Arguments For & Benefits of Genetic Engineering

Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel Zhindon

DCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

Genetic engineering when used on microorganisms help in the creation of new pharmaceuticals which cannot be made in any other way.

Genetic engineering helps in the process of bio remediation which is the process of cleaning up waste and pollution with the help of living organisms.

Genetic engineering has helped lower the overall usage of herbicide and pesticide. Genetic engineering has helped with the production of vaccines and other drugs in plants. Genetic engineering has helped produce quicker and more predictable way of generating new

cultivars. Further, the cultivar properties are better known today than it was ever known before. Today, genetic engineering can produce sustainable agriculture. Genetic engineering has produced very useful genetically modified breeds which can tolerate

factory farming without any suffering. In humans, genetic engineering is used to treat genetic disorders and cancer. It also helps in

supplying new body parts. Although, this has not been done today, genetic engineering has the potential of creating new

types of human beings with many advantageous traits. Anti-sense mRNA technology. Genetic engineering is used in the field of mining to extract useful elements from the ones they

are actually embedded into. Certain bacterial sequences are manipulated to transform waste into ethanol, so that it can be

used as a fuel.

Human Genetic Engineering: Tackling and Defeating Diseases Getting Rid of All Illnesses in Young and Unborn Children Potential to Live Longer Produce New Foods Stopping the genetic lottery Making disease treatments less costly

Human Genetic Engineering Detailed Benefits

1. Tackling and Defeating Diseases

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

Some of the most deadly and difficult diseases in the world, that have so resisted destruction, could be wiped out by the use of genetic engineering. There are a number of genetic mutations that humans can suffer from that will probably never be ended unless we actively intervene and genetically engineer the next generation to withstand these problems.

For instance, Cystic Fibrosis, a progressive and dangerous disease for which there is no known cure, could be completely cured with the help of selective genetic engineering.

2. Getting Rid of All Illnesses in Young and Unborn ChildrenThere are very many problems that we can detect even before children are born. In the

womb, doctors can tell whether your baby is going to suffer from sickle cell anemia, for instance, or from Down ’s syndrome. In fact, the date by which you can have an abortion has been pushed back relatively late just so that people can decide whether or not to abort a baby if it has one or more of these sorts of issues.

However, with genetic engineering, we would no longer have to worry. One of the main benefit of genetic engineering is that it can help cure and diseases and illness in unborn children. All children would be able to be born healthy and strong with no diseases or illnesses present at birth. Genetic engineering can also be used to help people who risk passing on terribly degenerative diseases to their children.

For instance, if you have Huntington’s there is a 50% chance that your children with inherit the disease and, even if they do not, they are likely to be carriers of the disease. You cannot simply stop people from having children if they suffer from a disease like this, therefore genetic engineering can help to ensure that their children live long and healthy lives from either the disease itself or from carrying the disease to pass on to younger generations.

3. Potential to Live LongerAlthough humans are already living longer and longer – in fact, our lifespan has shot up

by a number of years in a very short amount of time – because of the advances of modern medical science, genetic engineering could make our time on Earth even longer. There are specific, common illnesses and diseases that can take hold later in life and can end up killing us earlier than necessary.

With genetic engineering, on the other hand, we could reverse some of the most basic reasons for the body’s natural decline on a cellular level, drastically improving both the span of our lives and the quality of life later on. It could also help humans adapt to the growing problems of, for instance, global warming in the world.

If the places we live in become either a lot hotter or colder, we are going to need to adapt, but evolution takes many thousands of years, so genetic engineering can help us adapt quicker and better.

4. Produce New FoodsGenetic engineering is not just good for people. With genetic engineering we can design

foods that are better able to withstand harsh temperatures – such as the very hot or very cold, for instance – and that are packed full of all the right nutrients that humans and animals need to survive. We may also be able to make our foods have a better medicinal value, thus introducing edible vaccines readily available to people all over the world

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

5. Stopping the genetic lotteryThe fourth reason for supporting gene-editing research on human embryos is the flip side

of the designer baby objection. People worry that such technology could be used to create a master race, like fair-haired, blue-eyed “Aryans”.

What this concern neglects is that the biological lottery – i.e. nature – has no mind to fairness. Some are born gifted and talented, others with short painful lives or severe disabilities. While we may worry about the creation of a genetic masterclass, we should also be concerned about those who draw the short genetic straw.

Diet, education, special services and other social interventions are used to correct natural inequality. Ritalin, for example, is prescribed to up to 10% of children with poor self-control to improve their educational prospects and behavioral control.

Gene editing could be used as a part of public health care for egalitarian reasons: to benefit the worst off. People worry that such technologies will be used to benefit only those who can afford it – keep reading for why they shouldn’t.

6. Making disease treatments less costlyGene editing of human embryos could enable greater understanding of disease and new

treatments that don’t modify human beings.Gene-edited embryonic stem cell lines that cause or protect against disease could help us

understand the origins of disease. Other edited stem cells could help treatment - imagine blood cells that kill and replace leukemic cells.

Benefits of Genetic Engineering 

Human Cloning: Almost everyday, a scientist makes a new breakthrough in the field of human engineering. Mammals have been successfully cloned and the human genome project has been completed. This is pushing the scientists all over the world to research many different facets of human genetic engineering. These researches have allowed a better understanding of DNA and its role in medicine, pharmacology, reproductive technology and various other fields. The scientists at Roslin Institute in Scotland, cloned an exact copy of a sheep, named 'Dolly'. Newly created animals by the process of genetic engineering are known as xenographs.

Medical Treatment: In humans, the most promising benefit of genetic engineering is gene therapy which is the medical treatment of a disease wherein the defective genes are repaired and replaced or therapeutic genes are introduced to fight the disease. Over the past decade, many autoimmune and heart diseases have been treated using gene therapy. Certain diseases like the Huntington's disease, ALS and cystic fibrosis is caused by defective genes. There is hope that a cure for such diseases can be found by either inserting the corrected gene or modifying the defective gene. Eventually, the hope is to completely eliminate genetic diseases and also treat non-genetic diseases with appropriate gene therapy. The latest research in the field makes it possible to repair or grow new muscle cells when they are not working or are damaged.

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

Pharmaceuticals: Thanks to genetic engineering, the pharmaceutical products available today are far superior to their predecessors. These new products are created by cloning certain genes. Some of the prominent examples are the bio-engineered insulin which was earlier obtained from sheep or cows and the human growth hormone which was earlier obtained from cadavers. New medicines are being made by changing the genetic structure of the plant cell.

Pregnancy Cases: Genetic engineering is also a boon for pregnant women who can choose to have their fetuses screened for genetic defects. These screenings can help the parents and doctors prepare for the arrival of the child who may have special needs during or after the delivery. A possible future benefit of genetic engineering which is very eagerly awaited is that a fetus with a genetic defect could be treated with genetic therapy even before it is born. Research is going on for gene therapy for embryos before it is implanted into the mother via in-vitro fertilization. The latest term coined is 'Designer Babies' wherein the couple can actually choose the features of the baby to be born!

Agriculture: The field of agriculture too greatly benefits from genetic engineering which has improved the genetic fitness of various plant species. The common benefits are increase in the efficiency of photosynthesis, increasing the resistance of the plant to salinity, drought and viruses and also reducing the plant's need for a nitrogen fertilizer. The latest research at Cornell University is to map the 'Oat' crop so that extra nutrients can be added to the sequence and the make the crop healthier. Similar research is done with the 'Soya' crop as well.

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

Ethical Counter Arguments

1. We are our genes. Altering that changes who we “should be” fundamentally: Is there anything inherently wrong with genetic modification? Is the human genome sacred? This is an argument from genetic reductionism/fatalism- i. e., that a person is determined by his/her genes. This argument is used by some people who feel that even if we do modify human genes, it should only be for the sake of disease prevention or treatment and not for “enhancement.” No reputable geneticist or psychologist believes that we are solely determined by our genes. Our gene’s potential are realized in our environment. For example, even if a parent wanted to confer some amazing genetic trait, let’s say fast twitch muscle fiber so they could win olympic — level track and field events, it would still be up to that child to practice that skill, eat right, train every day, mentally train for and make the Olympics. A genetic advantage (being “naturally good at something) may even be a detriment, if the person decides to rest on their genetic laurels, and put in less effort than they should.

2. Genetically engineered children would be commodities: As with any new reproductive technology, such as, sperm donation,  in vitro fertilization, and surrogacy, opponents claim that they might create children who are potentially “unlovable.” This argument is absurd of course, as it is often REGULAR reproduction that creates hundreds of thousands of accidental and unloved children.

3. Genetic engineering of humans could reduce biological diversity: Genetic engineering is simply a tool. It could be used with the motive of creating uniformity, but it would certainly fail, unless you genetically modified every single person on earth, for the exact same trait, at the exact same instant, and then “de novo” mutations could not occur. This scenario is simply put, impossible. Not only that, but who is to say that it would not be used for the opposite reason, to try to increase diversity? This would also fail, since populations tend to “regress to the mean.” In our thought experiment pink, blue, green, and purple skinned humans would all breed together and regress to the mean- brown.

4. Genetically engineered humans would be considered “less-human”: It is a principle of ethics that the origins of a person do not affect their “personhood.” That’s how we got eugenics as a shameful legacy. The correct response to prejudice is to expose it for what it is, combat it with reason and evidence, not validate it as an ethical reason to not do something.

5. People created by genetic engineering may be used for spare parts or organs: Nothing could be done to a person created with genetic engineering that right now could not be done to your brother or to a person’s twin. The U. S. Constitution strongly implies that once a human fetus is outside the womb and alive, it has autonomous bodily rights. No matter what its method of production or state of being. We can’t even use organs from a dead person without their consent.

6. Human genetic engineering is inherently evil: To most people the words “genetic engineering” or “genetic modification” are packed with bad connotations- implying selfish motives, crazy scientists, and out-of- control technology. It is none of those things, but simply a tool. We should call it something neutral or even something with a positive connotation such as “gene-editing.”

7. Human genetic engineering could be risky: We don’t know every possible pitfall of CRISPR/Cas9 technology, nor can we. Pregnancy and reproduction in general are extremely risky, often times resulting in stillbirth, genetic defects, congenital defects, and more. If “no risk” was a condition of making babies than deaf people would not be allowed to have babies together, for example. Women would not be allowed to have unmonitored home-births. Fertility drugs would not be allowed. Women over 40 or under 16 wouldn’t be allowed to get pregnant. but none of these things are true. People take calculated and even unnecessary risks in pregnancy and childbirth all the time.

8. Only selfish people would genetically engineer or create a “designer” baby: Is it selfish to “design” a baby? This is a question that no one, including our government has the right to ask. Several Supreme Court decisions declare that all forms of human reproduction, including the right not to reproduce, cannot be abridged by

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I

government. Our government must not ever require, or judge, any couple’s reasons for having a child, even if they are seen by others to be selfish.

9. Scientists who work on human genetic engineering are evil or motivated by bad motives: From Icarus to Frankenstein to Boys From Brazil, to Jurassic Park and today’s Stranger Things, scientists and engineers have been portrayed as hubristic, evil, or working for corrupt governments. Coercive eugenics and associated ideas of state-mandated population genetic engineering as a form of social control morally unacceptable for any genetic or reproductive technology, and are not specific to genetic engineering. Scientists are just people. Most of them have kids of their own and care a lot for kids.

10. Embryos can’t give consent: “Embryos cannot decide for themselves whether to undergo genome editing — they are unable to give consent, and have no choice over the alterations inflicted upon them.” This holds true for any child conceived by any method. Likewise, you cannot force a woman to have a chromosomal screening, or to not carry a genetically defective fetus to term.

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Team #1: Denise Dragos, P.J. Louis, Philip Ricciardi, and Miguel ZhindonDCS860A Emerging Information Technologies I