Community problem report
ABSTRACT
Genetic engineering is the method that modifies the inherited characteristics of an organism on a predetermined sense by altering the genetic material. It is used to increase the compound synthesis in certain creatures to form new DNA materials or to adapt to different environments. Genetic manipulation is a controversial topic when it is applied in ethics, and this causes many debates. Since it is science, it will have a good and a bad side, that is why a deep analysis should be implemented whenever people talks about it.
Every organism, even the smallest and simplest one, has information that makes it unique. This data is stored in a macromolecule that is inside every cell: the DNA. The DNA is a molecule found in the nucleus of every cell and is made up of 4 subunits represented by the letters A, T, G and C (UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators, 2005). The subunits that compose the DNA are called genes. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (2014), genes are the basic physical and functional unit of heredity that act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. Each gene includes the necessary information for the synthesizing of proteins, and this will lead to the human genome, that is a full set of chromosomes that are hereditary, and is responsible for the individual’s characteristics. Genes control every aspect from the organism’s life, including metabolism, shape, development and reproduction; and, since every entity is different, it is evident to say that the genetic charge of each creature would never identical to the one from another organism, even if they are from the same species; however, they will present similar features in order for reproduction to occur and this process will be completed thanks to the fusions of two different DNAs to make a new genetic pack. When scientists discovered the new information regarding the human body, they decided to alter the genetic materials and created what is called the “Genetic Engineering”, that consists in the manipulation of genes to achieve a desired product.
Figure 1. Shows the relationship between the organism and its genetic material from a microscopical point of view. It starts with the plant’s tissue that shows every cell compiled in it, and yields to an individual’s cell nucleus; the nucleus includes chromosomes and each chromosome is composed by genes. The genes are made up of DNA, which is composed by its nucleic acids (T, C, G, A). Nonetheless, is important to define genetic engineering.
According to Dr. Steinbrecher (1999), it is the reshuffling of genes usually from one species to another, and it comes under the broad heading of biotechnology. So, it is basically the rearrangement of one species’ genes added to another species’ ones to create a new and original genetic material. Nowadays, people coexist with genetically modified organisms, such as transgenic animals, vegetables, fruits, etc. and they do not notice that because those specimens do not show much difference from the primal ones. UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators (2005) describes genetic manipulation as the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism; and shows that the goal is to add one or more new traits that are not already found in that organism. The genetically engineered, or transgenic, organisms can be plants that resist to some insects or that can tolerate some herbicides, cows modified to produce more milk, etc. But, when did genetic modification start?
Genetic modification has been implemented since the prehistoric times by the selective breeding of plants and animals. The arrangements of different species have been present for a long time, for example mules(a cross between a male donkey and a mare) that have been used as pack animals in Europe for at least 3,000 years. However, in 1865, Gregor Mendel published his discoveries on the breeding of peas, which became the foundation of modern genetics and open a path to a whole new world of genetic findings. In 1869, Friedrich Miescher discovered the nuclein, that is a major component of DNA in the cell’s nucleus. In 1902, Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri proposed that inheritance was due to the chromosomes, and 8 years later, T. H. Morgan demonstrated that the chromosomes are the concrete entities which carry the genes. After 3 years of that analysis, A.H. Sturtevant constructed a genetic map and this achievement lead to a huge amount genetic discoveries, that included the first genetically modified mouse, the cloning of a transgenic lamb, gene therapy trials in humans, and these revelations accomplished the Human Genome sequenced.(Woodward, 2014). The recent explorations made on the field have broadened the conception of genetic manipulation and have shown that even human cloning is possible; yet this concept has not been explored by scientists because of the ethical issues behind it. If there is people that do not support genetic engineering in crops because they think that those manipulations will affect every living thing in the planet, there is more people that will not support the modification of genes in humans because they will think that humans are acting like God. So, a common question derived after genetic manipulation issues is: Who will genetic engineering affect?
Genetic engineering affects living creatures, it is not designated exclusively to humans. It is a colossal core branch to animalia, plantae, fungi, monera and protoctista kingdoms of life. For example, if a genetic charge of a plant species is modified, it will affect the animal that is fed by it and can also alter the genetic composition of the animal; then, if a human eats the meat from that animal, he/she will be affected by the genetical change and it could probably alter the person’s genetic material. Since humans are the ones that will be in charge of those modifications, they will look for the consequences, good and bad, coming after the changes, so it is obvious to assume that genetic modification will affect humans. It affects in a good way when scientists find cures to diseases due to genetic investigations, when some inheritable illness can be avoided with some modifications in a person’s genes, when mutations can be prevented with some studies, etc.; in the other hand, genetic manipulation can cause new mutations in humans, new diseases that will not have a cure, some unknown risks to humanity’s life, etc. People tend to feel hopeful and afraid of new genetic discoveries. According to Andrew Pollack (2014), a New York Times journalist, scientists have taken a significant step toward altering the fundamental alphabet of life by creating an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code in its DNA. The accomplishment might eventually lead to organisms that can make medicines or industrial products that cells with only the natural genetic code cannot, and this can allow cells to make new types of proteins. These kinds of discoveries contribute to people freaking out because experts are exploring an unknown world of genetics, and if they do not get good results, it will harm the humanity.
Knowing that the indirect and direct manipulation of organisms genes affect the environment, and that genetic is a science, it is obvious to say that it has its advantages and disadvantages. According to the Health Research Funding (2014) genetic engineering offers benefits such as:
1. Better Flavor, Growth Rate and Nutrition. This basically means that crops are now genetically engineered in order to get the new strains with improved nutritional qualities as well as to increase yield.
2. Pest-resistant Crops and Extended Shelf Life. Which means that engineered seeds can resist pests and will survive from harsh weather conditions, so this could be used in making the food spoilage process slow down.
3. Genetic Alteration to Supply New Foods. It would be used to produce new substances like proteins or other nutrients on food.
4. Modification of the Human DNA. Can be used in changing the human DNA to show desirable structural as well as functional modifications in them.
However, there are some issues that genetic engineering can trigger:
1. May Hamper Nutritional Value. The manipulated crops might supersede the natural weeds and that can be dangerous for the natural plants.
2. May Introduce Risky Pathogens. While it increases the immunity against diseases among the plants, the resistant genes can be transmitted to harmful pathogens.
3. May Result to Genetic Problems. Gene therapy on humans can end to some side effects.
4. Unfavorable to Genetic Diversity. Genetic engineering can affect the diversity among the individuals.
To sum up, science will always have 2 sides, the good and the bad one, the outcomes depend on the purpose of the experiments and the way experts do them. Genetic engineering affects every living thing on Earth and can bring an enormous development in humans’ lives. Almost every topic related to genetic manipulation brings up a controversy and requires a deep analysis. It would be a shame if a promising science like genetic manipulation was used for an immoral purpose, so the ethics should never been apart from science experiments.
REFERENCES
UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators (2005). Genetic engineering. What is genetic engineering and how does it work? Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/
U.S. National Library of Medicine (2013) Genetic engineering glossary. Genetic Engineering. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/
CSIRO. (2011). What is genetic manipulation(GM)? Genetic Manipulation. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://www.csiro.au/
Steinbrecher, R. (1999). What is genetic engineering? Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://online.sfsu.edu/
Woodward, L. (2014). A brief history of genetic modification. Making Sense of Science and Evidence. Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://www.gmeducation.org
Pollack, A. (2014). Scientists add letters to DNA's alphabet, raising hope and fear. The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com
Health Research Funding. (2014). Pros and cons of genetic engineering. Genetic Engineering. Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://healthresearchfunding.org
Genetic engineering is the method that modifies the inherited characteristics of an organism on a predetermined sense by altering the genetic material. It is used to increase the compound synthesis in certain creatures to form new DNA materials or to adapt to different environments. Genetic manipulation is a controversial topic when it is applied in ethics, and this causes many debates. Since it is science, it will have a good and a bad side, that is why a deep analysis should be implemented whenever people talks about it.
Every organism, even the smallest and simplest one, has information that makes it unique. This data is stored in a macromolecule that is inside every cell: the DNA. The DNA is a molecule found in the nucleus of every cell and is made up of 4 subunits represented by the letters A, T, G and C (UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators, 2005). The subunits that compose the DNA are called genes. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (2014), genes are the basic physical and functional unit of heredity that act as instructions to make molecules called proteins. Each gene includes the necessary information for the synthesizing of proteins, and this will lead to the human genome, that is a full set of chromosomes that are hereditary, and is responsible for the individual’s characteristics. Genes control every aspect from the organism’s life, including metabolism, shape, development and reproduction; and, since every entity is different, it is evident to say that the genetic charge of each creature would never identical to the one from another organism, even if they are from the same species; however, they will present similar features in order for reproduction to occur and this process will be completed thanks to the fusions of two different DNAs to make a new genetic pack. When scientists discovered the new information regarding the human body, they decided to alter the genetic materials and created what is called the “Genetic Engineering”, that consists in the manipulation of genes to achieve a desired product.
Figure 1. Shows the relationship between the organism and its genetic material from a microscopical point of view. It starts with the plant’s tissue that shows every cell compiled in it, and yields to an individual’s cell nucleus; the nucleus includes chromosomes and each chromosome is composed by genes. The genes are made up of DNA, which is composed by its nucleic acids (T, C, G, A). Nonetheless, is important to define genetic engineering.
According to Dr. Steinbrecher (1999), it is the reshuffling of genes usually from one species to another, and it comes under the broad heading of biotechnology. So, it is basically the rearrangement of one species’ genes added to another species’ ones to create a new and original genetic material. Nowadays, people coexist with genetically modified organisms, such as transgenic animals, vegetables, fruits, etc. and they do not notice that because those specimens do not show much difference from the primal ones. UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators (2005) describes genetic manipulation as the process of manually adding new DNA to an organism; and shows that the goal is to add one or more new traits that are not already found in that organism. The genetically engineered, or transgenic, organisms can be plants that resist to some insects or that can tolerate some herbicides, cows modified to produce more milk, etc. But, when did genetic modification start?
Genetic modification has been implemented since the prehistoric times by the selective breeding of plants and animals. The arrangements of different species have been present for a long time, for example mules(a cross between a male donkey and a mare) that have been used as pack animals in Europe for at least 3,000 years. However, in 1865, Gregor Mendel published his discoveries on the breeding of peas, which became the foundation of modern genetics and open a path to a whole new world of genetic findings. In 1869, Friedrich Miescher discovered the nuclein, that is a major component of DNA in the cell’s nucleus. In 1902, Walter Sutton and Theodor Boveri proposed that inheritance was due to the chromosomes, and 8 years later, T. H. Morgan demonstrated that the chromosomes are the concrete entities which carry the genes. After 3 years of that analysis, A.H. Sturtevant constructed a genetic map and this achievement lead to a huge amount genetic discoveries, that included the first genetically modified mouse, the cloning of a transgenic lamb, gene therapy trials in humans, and these revelations accomplished the Human Genome sequenced.(Woodward, 2014). The recent explorations made on the field have broadened the conception of genetic manipulation and have shown that even human cloning is possible; yet this concept has not been explored by scientists because of the ethical issues behind it. If there is people that do not support genetic engineering in crops because they think that those manipulations will affect every living thing in the planet, there is more people that will not support the modification of genes in humans because they will think that humans are acting like God. So, a common question derived after genetic manipulation issues is: Who will genetic engineering affect?
Genetic engineering affects living creatures, it is not designated exclusively to humans. It is a colossal core branch to animalia, plantae, fungi, monera and protoctista kingdoms of life. For example, if a genetic charge of a plant species is modified, it will affect the animal that is fed by it and can also alter the genetic composition of the animal; then, if a human eats the meat from that animal, he/she will be affected by the genetical change and it could probably alter the person’s genetic material. Since humans are the ones that will be in charge of those modifications, they will look for the consequences, good and bad, coming after the changes, so it is obvious to assume that genetic modification will affect humans. It affects in a good way when scientists find cures to diseases due to genetic investigations, when some inheritable illness can be avoided with some modifications in a person’s genes, when mutations can be prevented with some studies, etc.; in the other hand, genetic manipulation can cause new mutations in humans, new diseases that will not have a cure, some unknown risks to humanity’s life, etc. People tend to feel hopeful and afraid of new genetic discoveries. According to Andrew Pollack (2014), a New York Times journalist, scientists have taken a significant step toward altering the fundamental alphabet of life by creating an organism with an expanded artificial genetic code in its DNA. The accomplishment might eventually lead to organisms that can make medicines or industrial products that cells with only the natural genetic code cannot, and this can allow cells to make new types of proteins. These kinds of discoveries contribute to people freaking out because experts are exploring an unknown world of genetics, and if they do not get good results, it will harm the humanity.
Knowing that the indirect and direct manipulation of organisms genes affect the environment, and that genetic is a science, it is obvious to say that it has its advantages and disadvantages. According to the Health Research Funding (2014) genetic engineering offers benefits such as:
1. Better Flavor, Growth Rate and Nutrition. This basically means that crops are now genetically engineered in order to get the new strains with improved nutritional qualities as well as to increase yield.
2. Pest-resistant Crops and Extended Shelf Life. Which means that engineered seeds can resist pests and will survive from harsh weather conditions, so this could be used in making the food spoilage process slow down.
3. Genetic Alteration to Supply New Foods. It would be used to produce new substances like proteins or other nutrients on food.
4. Modification of the Human DNA. Can be used in changing the human DNA to show desirable structural as well as functional modifications in them.
However, there are some issues that genetic engineering can trigger:
1. May Hamper Nutritional Value. The manipulated crops might supersede the natural weeds and that can be dangerous for the natural plants.
2. May Introduce Risky Pathogens. While it increases the immunity against diseases among the plants, the resistant genes can be transmitted to harmful pathogens.
3. May Result to Genetic Problems. Gene therapy on humans can end to some side effects.
4. Unfavorable to Genetic Diversity. Genetic engineering can affect the diversity among the individuals.
To sum up, science will always have 2 sides, the good and the bad one, the outcomes depend on the purpose of the experiments and the way experts do them. Genetic engineering affects every living thing on Earth and can bring an enormous development in humans’ lives. Almost every topic related to genetic manipulation brings up a controversy and requires a deep analysis. It would be a shame if a promising science like genetic manipulation was used for an immoral purpose, so the ethics should never been apart from science experiments.
REFERENCES
UNL’s AgBiosafety for Educators (2005). Genetic engineering. What is genetic engineering and how does it work? Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://agbiosafety.unl.edu/
U.S. National Library of Medicine (2013) Genetic engineering glossary. Genetic Engineering. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/
CSIRO. (2011). What is genetic manipulation(GM)? Genetic Manipulation. Retrieved October 19, 2014, from http://www.csiro.au/
Steinbrecher, R. (1999). What is genetic engineering? Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought. Retrieved October 8, 2014, from http://online.sfsu.edu/
Woodward, L. (2014). A brief history of genetic modification. Making Sense of Science and Evidence. Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://www.gmeducation.org
Pollack, A. (2014). Scientists add letters to DNA's alphabet, raising hope and fear. The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com
Health Research Funding. (2014). Pros and cons of genetic engineering. Genetic Engineering. Retrieved October 21, 2014, from http://healthresearchfunding.org