Shane's+Essay

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Playing god is a term being thrown around a lot these days especially when it comes to the topics of genetics and cloning. They are both very controversial topics with scientific implications that could cure many diseases. I believe that despite the “slippery slope” we should further research these topics to see what we can truly do. The good that these sciences can cause far exceeds the potential harm that they can cause.

Now that they can map anyone’s genome you can know almost everything about that person just by looking at their genome. You can look at someone’s genome and see how they are going to die and what they have predispositions for. I wouldn’t want my genome to be publicly available because of the privacy issue. I don’t think most people would want other people knowing when and how they are most likely to die and the many other things that a genome could tell us one day. Someone would have the ability to steal your genome, which would be the ultimate form of identity theft. Which is why I think the genome should be protected the same way a person would protect their social security number. If we were able to keep it so only doctors were able to view a persons genome I see no problem with having my own genome mapped for medical purposes.

I think the main purpose why we should have our genomes mapped is so our doctors can give use customized medicine and the guessing game that doctors have to play in deciding what medicines to prescribe will be over. If someone knew they had a high risk of developing a heart disease they could start preventative measures from a very young age so that they can severely lower the risk. The success rates for medications will shoot through the roof and there won’t be as much time and money wasted trying to find the best medication for each person. A doctor will be able to look at a person’s genome and find the best possible medicine for their patient.

Another new innovation that genetics and the mapping of the genome can bring us is that we will be able to cure genetic diseases like turners syndrome and deafness. The quality of life for people with genetic diseases would be exponentially improved. There is no doubt in my mind that doing this alone is worth pursuing genetics further because it can help so many people so greatly. Some might say its dangerous to mess with genetics because we don’t know the implications but I say it’s a lot better then allowing people to die horrible deaths from these genetic diseases. I personally do not understand the whole deaf culture and I see deafness as something that can hinder a person’s success. So I do not think that getting rid of deafness, as a whole is bad at all just like I would like to get rid of blindness. Life is already hard enough there’s no need to add any more challenges to it.

Cloning on the other hand is a whole different issue. Cloning is a relative new issue and it’s a science that hasn’t been explored too much because of the negative implications. There are many different types of cloning like gene cloning, reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning.

Gene cloning as used in crops is the answer to world hunger in my opinion. Yes it might not be natural but I’m a person that believes natural things can be improved upon. Cloned crops are way better then anything people in Africa are getting anyways. Its ridiculous to me that we have people starving in this world when we are able to create food so easily. Especially if we are able to create crops that produce as much food as possible through genetically modifying them. I think genetically modifying crops is a very good thing to do if it allows more of them to survive. It improves upon the flaws in nature, which I see nothing wrong in. I see how people can say that we don’t truly know what these genetically modified foods can do to us in the long run but there have been no signs thus far of anything going wrong. So many great things in life are man made like plastic why can’t this just be another of those things. People value natural things so much but why does natural have to be better when we have ways of going in and changing the genetics of a crop to make them better.

Reproductive cloning is a very touchy subject and many scientists have yet to pursue it. I for one think reproductive cloning is bad and should not be pursued. Once we start cloning things the whole world will get turned upside down because we introduce a whole new class of beings in clones. I don’t want to have to worry about all the issues of if clones have equal rights so I think we should just put a complete ban on it. I don’t see how reproductive cloning can cause more good then harm so it is not worth it in my mind. We have not come close to mastering the technique and I for one wouldn’t want to be a part of a bunch of failed clones dying. We should stick to different methods of cloning.

Therapeutic cloning is in my opinion the most promising of them all. The ability to use stem cells to replace any cell in your body is amazing. The uses for them are limitless. Countless diseases will be cured. But of course its not that simple because stem cells are not very easy to get your hands on. There is a huge issue with taking stem cells from fetuses. I for one think we should pursue stem cell research and I believe it should get a lot more government funding. I do not believe that a fetus is a life I believe it is just a bunch of cells that have joined together. Sure it has the ability to become a life but so does sperm and we defiantly don’t protect sperm like we do fetuses. I believe saving a life that is already formed is far more important then cells that have potential to become a life. To put these two things on equal grounds is just ridiculous to me. It is necessary to help push healthcare to the next level and really get rid of some bad diseases. If stem cells could cure cancer or aids imagine how many lives would be saved a year. This is why I believe it is a necessity for our future to put a lot more research into stem cells.

While genetics and cloning are issues that are fairly new and will put you in a debate no matter where you go they are necessary to move on in human life. While diseases get more resistant to antibiotics we are not developing anything new to stop them. If we put a lot more time and money into genetics and cloning we could unravel the ways to beat these antibiotic resistant strains. No matter how controversial these topics are we need to pursue them nonetheless if we want to find the answers to issues like global hunger and cancer. We must put money into genetics and cloning or we will die.