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According to Laurie Garrett, author of “Biology’s Brave New World,” biology and politics are more related than you may think. Garrett’s article, originally published in Foreign Affairs, explores the world of synthetic genomics, a branch of bioengineering in which biologists code DNA sequences to create organisms born from computer code, instead of from earth’s natural evolutionary processes. This groundbreaking research marks the beginning of a new era in which biologists can tinker with living organisms in order to achieve desired effects. Though this opens the door for creating better immunizations and bacterial colonies that can glow in the presence of poison, this also opens the door for sophisticated bioweapons, targeted bioterrorism pathogens, and artificial superbugs capable of destroying the population. Called the “dual-use research of concern,” Garrett explains that synthetic genomics research has both beneficial and devastating implications. However, she asserts that the negative implications should not justify terminating this kind of research. Instead, Garrett advocates for…
Artificially modifying humans is unnecessary, immoral, and should not take place. Human engineering and “Flowers for Algernon” relate to what’s going on today; scientists are performing operations to modify humans which is similar to the operation that Charlie went through to make him smarter. | Human engineering can change the future in a negative way. It fails more than successes, so it would lower the population because of the millions of failures. Also, it can send the moms into spiralling despair because of their kids who have unsuccessfully went through an operation. This topic is important for both its positives and…
David Baltimore’s written work of Limiting Science: A Biologist’s Perspective discusses the controversy of research in molecular biology and its limitless freedom, disputing there should be freedom in which direction science heads, but the public should decide the pace at which it goes. Baltimore first begins his argument with the discussion of how molecular biology began. It was born from individual sciences where attempts at trying to solve the mysteries in these fields led to the realization that the answers lied in genetics. Advances in the field are what really are at the heart of this discussion though. The most critical one is the development of recombinant DNA where DNA can be multiplied for an indefinite period, but the potential of this process has scared some scientists, even Baltimore himself, about unforeseen events. This led to even more unsettling questions that inevitably hurt the field of genetics, which Baltimore goes on to explain that the dangers have been blown out of proportion. The most common subject that comes to discussion through these fears is genetic engineering. Baltimore delves into the two techniques for altering imperfect genes, and then raises two questions that normally pop up. Who gets to decide what genes get altered and how will they decide it will be done? For Baltimore this presents a dilemma of both ethics and morals and thus presents the real problem at heart. To clarify the argument against recombinant DNA research Baltimore presents to the reader similar arguments. After he gives us the danger of actively researching genetic engineering, Baltimore flips the coin and argues the danger of restricting it. His theory is that the criterion used to decide how science should be handled reflects a dominant principle of governing. This should not be allowed to control scientific advances nor should science be the servant to this ideology, mainly because of the repercussions on society it could…
In The Crucible, many individuals and institutions face moral tests. Characters such as John and Elizabeth Proctor, along with Giles Corey, faced such tests. During the time of the trials, Giles Corey was called by the court to release names of those suspected of witchcraft. Rather than reveal the names of the people significantly he was pressed to death and took the names of the people to his grave. As the claims of witchcraft troubled the town, John had hopes of ending the problem by revealing Abigail's true intentions of why she is leading the children to claim witchcraft of the townspeople. As the jury calls in Elizabeth Proctor to uphold John’s claim that he had committed adultery with Abigail, not knowing the true reason she was called,…
In The Crucible, Arthur Miller conveys various themes relating the HUAC trials to the Red Scare and many occurring events in the world today. The Red Scare was a time of fear and agony of communism for many citizens in the United States. In this play, John Proctor is an individual who is well respected in the town of Salem for his hard working reputation. He faces many struggles and life or death situations that test his morals. John struggles through his resistance in a relationship with Abigail, confessing to his sin in the court, and by showing respect for himself and others when he tears up the document proving his confession. In his play, Arthur Miller conveys the theme of standing up for what’s right, even in the worst case of injustice through his character John Proctor.…
Genetically engineered foods may be one of the most devastating threats we are in contact with today not only to our environment but to the health and very survival of future generations. Typically, the blame to get genetic engineering (GE) foods into the market place is placed on chemical companies or the biotech industries. However, the unseen nor unheard mystery of how genetically engineered foods were able to reach the dinner plates of millions throughout North America and several other parts of the world is revealed in the book, Altered Genes, Twisted Truth, written by Steven M. Druker. According to Jane Goodall, UN Messenger of Peace, Druker has, without doubt, written one of the most important books of the last 50 years.…
Technology and science have long been the driving forces behind humanity’s progression towards a perfected human form and society. Every single day, ideas are formed and inventions are patented that make life simpler and less problematic. However, a fine line exists between using technology to aid citizens moving towards a higher order, and using technology to implement control over a society. If technology is utilized to invade privacy and restrict individualism, the results can be catastrophic. Unfortunately, signs of this technological abuse are evident in society today. In his novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley illustrates the damage a corrupt authority can exact on a subject through technological perversion. In the novel, genetic engineering replaces the natural human system of reproduction as life is created in laboratories in an attempt to control all aspects of society. As human beings move closer to this actualization in the present world, the theme that any attempt to control reproduction and “play God” through scientific procedures can only lead to the destruction of individualism and the progress of the human race echoing within Huxley’s novel looks to be ever more important in the future well-being of civilization.…
According to the Encarta® World English Dictionary, a definition for the word crucible is a place or set of circumstances where people or things are subjected to forces that test them and often make them change. In the drama The Crucible by Arthur Miller, various citizens of Salem, Massachusetts face the witch trials. Victims were tried and convicted based on only spectral evidence. John Proctor, Giles Corey, and Reverend Hale were a few among the many that went through these severe tests, hardships and trials.…
With the development of genetic modification scientists have created a chicken that has a dinosaur leg in a reverse evolution experiment, a goat that produces spider silk, featherless chicken, glow in the dark cats, sheep and monkeys and recently in February 2016 British scientists were granted permission to genetically modify human embryos. Just as Etienne Geoffroy St. Hilaire and his son Isidore Geoffroy St. Hilaire created malformations in chicken embryos, scientists in the 21st century are creating malformations in animals in the name of science – for “the good” of human beings. Wherever a person situates themselves in time, whether it is in the 18th century or 21st century, people need to understand that there will always be consequences for what we choose to do with the knowledge we gain. Knowledge can create and knowledge can destroy- both in the physical realm and in the moral realm. Morally speaking, knowledge can change how individuals (and collectively human beings) view themselves in the world and how individuals view other animals and material things in the…
Human genetic engineering is the process by which the human genome is being modified and manipulated in order to remove or select certain genes. Moreover, traits that are desirable can be selected, and preventing the genetic causes of diseases is possible. Human genetic engineering, as a new field, has raised a lot of questions and ethical issues. I argue about where we should put the limits for our genetic editing. Should we just use it to prevent harmful diseases or can we carry on with the modification and choosing the desirable traits of our future generations? Who decides? Who has the right to object? I will try my best to provide reasonable answers to those questions throughout my series of blogs, based on scientific articles that talk about its controversial and ethical aspects.…
Genetic engineering often gets a bad rap with changing the natural evolutionary cycle, but it could, with proper guidance, improve almost every aspect of daily life. Advances in the Biotech Revolution have made many things that we had merely considered to be science fiction or a thing of dreams are now possible.The fact of the matter is that genetic engineering is applicable to everyday life while still being ethical and inline with people’s morals.…
What right does man have to accuse another of such a dastardly feat? It is nearly an undoubtable fact that one day man and technology will form a unity and biotechnology will become integrated into everyday life. Man has no right to play God, but man also has no right to attack every technological breakthrough with controversy and radical accusations. “Playing God” is a cliché that has become all too common in the present day. Man has every natural right to alter and improve itself as a race through biomedical augmentations. It is inevitable that technological breakthroughs will have widespread effects on the fields of biology and physiology. Biotechnological developments will also lead to grave changes in global commerce and consumerism within a span as short as the next 20 years. Theological and ethical arguments against replacing the natural human form do not possess the factual backing, nor the rationale, to effectively make the accusation that man is “playing God” with its inevitable biotechnologies and procedures. The human body has near-unlimited capabilities as a biotechnological receptor, and the possibility that this will become a reality is up to society. If humanity can accept the technologic lifestyle it is destined toward, then ethical debates and moral rationales will finally stop getting in the way of scientific…
What are GMO’s? What is genetic engineering? Seeing and discussing answers to these interrogations that day changed our position on how having knowledge on what you consume and how you inhabit is so important.…
Before the Evolutionary theory’s inception the four burning questions of man has been who am I, where did I come from, why am I here, and where do I go when I die? The answer to these questions has always been some sort of religion, and that this world has a designer with an incredible plan. Now as time has progressed a very dangerous solution was introduced to the world and with its arrival it is changing the very fabric of humanity. The new religion of the day is science and this affects our legal system, school system, and thought process. These effects over time can be detrimental to the minds and morals of us as a society.…
Summary: In “Biotech Century”, the author Jeremy Rifkin’s story was about the dangers of lost identity. Jeremy fears that one biotechnical processes are loosed they may be irreversible. Jeremy explains the problems that we could run into with science and new technology. Human beings do not control anything anymore nor does nature, science does. As the population grows, the food is not enough as it was before. Since the food supply is not as high as it was, scientists are trying to figure out how to produce more of it. Scientist’s are using so many harmful chemicals to do these kinds of things that we do not even know about. Human beings have been remaking the earth for a long time, but since science and technology has become so advanced, human beings are like guests now trying to figure out life.…