Genetic Engineering Brings More Harm Than Good :: Genetic Engineering Essays

Until the recent demise of the Soviet Union, we lived under the daily little terror of nuclear holocaust extinguishing human life and the entirebiosphere. right off it looks more likely that total destruction will beaverted, and that widespread, tho not universally fatal, damage willcontinue to occur from irradiation accidents from power plants, agingnuclear submarines, and perhaps the limited use of tactical nuclearweapons by governments or terrorists.What has gone largely unnoticed is the scarce lethal threat of constituenttic engineering to life on the planet. It at once seems likely, unlessa major shift in international policy occurs quickly, that the majorecosystems that support the biosphere are going to be irreversiblydisrupted, and that genetically engineered viruses may very well leadto the eventual demise of al well-nigh all-human life. In the course of themajor transformations that are on the way, human beings will betransformed, both intentionally and unintentional ly, in ways that willmake us something different than what we now consider human.Regardless of the dangers, we are rushing unspoilt speed ahead on almostall fronts. Some of the most powerful multinational chemical,pharmaceutical and agricultural corporations have staked theirfinancial futures on genetic engineering. Enormous amounts of money arealready involved, and the United States government is currentlybullying the rest of the world into rapid acceptance of corporaldemands concerning genetic engineering research and marketing.In the 1950s, the media was full of information about the great newscientific miracle that was going to make it possible to obliterate all ofthe noxious insects in the world, to wipe out insect-born diseases andfeed the worlds starving masses. That was DDT. In the 1990s, themedia is full of information about the coming wonders of geneticengineering. over are claims that genetic engineering will feedthe starving, help rule out disease, and so forth. Th e ideas andevidence presented below are intended to help guess that centralquestion.Some scientists believe that, since genetic codes determine theappearance, personality, health, and aging functioning of human beings, ifthat genetic information in the chromosomes could be decoded and thegenetic appliance were understood, we could potentially control andimprove our health, quality of life, and the biochemical processes inour bodies. In new(prenominal) words, we could control our own fate. Also, wedbe able to improve the genes of other animals and vegetables so thatthey could serve humankind better. At first sight, these ideas seem logical and attractive. However, careful analysis reveals that theyare based upon an incorrect theory--the theory of gene determinism.Genes are often described as blueprints or computer programs for