Ethical debates have the likelihood of surfacing in relation to the prototype
Ethical debates have the likelihood of surfacing in relation to the prototype
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…
In 2008, the CEO, Frank Blake was implicated for failing to report employee abuse. The allegation indicated tends from forgery, falsifying documents, harassment, and retaliations. Blake was aware of, and in numerous instances, participated in the alleged abuse, cover-ups and retaliatory actions, which involve the stockholders to demand the termination of Blake. His violation of ethics breaches were numerous, deliberate, and so egregious that a person would deem nothing less than immediate termination of all those involve (Blatchford, 2008). A little over a year, Home Depot was sending known sex offenders to be homes to provide a service. They were mishandling…
Humans are on a constant quest in the search for perfection and advancement in all areas of life through progressive scientific knowledge. From such a stance, the future of humans appears boundless with all the potential possibilities biotechnology provides, but such developments will cause ethical, social and biological implications.…
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…
Attitudes toward cloning, biotechnology, and genetically modified products differ depending upon people's level of education and interpretations of what each of these terms mean. Support varies for different types of biotechnology; however, it is consistently lower when animals are mentioned. These issues are increasingly important to consider as the number of GMOs continues to increase due to improved laboratory techniques and tools for sequencing whole genomes, better processes for cloning and transferring genes, and improved understanding of gene expression systems. Thus, legislative practices that regulate this research have to keep pace. Prior to permitting commercial use of GMOs, governments perform risk assessments to determine the possible consequences of their use, but difficulties in estimating the impact of commercial GMO use makes regulation of these organisms a challenge.…
Genetic Engineering Debate: Are There Lines We Shouldn’t Cross? written by Jessica Erickson, shows that just because we can genetic engineer, doesn’t mean we should leave it unsupervised. Currently genetic engineering is available for plants, animals, and humans. Genetic engineering for plants and animals is quicker and less complex then doing it on humans. The next subject Erickson wrights about is the uses of genetic engineering. Erickson believes that genetic engineering could be good if it benefits diseases, prevent, and treatments, on the other hand Erickson believes genetic engineering could be bad if it is used for “designer babies”. Erickson believes that there should be a “Do not cross line”, which means that there should be government…
“Biotechnology has been used for more than 6,000 years for lots of interesting and practical purposes: making food such as bread and cheese, preserving dairy products and fermenting beer” (Biotechnology - Promising a Brighter Future for the World). Although we do not always realize it, biotechnology is a huge part of our everyday lives, from the medicine we use to keep us healthy, the fuel we use to take us where we need to go, and even the food we eat and the sources it comes from, biotechnology already plays, and must continue to play, an invaluable role in meeting our needs. Biotechnology uses cellular and bio-molecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve our lives and the health of our planet. It has granted us the ability to overcome physiological barriers and to exchange genetic materials among living organisms. Genetically modified foods are the latest contribution of biotechnology. These foods are being made by inserting genes from an external source such as viruses, bacteria, animals or plants into a usually unrelated species. The use of recombinant DNA technology has the potential to allow humans to create desired and designed foods.…
There are many current legal and ethical issues in bioengineering and biotechnology including athletic and cognitive enhancements, stem cell research, cloning, genetic engineering, and genetically modified organisms. Biotechnology is “the manipulation of biological systems and organisms through technological means”(p. 471). There is tension between valuing liberty to pursue happiness of biotechnologies, and the potential negative outcomes of these technologies. Bioengineering, is the construction of machines to alter or supplement organisms.…
The significance of genetic engineering is expressed in the words of Suzanne Wuerthele, an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) toxicologist, who stated, “This is probably one of the most technologically powerful developments the world has ever seen. It’s the biological equivalent of splitting…
Hayes, Richard. "Genetically Modified Humans? No thanks". Current Issues and Enduring Questions. Ed. Bedford/ St. Martins. 9th ed. Boston.519-521. Print.…
Science leads to medical, and technological advances, and even the modification of food humans eat, in Mary Shelley’s gothic novel, Frankenstein, she captures question of how scientists can do this. “The world to me was a secret, which I desired to discover: to her it was a vacancy, which she sought to people with imaginations of her own” (Shelly 21). All the discoveries Scientist make lead to a bigger questions of truly how safe is the modification of food. The United States alone, consumes over 70%-80% of the Genetically Modified Organisms made. Most developed countries have either restriction or have banned Genetically Modified Organisms after chronic illness, food allergies and other mental/health disorders have increased. Over the last…
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.…
1. Identify any internal control weaknesses for the five areas mentioned by the Finance Committee. Discuss any weakness and explain how to improve each situation.…
Genetically modified foods are becoming more and more used in our community. But, they are not as safe as people presume them to be. Genetically modified foods can cause a big problem in the world, even if it can produce large quantities of foods, it is found that it can cause an allergy to certain foods, many scientists had voted to ban…
Ethics in Synthetic Biology Have you ever wondered what healthcare would be like if ethics were not governing the crucial decisions regarding the lives of people? If so, you possibly understand how important ethics is in general and if not, imagine a world where the best interest that was not considered and the decision that may inflict harm was used as the best decision. Ethics is a very important factor in everyday decisions, especially referring to the well being of others. Special fields in science like the advancing study of synthetic biology also need to consider the ethics and morality of the new technologies. Synthetic biology is the construction of new biological units (Seranno).…