Ethics of Genetic Engineering in February 1997, Term Paper

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Ethics of Genetic Engineering

In February 1997, genetic engineering was thrust into the spotlight when Dolly, the first mammal clone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The world has had heated discussions over the issues surrounding genetic engineering ever since. The selective engineering of genetics is invaluable to the health and happiness of humans. The importance of this issue has played second fiddle to the arguments, for and against genetic engineering. The impact of genetic engineering on our everyday lives can be enormous. While many feel genetic engineering is unethical, this paper will show the benefits are substantial.

In the past, the majority of people have been against the use of these experimental procedures because of the possibility of deadly outcomes. Because not much is known about genetic engineering, this discovery could improve our lives and should be allowed to progress despite the risks it poses and the public outcry against it. If people could understand genetic engineering, perhaps they would be more accepting of it.

The first step to understanding genetic engineering and embracing its possibilities for society is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method. The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependent on the understanding of how individuals pass on characteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature's evolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first "laws of heredity.

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" Using these laws, scientists studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one hundred years following Mendel's discovery. These early studies concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stableford 1996). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child could receive one set of genes from his or her father that were encoded one blue, and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown genes from his or her mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the child has a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 1996).

Genes are transmitted through chromosomes, which reside in the nucleus of every living organism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The information carried on the DNA determines the cells function within the organism.

Sex cells are the only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism, therefore, "the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring " (Lewin). DNA discovery is attributed to the research of….....

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