Genetic Engineering And Human Engineering

“Agriculture is the most healthful, most useful, and most noble employment of man,” George Washington. Agriculture has been around for 12,000, this changed the lifestyle of people from hunting and gathering to permanent settlements with a steady food source (“Development of Agriculture”). From this, civilizations and cities grew, food could now be grown to meet the demands of the ever growing global populations. Since the development of agriculture advancement has been made to feed the population. One of the many modern advancements has been genetically modified organisms. Genetically Modified Organism, is the results of a laboratory process, where genes from the DNA of one of the species are extracted, and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal. Some of the unanswered questions about GMO’s have been what they are, companies that are involved,

Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material, otherwise known as DNA. Since biochemists Stanley Cohen and Herbert Boyer pioneered genetic engineering in 1973, the process has grown to have numerous applications such as medicine production, for example insulin (Mckinley). However, a main topic of concern is the application of genetic engineering on foods that we eat everyday. By modifying the genetic "blueprint" of crops, it is possible to improve many aspects of agriculture. But with any sort of scientific discovery that allows humans to act as Mother Nature, genetically modifying organisms has been a very controversial topic. Yet our society continues to grow, and the need for the benefits of genetically modified foods continues to grow. Genetically modifying foods should be permitted in our society because it allows larger yields of crops to be produced, produces foods with higher nutritional values, and reduces our global ecological footprint.

Scientists continue to find new ways to insert genes for specific traits into plant and animal DNA. A field of promise—and a subject of debate—genetic engineering is changing the food we eat and the world we live in.

Human genetic engineering and eugenics have been a largely controversial topic over the past decades. Eugenics can be popularly defined as the science of improving and enhancing a human population or person through manipulating the human genes, selective breeding, and sterilization. The end goal and desired result of eugenics is to basically create a human race or people with more desirable biological, physical, or psychological traits. Eugenics and genetic modification is a current, pressing subject; in April 2015, a group of Chinese researchers, used a new gene-editing technology, called CRISPR to “[tinker] with the genomes of human embryos” (Adams). Presently, according to CQ Researcher, “New genetic technologies allow scientists to delete a mutant gene and insert a healthy one, which…has the potential to eliminate inherited diseases, such as cystic fibrosis.” However, these techniques have only been used on embryos belonging to laboratory animals. The big question here is whether or not science and technology are crossing an ethical boundary by using these techniques and performing genetic modification on human embryos. Do humans have the right to “play God” and alter nature?

Genetic Engineering is the direct modification of an organism's genes by using biotechnology. Scientists can genetically modify an organism’s chromosomal makeup by inserting proteins that will

Genetic modification of organisms is something the human race has been doing for thousands of years, starting with the first domestication of animals around 10,000 years ago. (Root, 2) Many of these genetic alterations were at a basic level, an example of this being the cross breeding of dogs to achieve desirable traits. Additionally, importation of new plants or animals into areas they didn’t historically come form, forced adaptations from these organism to survive. More recently, scientists have begun to understand genetic engineering at the DNA level, and expand its use into the altering of plants genetic code. (Goldbas) Scientists are now gaining insight into

Genetic engineering is the deliberate modification of the characteristics of an organism by manipulating its genetic material. “If life is made of up of the same “stuff,” it should be easy to mix and match deoxyribonucleic acid from different organisms. All you have to do is cut out the DNA (gene) you want from one organism, and insert it into a new organism. This process is called genetic engineering. How to cut DNA: There are special tools that can be used to cut DNA called restriction enzymes, also known as DNA scissors, in order to combine DNA with different living things. Restriction enzymes are molecules that speed up the reaction that cuts DNA.

Genetic engineering is the alteration of an organism’s genotype using recombinant DNA technology to modify an organism’s DNA to achieve desirable traits. (OpenStax 459). The main purpose however of genetic engineering is to deepen the understanding of how genetics works, as well as how it can be applied to the rest of the world. For example growing body parts on mice, or make crops resistant to pesticides, help them grow faster, make them produce faster and much more. The process of genetic engineering according to FAO Corporate Document Repository occurs in 9 steps:

Genetic engineering is the process of changing an organism's genetic material. Genetic engineering is also used in the processes of heredity reproduction (genetic engineering, 1). Genetic engineering alters the genes of an organism to give it desired characteristics, these techniques have been used in plants, animals, and even people. Researchers are working on curing genetic diseases by genetic engineering. Genetic engineering techniques include a wide range of procedures that alter the reproductive and hereditary processes of organisms. Depending on the problem, the procedures

Genetic Engineering is controversial due to some people believing that genetic engineering is playing God. Opposition against this scientific field stands due to the lack of understanding of its value, or fear what may come out of following this new field of science. A portion of history is owed to genetic engineering as has led to many of the food products we enjoy today. Though there are some minuet deficiencies to genetic engineering or maybe because of them, there are ethical issues in today’s society that hinder and regulate genetic engineers. The form of genetic engineering today is a more efficient than our ancestors practice, selective breeding. All humans practiced selective breeding in one way or another. Its process is the

Human genetic engineering is currently a hot topic of discussion in the scientific world. What is human genetic engineering? According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, “Genetic engineering is the process of using recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology to alter the genetic makeup of an organism. Traditionally, humans have manipulated genomes indirectly by controlling breeding and selecting offspring with desired traits. Genetic engineering involves the direct manipulation of one or more genes. Most often, a gene from another species is added to an organism 's genome to give it a desired phenotype.” In other words HGE, is the process of genetically improvising the genes of a human being and selecting desired traits and trying to eliminate certain diseases in utero. The goal is to develop physical characteristics known as the phenotype of the child to what the parents’ desire. This process is very expensive and still in the process of experimental research. This topic is very debatable, due to the fact that there may be a chance for the parent to enhance the child to whatever they may find desirable, and to eliminate diseases. The cons of HGE, includes taking away the autonomy of the child, their natural creation, enhancing the child, lead to eugenics, and lead to social inequality (Seck). Human genetic engineering is immoral and unethical due to the fact that it is taking away from the child’s individuality, it is unnatural, the adverse effects of trying to deplete

On the most surface level, human genetic engineering and human genetic modification are a new and rapidly developing field of science that deals with directly altering the DNA (genetic makeup) of a living human cell. From early science fiction to the present day, taking control of humans’ gen es and directing the flow of evolution has been a subject of debate for many people. Human genetic engineering or HGE tends to bring up thoughts of dystopian futures where altering DNA has unexpectedly resulted in horrible mutant humans that can’t survive and thus the human race perishes, but this is not necessarily the outcome. Since genetic engineering is an emerging field of science, there are still many moral and ethical issues that need to be addressed before continuing research. Atheists and theists both have valid reasons to support / resist the continuation of this field of science. For the purpose of this paper, it will be assumed the reader has a reasonable understanding of the terms atheism, theism, DNA, genes, genome, and how a persons DNA (their genotype) essentially dictates the physical appearance and abilities that person portrays (their phenotype).

Author Chuck Klosterman said, “The simple truth is that we’re all already cyborgs more or less. Our mouths are filled with silver. Our nearsighted pupils are repaired with surgical lasers. We jam diabetics full of delicious insulin. Almost 40 percent of Americans now have prosthetic limbs. We see to have no qualms about making post-birth improvements to our feeble selves. Why are we so uncomfortable with pre-birth improvement?” Despite Klosterman’s accurate observation, there are reasons people are wearisome toward pre-birth enhancement. Iniquitous practices such as genetic engineering could lead to a degraded feeling in a child and conceivably end in a dystopian society, almost like the society Adolf Hitler had in mind. In the minds of

Human genetic engineering should be banned because it harms the human race since we would be reducing our genetic diversity through this radical process. Human genetic engineering simply eliminates the “undesirable” traits and encourages specific “desirable” traits. With the endless possibilities of choosing what to eliminate, inevitably the “desirable” traits are picked and chosen on whim decisions such as blonde hair, blue eyes, a slender figure, and tall height (Act For Libraries). According to the British Medical Journal, this idea of designing a baby based on cosmetics is called unrealistic and arbitrary standards of perfection (Caplan). Unrealistic and arbitrary standards of perfection will create identical genomes among humans. Obviously, there would be a tremendous drop in genetic diversity as a result of this. Moreover, when defective genes are replaced with functional genes inevitably, there is a reduction of genetic diversity and causes the human population, as a whole, to be more susceptible to disease and virus (Patra). As shown by this, the “undesirable’ traits are annihilated and “desirable” or functional genes in this instance are promoted. Although scientists for genetic engineering will promote the “eradication of genetic disorders and diseases,” once they are diminished to the best of their ability there would still be a yearn to “perfect” the human race. Instead of annihilating disease we would also be annihilating cosmetic traits we don’t want to see in

Over the years, new innovations, ideas, and emerging technologies have transformed our society and our daily lives. These new discoveries have not only been developed to help make our lives easier, but to also help us live longer and stronger lives. Living in a world that continues to evolve, creates opportunities for new innovations and breakthroughs to arise within our society. Genetic engineering is just one of many examples of the advancements that young, intelligent minds have developed throughout the years. Genetic engineering is defined as “isolating a desirable gene” and injecting it into a plant or organism to produce “a desired characteristic” (Nutrition & Weight Control for Longevity, 2005). This biological technology has provided many advancement opportunities “for several industrial sectors such as agriculture, food manufacture and pharmaceuticals” (Rastall, 2002). Along with everything else in life, genetic engineering has some upsides and downsides. Today I am going to discuss the positive and negative outcomes that genetic engineering is recognized for in the agricultural industry.