Trey's+Essay

Post essay, Trey!

media type="file" key="treya-genetics-essay-0910.mp3" width="240" height="20" When Nietzsche talked about the overman, he looked towards a post human future with hope and a sense of longing. His description of an advanced species, one that looks down on modern man as we do to apes, is in fact a celebration of the potential culture which places emphasis on practical values- like freedom and love- in the evolutionary process, rather than physical survival or capital gains. Sartre, once interviewed, said he never really felt a day of despair in his life. What is too often labeled as a French trend, a product of the post war era 1940s, is truly a concrete love for humanity: that what matters is the present experience, the words that are speaking to you as you read this page and the emotions they invoke. Therefore, the ideas that the postmodernists and existentialists expounded are incredibly relevant because at the basis of genetic research and progress comes the idea of what it means to be human. What is life? The idea that life has an inherent meaning, or that a god exists in order to guide principal and correct culture radically opposes any love for humanity. If it is possible to improve the quality of life, than it should be done, this is a love for humanity. The first issue of genetic technology concerns privacy and the effects of exposing one’s genetic information. I do not foresee a problem when information about individuals is made available to the public, because this already happens. Of course there needs to be regulations on the ability individuals have to access certain aspects of another’s genetic sequence. However, if genetic nakedness is the price to pay for medical advancement, then it is well worth it. Customized genetic medicine is undeniably beneficial toward everyone. Often, vaccines will eventually create viral resistance, and may even be the cause of certain autistic disorders. This, alongside unwanted side effects of unnecessary or ineffective medicines, would be eliminated through genetically tailored medications. There are no negative aspects of this technology. Genetic engineering is the solution to creating a new world order, and a potential tool for evolution. The division in classes is already evident in education, types of health care and even apparel, so I don’t see a new problem in the medical option of genetically altering certain traits in offspring. I would suggest, through Health care reform, that the government subsidizes a program that allows, to a degree, the necessary traits of diseases and suffering to be removed from any person born in the United States. Then private industry will cover the rest. Perhaps there will be a period of extended class polarization when genetic engineering is first introduced. However it will only take a few generations for the new world order to be established, and then communism can exist safely. The power hungry capitalists (i.e Monstanto) will often disguise their selfish tactics for sustained income under philanthropic acts in Africa. While biotech may be a short term cure for hunger in certain third world nations, the long term environmental and economic effects will outweigh any benefits. GMOs quickly create bug resistance and their chemical alteration as a result from the genetic modification is not yet understood. I mean to say basically, they have not been around long enough to understand whether or not they will be harmful to eat. Furthermore, leaving the studies to Monstanto will be like asking the Tobacco companies for research on the toxicity of their cigarettes. For now, the GM products need to be labeled. At least give consumers a choice. The problem of world hunger actually exists in the uneven distribution of food as well as the wasteful and selfish nature of many western nations, like the US. Since everybody lives on the planet, environmental health needs to be prioritized before the health of individuals in starving nations. Reproductive cloning seems like the only Frankenstein science in this entire genre of genetics. I cannot genuinely support animal research, however, if cloning is happening in the scientific community, than I would hope that it be successfully mastered on animals before being tested on humans. I could foresee some problems in the future if human clones were exploited for their organs. But once again, (depending on specifics) I probably would not see the same weight in a human clone and a human life. Even if the clone had developed consciousness, society may not view it to possess the same value as a life born from a human. Life is more than consciousness. I think life is realized, that is to say, I see life as a spectrum, in degrees of enlightenment and self awareness. Consciousness is the metaphysical tool of spiritual progression (and we might see in the next few decades of science the amount which consciousness is related to the brain): it is the opportunity to create the world and to create existence. And the world is an opportunity to exhibit how exciting alienation can be! So then, now that I have painfully untangled the knot we call reality, I will not include 8 week old embryos as life (of course they are biological life, but no more, in fact much less, than the life of a fly). Stem cell research is an incredibly useful field of science. It has the potential to significantly improve the quality of human lives. To place Petri dish cells over human lives is to ignore the suffering and joys of the present experience. That is to say, by raising stem cells to the same level as humans, on a spiritual scale, one is devaluing any human individual’s life and life experience. My second counter to those opposed to stem cell research if fairly simple: if you are pro-life, than you are pro-stem cell research because you want to see life prevail. Either way, those opposed to stem cell research, like Bush, are ignorant and selfish baboons, who completely hate humanity, whether or not they realize it. They are the epitome of a non living conscious being. Please, after you read this essay, think and breathe! Then you will see why genetic science is not only the paramount example of goodness, but it is also the fundamental question on the turning point of a new human age. To be human is so much more than to be human.