human genome project
The Human Genome Project is a worldwide research effort with the goal of analyzing the structure of human DNA and determining the location of the estimated 100,000 human genes. The DNA of a set of model organisms will be studied to provide the information necessary for understanding the functioning of the human genome. The information gathered by the human genome project is expected to be the source book for biomedical science in the twenty-first century and will be of great value to the field of medicine. The project will help us to understand and eventually treat more than 4,000 genetic diseases that affect mankind. The scientific products of the human genome project will include a resource of genomic maps and DNA sequence information that will provide detailed information about the structure, organization, and characteristics of human DNA, information that constitutes the basic set of inhe
As Thomas Lee writes, "the effort underway is unlike anything ever before attempted, if successful, it could lead to our ultimate control of human disease, aging, and death". The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) and the National Research Council (NRC) prepared a report describing the plans for the US human genome project and is updated as further advances in the underlying technology occur. As Robert Wright notes, "Biologists and ethicists have by now expended thousands of words warning about slippery slopes, reflecting on Nazi Germany, and warning that a government quest for a super race could begin anew" if genetic engineering ventures "too far". By 1988, the two agencies were working together, an association that was formalized by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to "coordinate research and technical activities related to the human genome". I do not believe that there should be a genetically advanced child in the world, everyone is created equal and nobody should have their destiny changed for any reason. Hybrid varieties are often impossible to protect from the complexities and dangers of nature. At least sixteen countries have established Human Genome Projects. In diagnostic applications, lasers are used with fluorescent probes attached to DNA to light up chromosomes and to create patterns on DNA chips. Lasers are also used in confocal fluorescence laser microscopy to excite fluorescently tagged molecules in genome mapping, in addition to other mapping uses. The overall budget needs for the effort are expected to be about $200 million per year for approximately 15 years. In the human condition, this is the possibility of making an error and creating a genetically advanced baby who cannot cope with an imperfect world. Parents hope for healthy children and, if they could afford it, make choices (such as choosing parental care) to help "engineer" healthier babies. Whatever its justification, the human genome project has already inspired society with the hope of "better" babies, and one way to deploy pragmatism in the analysis of genetic engineering is to look at this promise of "better" babies in its social context: parenthood. rited "instructions" for the development and functioning of a human being. Genetic engineering seems in this respect to offer the brightest hope for parents.
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