Melanie's+Essay

"In Defense of Imperfection"

I sit here and contemplate both sides of the genetic engineering issue and as I think more and more about it, I still remain smack dab in the middle. I do not understand why it is such a bad thing to use genetic engineering to prevent unnecessary suffering when all it will do is help. But I do feel that if we were to genetically engineer human bodies, it will end up in the cosmetic industry. Changing eye color and hair color, height and strengths will be the “new thing” to do to your unborn baby boy, or girl if you decide to change that too. If the scientists can find a way to use genetic engineering to prevent illnesses and only that and prevent it from cosmetic usage then I don’t see why this would be a problem.  I do not think we are playing God in any way. Mainly, because I do not believe in God. I don’t believe that the earth was created from some higher power. The earth was created from a single atom and humans and scientist have helped to improve and maintain this earth we live on. So why can’t we continue improving it with genetic engineering?  As for Genetically Modified Foods I really don’t care if the food I eat has been in some way altered. They don’t taste different and they don’t cause any harm. If people started eating the food and suddenly started to grow a third arm I might have a problem with it. But have you seen any three-armed people running around? Nope, neither have I. Many people, when asked, had no idea that their food had been genetically modified and if it’s already been done all over then why stop it now. If it’s going to help the food, crops, and amount of resources then I say go ahead! Especially if it has already been done and no one has really been affected by it. There’s always to choice to buy organic, ya know. Why stop the GM foods when they are helping in so many ways? Genetically Modified Foods can one day save our planet from world hunger. Shouldn’t that be a good enough reason to continue with it? Genetically engineering crops can make producing and shipping much cheaper. If we can produce mass amounts of crops and ship them to third world countries that may not be able to produce their own food or may not be able to afford to pay other countries to ship the food to them shouldn’t we do this in order to help out our fellow countries ?  As far as genetically engineering babies, I would want the absolute best for my children. If there was a procedure that was available that would prevent my baby from having any sort of disease, I know I would take advantage of it. I would do anything in my power to give them the best life I could. However, I would want to leave they're individual traits to chance. To me, this is the beautiful part of bring a baby into the world; learning who this new person is and having them surprise you with all of they're random talents. I wouldn’t want to alter they way they looked or their skills and talents. To me, there is no beauty in having children this way. I value people's individual quirks and living in such a planned environment would be dull and lifeless. Unfortunately, if society ever accepts this in my lifetime (or at least in the time I have children) I would feel a great deal of pressure to alter my children so they would be able to succeed in this society. I would feel such an immense amount of guilt if I forced them to struggle through life against a perfected species of humans.