Pros And Cons Of Genetic Modification

Genetic modification is becoming closer and closer to an everyday possibility. With this possibility comes a whirlwind of possible effects, both positive and negative. There has been a history of opposition towards these technologies, oftentimes because of fear that the capabilities would be abused. However, the potential that newborns could be born free of hereditary diseases outweighs the fear of “designer babies”.
Altering genes in humans has always been a controversial topic, and for good reason. The idea of messing with one baby’s genes could lead to many unexpected consequences, especially considering many human genes are pleiotropic. This means that one gene has multiple effects on the human genome, so by changing one gene, many traits
may be altered, included ones that are not related to the disease that the researchers are trying to prevent. In addition, many traits are controlled by more than one gene, so many alterations would have to be made, and this operation can be risky. The real risk is that these alterations will be passed down to the next generation, and any unintended consequences of the alteration will proliferate throughout the human gene pool.