STEPHAN SMITH
JOSH VASQUEZ
COM 111
11-08-09
GENETIC ENGINEERING
Genetic engineering is the human manipulation of the genetic material in a cell. With that said, cells are also known as the building blocks of life. With great power comes great responsibility. So when I say genetic engineering, a lot of people would feel a dark foreboding at such a concept, the rest of you would feel wonder. Me personally, I feel something akin to wonder but better defined as curiosity. There are initially four applications of genetic engineering. The most common would be genetically modified foods. They can increase the yields of many staple crops, ultimately warding off the starvation in many areas of the world. Another application is the treatment of genetic disease through genetic modification. This is called gene therapy. The third is germ-line therapy. It is similar to the former application but it focuses on the removal or replacement of faulty genes in a persons gametes.
Gametes are a reproductive cell that unites with another to form the cell that develops into a new individual cell. The last and most disagreed upon is called cloning. Cloning is basically the genetic duplication of an organism by tampering with the nucleus of said organism. I am as humane as the next man. The advantages and disadvantages of genetic engineering in contrast are arguable at best. If we can completely eradicate disease and counter productive genes in the genetic makeup of a human being, the human body will be much easier to heal and maintain. If we genetically modify are agricultural products, we can put world hunger in a headlock. At the same time we stand to make irreversible mistakes, mutating test subjects in its development stages, and we could poison populations and not know it until the death toll is counted. Genetic engineering is a hotly debated issue involving a lot of scientist, engineers, humanitarians, and certain parts of government bodies. Some faces who...