Genetic engineering

Genetic Engineering After bringing myself up to date with some further research on genetic engineering or also referred to as genetic modification, here are some of my thoughts on the pros and cons. But before we jump right into it, I should tell you a little about what genetic engineering is. Genetic engineering refers to a set of technologies that are being used to change the genetic makeup of cells. You hear this and think of something like bio warfare or genetically altered animals.

But don’t be scared, genetic engineering can be good. It holds potential in the health and food Industry as well as the economy. The pros of genetic engineering are actually things that you would not think of. One of those things being insulin for diabetics, yes something so commonly used Is a genetic engineering marvel. Without It dozens of people would not be alive today. Other advances In the health side of genetic engineering are early detection In pregnancy. Imagine being able to detect at an early stage, embryo, that your child as for example muscular dystrophy and that it can be corrected.

That being called Embryo Screening, now this only works for in fertilization because they take a cell from an eight-celled embryo, that’s already been fertilized outside of the body, and examine that cell to be able to detect the presence of one or more disease- associated genetic alterations. Moving on to the food industry. You think of food and you already know plants are genetically altered and animals such as cows are genetically altered, but you ask the question, why? The reason is to meet demand.

They can genetically alter or tailor make an animal or plant so that their main characteristics are more desirable, for example a cow that weighs more than the next cow will most likely get picked for butchering because It will yield more meat. And a plant that yields more produce will make a farmer very happy. Now to end with the cons of course, there’s the irrefutable argument of does this go against natural selection and are we ” cheating mother nature”. The answer isn’t a simple yes or no. We’ve come a very long way in the medical world and the agricultural world as well.

But I have to highlight the cons, with Embryo Screening comes ” designer babies”. Babies that’s are basically hand picked to be exactly what the biological parents want them to be. Imagine if your parents had the choice, what would you look like? Well with advances in genetics research, people may soon precisely their children’s physical and personality traits. With genetically engineered animals they create animals whose organs can then be interchangeable with a humans, you might see his as a medical marvel, but In all reality It could cause diseases that would never be able to find a cure for.