Genetic Engineering
As our technology continues to advance, new breakthroughs in medicine are discovered. With these new developments serious ethical and moral questions arise. Advancements in genetic engineering, reproductive technologies, cloning, organ transplanting, and human experimentation are all causes of concern. The Human Genome Project, an incredible scientific undertaking determined to produce a map of the human DNA code, will tell us how each gene or group of genes function (Lemonick and Thompson 44). With this map, scientists and doctors will be able to figure out how genes can malfunction and cause deadly diseases. Of course, they will also know what each gene controls, and how to manipulate and control our genes to get the specified, desired results. This is exactly the type of tool researchers need to perfect the science of eugenics. Eugenics- a powerful word from the Greek stem meaning good in birth (Gray 84). In the past, it was thought that we could improve the quality of the human race by making it impossible for those with undesirable traits to reproduce. Charles Davenport once said that he hoped human matings could be placed on the same high plane as that of horse breeding (qtd. in Gray 84).
) There is another serious side to this debate, which also deserves equal focus. This science has gone through extensive developments in the past years. The frightening truth is that scientific experiments are often performed on American citizens. By giving a cell a used set of genes, churches conclude, scientists are robbing that person of singularity and the right to be one-of-a-kind. The controversy over this test erupted when it was made know that patients were denied the option of treatment once penicillin became widely available (Mccuen 49). According to the Roman Catholic Church, in-vitro fertilization is morally illicit, and considered sin (Leone, Reproductive 34). If this happens, and a superior race emerges with great intelligence and longer lives, how will these people look upon those who are left lagging behind?. Think of the lives, the medical dollars, that could be saved if doctors could identify individuals genetically predisposed to heart disease, cancer, and other killers, and, through modification of diet, lifestyle, or other risk factors, reduce or eliminate their susceptibility. Proponents of genetic engineering stress the fact that this technology can be used to do a world of good. Mills volunteered for a gas mask experiment. It may be based on personal experience, religious beliefs, or occupation. One can only imagine what this will do to the year-round availability and price of strawberries. Soon scientists will be able to genetically pre-determine nearly every characteristic new-born children are likely to have. He states that those who would put an end to cloning should take your ranks alongside Pope Paul V, who in 1616 tried to stop Galileo (qtd.
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Acceptance Essays
