Genetic Engineering on Children

here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLWm0kc4L98&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%3Fq%3Dgenetic%2520engineering%2520humans%26rls%3Dcom%2Emicrosoft%3A%2A%26oe%3DUTF%2D8%26startI&feature=player_embedded

Apparently, genetically engineered humans have already been created. This is scary!

My opinion

Personally, I prefer government to be involved in as little as possible in our lives because government is inefficient at whatever area it decides to intervene in. This is why I would never want the state to have as much control in this country as it does in Brave New World. Over the last ten years, our government has been accumulating trillions of dollars of debt and at the same time we are supposed to trust them in running our lives down to determining our profession? I don't think so. Genetic engineering in plants is an area of genetic engineering, if used properly, can produce some benefits for society without simultaneously threatening the natural order. On the other hand, genetic engineering in humans, if approved, can lead to disastrous consequences. There will be social, economic, and political repercussions far beyond what anyone expects if the ball for genetic engineering in humans begins to roll. Once parents are allowed to pick the desired traits of their children then we will have reached a point of no return. Lee Silver, a Princeton geneticist, predicts in his book In Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World, that parents will soon be able to pick out the physical, cognitive, and behavioral traits of their child to be (members.tripod.com). However, he predicts that only 10% of the population will be able to afford this, leaving this 10% in a superior position over the other 90% of society. This would open the door for a society similar to that in Brave New World. Many advocates of genetic engineering claim that this is the only way to prevent hereditary diseases from being passed on but this is simply not true (loka.org). With pre-implementation screening and in-vitro fertilization the same can be accomplished without manipulating genes (loka.org). As religion is demphasized and the social values are changing, progressives have longed for a new, natural world in which the opinion of science is held over all other beliefs. I only hope that this new found ideology does not lead to a brave new world.

Bibliography
Batalion, Nathan. "50 Harmful Effects of Genetically Modified Foods." 2008 Web.26 April 2009. .

Bergelson, "What are the Dangers?." Mothers for Natural Law. 25 April 2009

Darnovsky, Marcy. "The New Eugenics: The Case Against Genetically Modified Humans ." Population and Development Program Hampshire College 404 2000 Web.17April 2009. .

Group of 18 Scientists, "Candidate Questionnaire." Scientists and Engineers for America Web.15 April 2009. .

Hayes, Richard. "The Politics of Genetically Engineered Humans." 05 09 2000 Web.17 April 2009. .

Ingham, Dr. Elaine. "A GE BACTERIUM THAT COULD HAVE KILLED ALL PLANTS ." New Zealand Royal Commission on Genetic Modification (2001): Print.

"Risks of Genetic Engineering." Union of Concerned Scientists. 30 10 2002. 4 May 2009 .

Ron, Epstein. ""Another Voice: Religion and Measure H"." Ukiah Daily Journal 22 02 2004 Web.18 April 2009. .

Schmid, Randolph. "Obama promises major investment in science." Yahoo Finance. 27 04 2009. 27 April 2009 .

Note: most of these sources are from journals that can be found online.

The Current Politcal Situation in America and its Effect on Genetic Engineering

Whether or not America ever becomes similar to the world in Brave New World will be determined by the political decisions made today. Obama and congress hold a tremendous amount of power in determining the course of genetic engineering over the next several years. Recently Obama pledged 3% of the Gross Domestic Product to scientific research (yahoo.com). This insures that a considerable amount of money will go to genetic engineering research. Obama has not whole heatedly endorsed all forms of genetic engineering but in his own round about way he has endorsed it. Obama states, "Advances in the genetic engineering of plants have provided enormous benefits to American farmers. I believe that we can continue to modify plants safely with new genetic methods, abetted by stringent tests for environmental and health effects and by stronger regulatory oversight guided by the best available scientific advice" (sharp.sefora.com) Basically, Obama supports genetic engineering but in order to cover all his bases, he states that there will strict testing before any form of genetic engineering is approved. Since we have a very liberal president and congress, and with an ever expanding government, I believe that a large amount of money will be devoted to cloning and genetic engineering, paving the path for a society that somewhat resembles that of Brave New World.

Ethical and Religious Opinions on Genetic Engineering

In Brave New World there is no religion or ethical standards to impede the progress of society. Genetic engineering has reached the point where ninety-six people can be created from one single embryo. The state is in complete control of technological advances and religion has no place in society. Many in the society are not even equipped the intellectual capacity to consider religion or the ethical consequences of the actions that the state is taking. Most have been trained only to perform their given tasks and outside of that they have no desire to advance in society or to question the motives of the Alphas, the ones who dictate the direction of society. In America, religion is still a critical component of society and is often a determinant of public policy. In a recent poll, 92% of Americans said that they believe in God (washingtonpost.com). America is country steeped with religious traditions and it clear that even though this country is becoming more secular, the religious will continue to have a say in the direction of public policy in the coming years. Therefore, the debate within the religious community over genetic engineering should be closely scrutinized. There are many Christians who take the stance that are genes are God-given and that it wrong to attempt to alter with something so personal. The leader of the Southern Baptist Convention states, "We claim it is wrong for scientists and corporations to own living, reproductive material…." "We believe [such material] is pre-owned by the Creator, and ought to be owned in common by all human beings…." "The altering of life-forms, and the creation of new life-forms, is a revolt against the sovereignty of God and an attempt to be God" (online.sfsu.edu). While many Christians are against genetic engineering, there is a significant minority who believe that if ecological and biological diversity is respected then some forms of genetic engineering are acceptable. If genetic engineering can be used to mass produce healthier, cheaper food for the poor and developing countries then it that not the Christian thing to do? While the religious community does have issues with genetic engineering, it appears as if some form will be tolerated which will only lead to even more controversial genetic engineering down the road. Despite the religious traditions of America, nothing can be done to alter the path that we are on. Genetic engineering will continue to advance no matter the ethical consequences.

The Environmental Impact of Genetic Engineering

The environmental impacts of genetic engineering are often disputed but there is one thing that can not be challenged, genetically engineered plants, pesticides, and herbicides have had an adverse affect on the environment. Often new pesticides are introduced into the market without the proper testing. Genetically engineered pesticides such as DDT resulted in thinning the shells of eagles and ospreys (ucsusa.org). There is no question that there are adverse affects to genetically modified plants, organisms, and pesticides but to the positives outweigh the negatives? This is the question that is currently under intense debate. Too many people jumped on the genetic engineering bandwagon as many saw it as the saviour to the food shortage that was going to plague the world as the population increases. However, too many genetically modified plants and organisms were pushed into the market before we realized the consequences. This created some disastrous consequences. Only recently there was a genetically modified organism that was approved by the USEPA. The organism was intended to produce alcohol from plant debris (online.sfsu.edu).  However, instead of the organism producing its desired effect, the end result would have been disastrous as the engineered bacterium produced far too much alcohol per gram soil and would have killed off all terrestrial plants (online.sfsu.edu). While fortunately this bacterium was never widely used, this is an example of how severe the effects of genetic engineering can be on the environment. Widespread crop failure is another risk posed by genetic engineering as genetically engineered plants have the same genetic structure; therefore, if a disease hits genetically modified plants then it more likely that the entire crop will get killed off (safe-food.org). New or worse viruses in plants is another consequence of genetic engineering. When virus-tolerant crops are produced these crops end up creating new and worse viruses through recombination and transcapsidation (ucsusa.org). It is clear that more research is needed in order to determine the exact environmental effects of gentically engineered organisms.