What Is Genetic Altering?

Until the last century, genetic altering was, for the most part, out of the question. One of the first forms of genetic altering was in the 1930’s when some American states were sterilizing the less intelligent people by force. In the 1970’s, the first embryos were being produced outside the human body by a process called in vitro fertilization. This was able to give infertile couples the blessing of having their own children. By the 1990’s, mammals were successfully being cloned; something deemed impossible just a decade earlier by the leading scientist of the world. Finally, in the year 2005, Gerald Schatten, a cloning researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, and his South Korean colleagues had cloned a human embryo to the blastocyst stage,
They should also be worried and cautious of the people who would rather have handicapped children. Sharon Duchesneau and her partner are both extremely deaf. They have always been deaf and they have faced the hardships and obstacles that come with the condition. Instead of wanting to keep their child from having to experience those hard times, they consciously attempted to create a major sensory defect in their child. “Scientists and philosophers have been debating the morality of new reproductive technologies that may allow us to design “perfect” human beings.” says Wendy McElroy. Wendy pointed out that “The moral outrage the Duchesneau case elicits easily can lead to bad law- laws that may hinder responsible parents from using genetic techniques to remedy conditions such as cystic fibrosis in embryos.” (McElroy) The Duchesneau case has made all forms of genetic engineering be brought into question. Genetic engineering and altering is a major step forward in science that can save many lives and create lives that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. However, science should not be able to run free and be used without rules. The government should get involved and become a mediator to differentiate between the inconvenient disabilities and the fatal
Over-prediction risks blinding us to the significance of present realities, by inebriating us with distant dreams and distant nightmares. Under prediction risks blinding us to where today’s technological breakthroughs may lead, both for better and for worse.” (Cohen) If the government doesn’t intervene now and start regulating what goes on in this field of science, there could be some potentially serious backlash. Robert Wright explains “Sooner or later, as the most glaring genetic liabilities drift toward the bottom of the socioeconomic scale, we will see a biological stratification vivid enough to mock American values.” Wright continues to express the dangers that accompany this “biological stratification”. “If the government does try to ban certain eugenic maneuvers, some rich parents will visit clinics in more permissive nations, and then come home to bear their tip-top children.”(Wright) As if the rich don’t have enough advantages over the rest of the world, their children will have an even bigger and better start on health and