For more information
Call 1-800-351-0222

HUMAN GENETIC MODIFICATION.
  Term Paper ID:28237 		Get This Paper Free! or
Essay Subject:
Issues of fears of human cloning incl. Engineering children, ethical & cultural aspects. Copies of articles used.... More...
5 Pages / 1125 Words
7 sources, 7 Citations, MLA Format
$20.00

More Papers on This Topic


Paper Abstract:
Issues of fears of human cloning incl. Engineering children, ethical & cultural aspects. Copies of articles used.

Paper Introduction:
Human genetic modification has been discussed for decades, but now that it is becoming a process that could be undertaken rather than a mere speculation, a number of fears have emerged, leading to efforts to curtail further research in this area. There are a number of reasons why this fear has developed, and these fears were actually manifested long before genetic engineering was possible. They can be seen in ancient stories about human beings creating life in unnatural ways, from the ancient story of the Golem to the novel Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley from early in the nineteenth century. The essential fear involved is the fear of anything considered unnatural, as if this were an action taken against the will of God. More recently, these fears have taken the form of ethical concerns about how new technologies might be used to curtail further the

Text of the Paper:
The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper.


Morerecently, these fears have taken the form of ethical concerns about how newtechnologies might be used to curtail further the rights of minoritygroups, the poor, and those considered handicapped. But if used unwisely, the genetic engineering of human beings could endanger everything we value--including who and what we are ("A Cure That May Cost Us Ourselves" 74). Many will want to use the technology to engineer children, makingthem smarter, better looking, healthier, and so on, and while this mightseem admirable, it raises ethical issues: The question goes to the heart of the vocation of parenthood, says Kaveny. It is foreseeable that some will pursue such technology despite its cost or legality, intent on providing all possible advantages-- genetic or otherwise--to offspring. Genetic engineering naturally raises fears in minority and poorcommunities that this will only be another dividing point betweenthemselves and the dominant social group or class. The questioncan be broadened as to whether genetic experiments on human beings,including the cloning of human beings, is an ethical expenditure of timeand money. Catholic (January 2 ), 12."A Cure That May Cost Us Ourselves." Newsweek (1 Jan 2 ), 74."If We Have It, Do We Use It?" Time (13 Sept 1999), 59."Information Versus Choice in Infertility Treatment." The Lancet (5 June 1999), 1895.Washington, Harriet A. "Genes of Inequality." UNESCO Courier (September 1999), 35.Clarke, Kevin. The latter event in particular has madepeople more concerned about the possibility of human cloning. What if only the rich could afford the advantage? This fear intermixes with the concern about using an unnaturalprocedure in the process of in-vitro fertilization, which began in 1978with the birth of Louise Brown. There are a number of reasons why this fearhas developed, and these fears were actually manifested long before geneticengineering was possible. For onething, how this procedure is paid for varies from place to place. This marked the beginning of a new hopefor couples frustrated by their inability to conceive, and indeed,thousands of children have been born since because of this technology.However, this fact alone has contributed to social concerns. Perhaps the greatest parental virtue, says Kaveny, is learning to accept the personhood of the individual children, learning to accept each child for who she is, learning to nurture that child and her unique talents and abilities to her fullest potential (Clarke 12).Even the idea of making children better raises concerns about what "better"means, who makes this decision, and whether there are other effects aswell: It's an ethical quandary and an economic one, about fairness and fate, about vanity and values. Works Cited"Bioethics: The Lure of the Perfect Child." UNESCO Courier (September 1999), 17.Bougerra, Mohamed Larbi. ?Concerns are increasing asthe $15 billion Human Genome Project (HGP) to identify the 1 , genes inthe human body nears completion, cracking the code that is the very stuffof humanity. The fear is of being dominatedby a superior being, or a being who claims to be superior. It is anextension of the situation that already exists with certain social classesseen as superior to others, thus justifying keeping the lower classesseparate in some ways. By doing so, science is raising new hopes and expectationsfor the treatment of some of our most debilitating illnesses while at thesame time raising profound challenges to what "natural" reproduction mightlook like in the future: The moral and even political implications of the new biotechnologies can get a little mind-boggling. If lower IQs are genetic, we needn't worry about raising educational standards and opportunities for Black children (Washington). Shelley from early in the nineteenthcentury. This is also seen in racial divisions to a greatextent. "Unnatural Selection." U.S. Population pressures in China fire debate over a controversial law to limit the birth of handicapped people, while cultural discrimination against girls drives parents in India to extremes to produce sons ("Bioethics: The Lure of the Perfect Child" 17). It may also be thatthe many science fiction movies produced over the years showing science outof control have contributed to these fears, but those films themselves taketheir cue from deep-seated concerns in the human psyche about humanalteration, about being made into something inhuman, and about unnaturalsexual actions, under which many would include genetic modification. Does God give us both the power to re-create ourselves and the moral muscles to resist? This may be the case with human geneticengineering, but even many who are developing these techniques areconcerned about how they may be used on top of the changes the technologywill bring even if used correctly: Human genetic engineering . People tend to resist change, for instance, andto consider all that they might lose because of a change. ("If We Have It, Do We Use It?" 59).The fact that we have a new technology does not mean we have eliminated oldprejudices, social forces, and other concerns, and these will shape how wemake decisions about engineering children: In the United States, for example, we see commercial interests driving parents' conceptions of their children. It will influence every aspect of our culture. will profoundly change the practice of medicine over the next 3 to 4 years. Often, though,they find that the change is not as devastating as they feared and that thechange is even to the good. Some see genetic research as only leading to a newjustification for genocide: A genetic cause for criminality, lowered IQs, mental illness and a variety of antisocial behaviors is very convenient. The fact that these fears exist, though,could slow the implementation of genetic research and new genetictechnologies, much as has been happening in Europe with fears aboutgenetically engineered foods that many nations will not allow to be sold. Concerns about the cost will affect not just individuals but wholepopulations, perhaps increasing in a new direction the differences betweenthe rich countries that will benefit more from genetic engineering andtherapeutic cloning research efforts and the poor countries that will not(Bouguerra 35). The essential fear involved is the fear of anything consideredunnatural, as if this were an action taken against the will of God. Which side effects would we tolerate? Notre Dame law professor and ethicist M. . . Will future generations of "naturals" then be lorded over by a genetically enhanced master class? What if making kids smarter also made them meaner? When parents have such a profound role in the creation of a child, she worries that an expectation has been created that ultimately denies the personal integrity of the child--the child's equal dignity and liberty. If crime is genetic, the poverty, poor education, scarce employment possibilities, racism and frustration of life in the inner cities becomes tangential to the problem of crime: We needn't worry about changing it. Somecountries pay the cost, while in other regions, state coverage is notroutine and may be completely absent. Whether these various fears are founded or not remains uncertain andmay not be answered for decades. They can be seen in ancient stories about humanbeings creating life in unnatural ways, from the ancient story of the Golemto the novel Frankenstein by Mary W. "Genetic Research Might Engineer Genocide." Emerge (31 Mar 1994). Some of the fears have a clear founding in reality, though the fearmay dissipate with time. Cathleen Kaveny sees many ofthe dangers in this emerging technology and notes the ethical dilemmas itraises. The government is considering whether to pass a law againsthuman cloning, and already bills have been introduced to prevent federalmoney from going to human cloning research. Used carefully, it will increase health and human happiness. But more than that, its effects will be felt far beyond medicine. It absolves government, health-policy architects and even health- care professionals of any responsibility. The procedure then becomes one thatcome can afford and come cannot, and this then becomes anothermanifestation of the conflict between the haves and have-nots ("InformationVersus Choice in Infertility Treatment" 1895). For instance, genetically re-engineering "designer babies" according to "desirable" traits will likely be a costly procedure-- particularly if it is legally prohibited--perhaps only affordable for the most wealthy and most powerful among us. (Clarke 12).This raises the social fear that genetic engineering will create a newsocial class as well as a new human race. The issue has been given considerable attention recently because ofadvances in deciphering the genetic code, and it has also been brought tothe fore with the debate over cloning after the cloning first of sheep andthen of cattle and even a monkey. Human genetic modification has been discussed for decades, but nowthat it is becoming a process that could be undertaken rather than a merespeculation, a number of fears have emerged, leading to efforts to curtailfurther research in this area. The debate centers on the fact that because we can do somethingscientifically does not mean that we should.

If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again:

Search for:

or

We can write a Custom Essay just for you.


Browse Essays by Subject