kathleen morrison-inquiry project
TRANSCRIPT
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Kathleen Morrison
Instructor: Malcolm Campbell
English 1103
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Genetic Engineering Advancements Leading to Super Humans or Split Society?
Have you ever looked into the mirror and noticed the similarities between yourself and
your parents? This is because you are a mixture of the genetic makeup given to you by your
Mother and Father. What if, in the future, when someone looked at themselves they noticed no
similarities between how they look and how their parents look because they were given the
desired traits. What if you never got sick or hurt? Genetic engineering is evolving, it has
become more popular in certain crops to make them grow faster and be resistant to pesticides.
Not only has it become popular in plants, but animals and humans as well. What could
advancements in genetic engineering hold for the human race in the future? A possible answer is
a new race or a split in society of haves and have-nots.
Before genetic engineering became known there was a question of what held our
hereditary material. In the year 1869, Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA. He used cloths
stained in soldiers blood to study the proteins within white blood cells. White blood cells are
cells a part of the immune system that digests bacterium. While examining the protein s he came
across something unfamiliar, nucleic acid (DNA). After the research of Miescher, Phoebus
Levene continued the investigation by studying the structure of DNA.
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Levene is credited with many firsts. For instance, he was the first to
discover the order of the three major components of a single
nucleotide(phosphate-sugar-base); the first to discover the carbohydrate
component of RNA(ribose); the first to discover the carbohydrate
component of DNA(deoxyribose); and the first to correctly identify the
way RNA and DNA molecules are put together.(Americanradio)
Erwin Chargoff furthered the research and determined that the same nitrogenous bases
always paired up with each other. Adenine + Thymine and Cytosine + Guanine. Then, in the year
1953 all of this data was compiled by James Watson and Francis Crick to create a model of DNA
structure. The structure is a double helix that can be explained as being a ladder. The rails of the
ladders are sugar and phosphates, which alternate, and the steps are nitrogen-containing bases
held together by hydrogen bonds (Figure 1). This discovery helped to guide scientists to DNA
splicing. This is the procedure of cutting out a section of DNA and placing it into another
organism.
Figure 1
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Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer used the model made by Crick and Watson to proceed
with gene splicing (Figure 2) in 1973. This technique laid the foundations for todays modern
genetic engineering industry. (thinkquest). Not only was the model important in the evolution of
genetic engineering but Gregor Mendels genetic theory as well. Mendel studied the theory of
how characteristics are inherited. Through his study he examined pea plants, he determined
through observation that different
versions of the same gene result in
variation. He also determined that
each organism inherits two genes,
one from each parent. The scientists
in Europe used this information to
breed two plants together to produce
desired traits.
To fully understand genetic
engineering you must understand your genetic makeup. Humans are composed of 46 pairs of
chromosomes. Chromosomes are strands of DNA that carry genetic material. 23 of these
chromosomes are given from your Mother while the other 23 from your Father. 22 pairs of
chromosomes are autosomes (regular chromosomes which transmit genetic traits) and the other 2
pairs are sex chromosomes (XX-female, XY-male). You are given two alleles (alternate versions
of a gene), one from your Mother and one from your Father. Which of the two is expressed is
determined through dominance. A trait that is dominant will appear over a trait that is recessive.
For example, in eye colour you may receive a gene for blue eyes while your father gives you a
gene coding for brown eyes. Since brown is dominant over blue, you will have brown eyes. This
Figure 2
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all depends on if your parents are carriers (carry recessive traits) where the recessive may be
expressed instead of the dominant. Genetic engineering takes away chance within which genes
will be expressed.
Genetic engineering is the development and application of scientific
methods, procedures, and technologies that permit direct manipulation
of genetic material in order to alter hereditary traits of a cell, organism
or population. (Dictionary.com)
Neal Connan and Rob Stein, journalists in biology and members of NPR discuss genetic
engineering in an interview. During this interview both positives and negatives of the scientific
process are touched upon. Today, scientists are able to decode a genome (the full set of DNA
present in an individual) within hours compared to the days it used to take. (Stein). The positives
included using genetic engineering for medical purposes such as fixing problems with mutations
within DNA. This could help numerous people that are suffering with diseases due to
chromosomes not being how they should be. An example of this is on chromosome 21 there may
be three chromosomes instead of two which would lead the child to be born with Down
Syndrome. Not only could this cure but it could prevent as well. Looking at an unborn baby to
detect whether it will carrier a disease can be corrected with genetic engineering. The negatives
of this interview included job loss, discrimination in employment, health care and health
insurance. If super humans were created or even a new race produced there would become a split
in social classes. If an employer was looking at hiring two people and one of them is resistant to
injury while the other is average, who would they chose? By having an employee that cant be
hurt or fall ill the company would save a great amount of money. A reference to the movie
Gattaca is also made within the interview which is brought up by another journalist.
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Ray Bohlin, an author of multiple books and journals and has a PhD in molecular
biology, goes into more detail on the subject of genetic engineering. The first idea Bohlin
introduces is Gattaca. The 1997 movie explores the idea of genetically modified humans being
superior in every way to those who are not. This leads to the question: will there be a race of
super humans in the future? There has already been a superbug produced that is indestructible,
could this be possible for humans also? Genetic manipulation goes hand and hand with genetic
engineering, the idea is to change (manipulate) the genes of an organism to be the desired
trait(s). Bohlin brings up genetic illnesses that occur through mutations in DNA. There are over
1200 known human disorders; it is still questionable how many are unknown. Genetic
engineering would allow these diseases to be prevented by replacing the mutant DNA with the
desired DNA. If these mutations within the genes are eliminated from human genomes it could
affect the variety in human characteristics. What if a family cant afford the procedure? If genetic
engineering gives parents the chance to prevent their unborn children from flaws would they do
it? With the elimination of diseases there would become a job loss in doctors, pharmaceuticals
and people that work at creating vaccines. By eliminating certain genes you are also eliminating
variation which is important. Those people that could not afford the procedure would fall down
the social ladder by becoming have-nots. Religious views are also included in his exploration of
genetic engineering. Should humans have the right to play the role of God or are we using our
knowledge/intelligence to advance proficiently. I find it unlikely that peoples opinions will
change on the subject and should not be argued.
After searching to learn more about what genetic engineering can mean for the future I
came across an article written by Carolyn Harris. Harris has written numerous articles and
incorporated a professor who studies the impact of robotics on society. The idea of incorporating
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robotics and artificial intelligence within the human body was an idea I had never seen/heard of
being associated with genetic engineering. An example of incorporating robotics into the human
body is through the insertion of a chip into the brain that would increase intelligence. By the
year 2020 an estimated 40% of armies will include robotic soldiers. (Harris). With the addition
of robotic soldiers into warfare how brutal will the battles become? Introducing nuclear weapons
into war, in my opinion, was a great mistake of technology. These soldiers may not be able to
destroy an entire country with one blow. But they will, without a doubt, change the rules on the
battlefield. Proceeding the idea of high tech soldiers, Harris questions the idea of a two tier social
system being created with the advancement of genetic engineering. Transhumanists are
individuals that support technology and believe that it will improve the human body. This group
of people is associated with the increase of the rate that genetic engineering advancements are
becoming available to the public and the rate theyre being discovered. The more people want
the technology, the faster it will be produced. I found that this aspect of demand related to the
development of a two-tier society. There will be people that want and cant afford, the people
that want and cant afford, and those that disagree with technology all together.
A few years ago I was presented with a debate on genetic engineering. To find out the
different opinions people may have I began to ask around. When I asked my father I knew it
would be more personal, I asked if he had the opportunity to change my genetic makeup so I
never got sick or injured if he would do it. As the subject, the answer was not straight forward.
He began to explain that as a parent you never want to see your child to hurt. That got to me
because Ive been in the hospital more than I can remember. As a baby I had feet and breathing
problems, later chicken pox, asthma, a broken arm, torn ACL and meniscus, and wisdom teeth
removed. He said that he would not go through with the procedure. All the bumps and bruises
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were learning experiences that shape the person Im becoming. So what would happen if before
a child was born their parents decided to change their genetics so they never hurt? If every child
grew up with the same traits there would be nothing to differentiate them. And what of those
parents that cant afford or choose not to have the procedure? In school, children are looked
down upon when for not having nice things. But what happens when that nice thing
becomes your genetic composition? It changes from clicks in school to social classes in society.
What children learn stays with them as they grow up. So, if they grow up believe they are better
than someone because of how they are made genetically it will follow them to adult hood. Here,
it will no longer be about whom you play with at recess but who gets the job and who doesnt.
Genetic engineering is a continuous project. The idea of this technology separating
humans further into social classes is something that should be thought about with great
consideration. Not only to think about a two-tier social system but introducing super humans into
the average population. Both of these ideas should be laid out and examined through pros and
cons before the technology is presented to the public. I would never want to see my child hurt
but I also want them to be different and who they are meant to be. Sometimes bad things happen
to good people but those people show to be both strong and inspiring. If bad things stopped
happening in the human population how would we know what is good or when we got lucky?
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Works Cited
Bohlin, Ray. What Is Genetic Engineering? Genetic Engineering Probe.org. 2012. Web. 12
Oct. 2012.
Connan, Neal. Do You Want to Know Your DNAs Secrets? Npr.org.1 Oct. 2012. Web. 13
Oct. 2012.
Harris, Carolyn. The Technocracy and the Genetic Engineering of Humanity.Infowars.com. 1
Jan. 2009. Web. 12 Oct. 2012.
Americanradioworks.org. History of Genetic Engineering. 2008. Web. 04 Nov 2012.
Studymode.com. Gregor Mendels Theories of Genetic Inheritance. 1999. Web. 04 Nov 2012.
Nature.com. Discovery of DNA Structure and Function: Watson and Crick. 2008. Web. 04 Nov
2012.
Thinkquest.org. The First Recombinant DNA Organisms. 1998. Web. 04 Nov 2012.
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. 2012. Web. 04 Nov 2012.
Academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu. DNA Structure. 2008. Web. 06 Nov 2012.
Fitureworldofgmos.blogspot.com. Genetically Modified Foods. 2012. Web. 07 Nov 2012.