Essay about The Morals and Ethics of Genetic Engineering

Introduction Widely considered a revolutionary scientific breakthrough, genetic engineering has been on a path toward changing the world since its introduction in 1973 by Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer (What). However, as genetic engineering slowly permeates the lives of humanity, the morals and ethics behind what are now common practices are entering public attention, and as a culture we are left to question whether the change brought on by such a discovery bring benefits and positive change, or damage and destruction. Genetic engineering is justified through applied bioethics and despite arguments against its societal implantation, should be fully utilized in efforts to develop into the 21st century. Genetic engineering refers to the†¦show more content†¦The transgene is injected into the microorganisms, known as plasmids, which subsequently distributes it into cells of the organism being engineered. The gene gun method, another transformation technique, discharges microscopic gold specks glazed with duplicates of the transgene into cells of the inheritor organism. With either method, there is a lack of control over where or if the gene will transplant into the genome, thus often hundreds of attempts are necessary to create a transgenic GMO (What). So why is this scientific process controversial? As a relatively novel facet of the scientific community, it is not entirely understood and its effects have yet to be seen due to its fairly broadened usage. Arguments exist over the potential environmental danger the permanent decrease in biodiversity brought on by the engineering of species could bring. The mass consumption of GMOs by average consumers has unknown, if any, health effects and many argue that the possible risk is enough to cease genetically engineering agricultural products. Lastly, there is the concern that mankind is â€Å"playing God†, that we as a species and as a society are exceeding our natural reach and thus operating outside of our traditional preconceived boundaries, where our cultural sense of ethics and morality may not even hold ground. How can we govern or monitor what we do not fully understand? Do the pros of the genetic revolution outweigh the cons? Our civilization, as it delvesShow MoreRelated Genetic Engineering : The Field Of Human Biotechnology1490 Words   |  6 PagesGenetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is a set of techniques for isolating, transforming, multiplying and recombining genes from different organisms. Simply put, it is the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism. Genetic engineering originated in the 1970s as a result of the discovery of several key techniques in molecular genetics. It is also referred to as recombinant (rDNA) technology. 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