Genetic Engineering
Megan Harris
November 18th, 2008
Mr. Pettinger 5th hour
Works Cited
http://www.allaboutpopularissues.org/genetic-engineering-in-humans-faq.htm
http://www.psrast.org/gefirstintro.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/04apr/00774/en/txt/history.html
http://static.squidoo.com/resize/squidoo_images/-1/draft_lens1970771module9386346photo_1209850075Genetic_Engine
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http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~fholmes/comic7.gif
Genetic engineering is the engineering of humans by modifying the genes that make up humans. Genetic engineering means inserting DNA chromosomes into genetic strands. “Genes are at the very heart of life. Together they constitute the blueprint of an organism. In computer terms they are the master program of life. They decide all the properties and all the capabilities of an organism (www.psrast.org).” These genetics can be from anyone and carry any genetic trait. “Genetic engineering is based on genetics, a science started from the early 1900’s, based on experiments by the Austrian monk, Gregor Mendel (www.library.thinkquest).” This is a highly controversial issue that involves societal, ethical, and theological concerns.
The first of these issues is society. Imagine a society without cancer, without mental illnesses. With this technology we have the potential to save ourselves from great human suffering. Billions of dollars could be saved in health care facilities if there was no cancer. This terrible disease that affects so many of us could be erased forever, thanks to genetic engineering. Our life expectancies would be longer if there weren’t these genetic diseases.
If we had a lot of new children being born with an intelligence gene implemented, this could do so much good. We could have a rapid increase of technology. This would increase the United States hegemony. We could progress at such an extreme rate. And, because this is genetic, this trend will continue onwards.
On the other...