Genetic Engineering Research Paper

Ever since the beginning of sports – especially basketball and soccer – athleticism has been a major role in deciding which player would thrive and which ones would drop out, and this is mostly due to said player’s genetics. Recently, genetic engineers and biotechnologists have been able to make breakthroughs on altering existing DNA and gifting upon fortunate beings extra traits that were not present beforehand. Our genetics have already been improving from the past, as BBC news stated that the average height of males have risen by 11 cm since the 1870’s. Nowadays, however, people want to take it even further with artificial implants, even though the furthest testing so far has been on animals. Despite genetic engineering being able to improve many lives and assist children’s dreams of joining professional sports, the usage of genetic engineering to increase athleticism does not only interfere with morals, but is also unfair to the poorer community that can not afford these operations, therefore, genetic engineering should be banned.

Genetic engineering should not be permitted because of the safety hazards. Something that genetic engineers might not take into consideration when beginning these experiments is that some genes that they strengthen may be direct links to ending diseases
that are meant to be present. Nationalreview.com states that “more responsible scientists have suggested that genetic modification could be used to cure diseases like Huntington’s, Tay-Sachs, and other deadly inherited conditions.” Although this may seem extremely beneficial both intentionally and unintentionally, many diseases have persisted throughout the ages, as according to Quora.com.com, leprosy has consistently been mentioned in ancient texts, and just using superior genetics to combat diseases may end in unwanted scenarios. One scenario is where the human genes are too strong, so they will not die out from sicknesses, but instead kill themselves out by overpopulation. Another scenario is that a so called “super-sickness” is evolved out of existing germs, and it will eventually kill out all humans by infecting them and eliminating them. Both of these scenarios highlight how the facade of a perfect world without sicknesses is actually an angry face of eventual self-destruction. These situations are completely loathsome to admit, but in some cases curing world illnesses may be a dreadful thing.

Another reason why genetic engineering should not be allowed is because of the unfair playing field that it creates between the wealthy and the poor. According to an article on BuisnessInsider.sg about modifying embryos genetically, it costs around 2000 dollars for an embryo to be modified. Poor people don’t have money to eat, much less pay an absurd amount of money merely to change the genes of their child! Meanwhile, the wealthy can afford to change the genetic structure of their child, and an article on Verywell.com actually states that “genetically gifted athletes will have a much greater response to training and will have a large increase in the number of mitochondria in cells.” Mitochondria is an organelle in a cell that determines how efficient a person is, meaning that athletes will respond much better to training regimes, and will in turn make them better at a certain sport. Rich people will get richer with their children’s professional sport paycheck, while poor people will get even poorer, eventually not going to be able to even scrounge for small scraps.

Although there are downsides to genetic engineering, genetic engineering also has positives that can in no way be overlooked. Brighthub.com states “it's a way of manipulating our genes in such a way as to make our bodies better.” Genetic engineers use biotechnology to switch out our bad genes for good ones, and the effects are even passed down throughout the generations. Despite the usage of this technology being permitted, it has enjoyed a very limited success rate, as it is technically extremely difficult to do, meaning that not many attempts to do this “experiment” will actually succeed and yield desirable results. These safety hazard not only puts doubts on experiments that are being done as of now, but also jeopardizes the entire future of this innovative piece of technology, strengthening the argument that genetic engineering should be banned. Overall, genetic engineering should be discontinued, as not only do they have serious ethical doubts, there are also safety precautions that aren’t met yet, and therefore makes the whole operation dangerous and risky.
Although there are some benefits to healthcare and evolution of the human race as a whole, genetic engineering does not only push boundaries of how much we can play as an omnipresent observer, but also as threatens to widen cultural and economic margins to catastrophic standards, making the gap wider than the all-time high. This is why genetic engineering should not only be banned for now, but forever, especially the usage of genetic engineering to improve
athleticism.