more virulent strains. What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteInteresting
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for you input!
DeleteNear the beginning of the blog it says that genetic manipulation or selective breeding has been used for thousands of years. How has it been used for thousands of years? I like the overall of the blog, it is just a bit confusing near the top.
ReplyDelete-Rachel
Yes, I can see how that would be confusing. What we meant was that selective breeding has been around for thousands of years. Sorry for the confusion!
DeleteOn the topic of genetically modifying DNA of plants or anything that effects humans. I have realized how hard it is to find an opinion on this topic. Because at first when I saw this, I thought about how its obvious. Genetically modifying DNA is a terrible idea because its something natural that we humans are changing to our own liking. Though I never really considered the fact of how it might be a better alternative to have more GM food other than less "organic" food. It it really worth starving more of the world even if we have the capacity to have more food just to the cause of non GMO? At the time of writing this post, I don't really know what the correct solution to this is, and i'm not sure if anyone knows. So lets just hope for the best.
ReplyDelete- Joel
I personally think that there are some upsides and there are some downsides to GMO, but if we can get it so that there aren't any downsides then I think we'll be golden. It's good to hear you're thinking about it though!
Delete