Essay - Ethics of Genetic Engineering in February 1997, Genetic Engineering Was...

Ethics of Genetic Engineering

In February 1997, genetic engineering was thrust into the spotlight when Dolly, the first mammal clone, ***** born in Edinburgh, Scotland. The world has had heated discussions over the issues surrounding genetic engineering ever since. The selective engineering ***** ********** is invaluable to the health and happiness of humans. The importance ***** this issue has played second fiddle to ***** arguments, for ***** against genetic engineering. ***** impact of genetic ***** on our everyday lives can be enormous. While many feel genetic engineering is unethical, th***** paper will show the benefits are substantial.

In the past, the majority of people have been ***** the use of *****se experimental procedures because ***** the possibility of deadly outcomes. Because not much is known about ***** engineering, th***** disc*****y could improve our lives and should be allowed to progress despite ***** risks it poses and the public outcry against *****. If ***** could understand genetic engineering, perhaps they would be more accepting of it.

The ***** step to understanding genetic engineering and embracing its possibilities ***** society is to obtain a rough knowledge b*****se of its his*****ry and method. The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependent on the understanding ***** how individuals pass on characteristics to their offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of nature's ***** process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel developed the first "laws ***** heredity." Using these *****, scientists studied the ***** of organisms for most ***** ***** next one hundred years following *****'s discovery. These early studies concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or genes (Stablef*****d 1996). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child ***** receive one set of genes from his or her father that were encoded one blue, and the o*****r brown. The same ***** could also receive two ***** genes from his or her mother. The conclusion f***** this inheritance would be the child ***** a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in ***** chance ***** having blue eyes (Stableford 1996).

***** are transmitted through chromosomes, which reside in ***** nucleus of every living organism's cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands ***** deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The inf*****mation carried on the DNA determines the ***** function within the organism.

Sex cells are the only ***** that contain a complete DNA map of the *****, therefore, "the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules ***** the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] *****fspring " (Lewin). DNA ***** is attributed ***** the research of three scient*****ts, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in 1951. ********** were all later accredited with the Nobel Prize ***** physiology and medicine in 1962 (Hawley 1998).

The new science of genetic engineering aims to take a dr*****matic short cut in the slow process of evolution" (***** 1996). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from an ***** DNA, and place it