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Vanessa Melendez

Leigh Ann Moore

English 1301

11 October 2017

A Change in Genetics

For many years, humans have been altering their offspring's genes to make a better

human. Genetic engineering is the process of using recombinant DNA technology to alter the

genetic makeup of an organism (Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms). Back in the day it was just

looking for desirable traits in other people to mate and continue the species, but now it is more

complex. Nowadays, people are manipulating genes to bypass disease or to search for the perfect

human. Despite the ability to remove genetic predisposition for diseases, some people are still

not convinced or sold on genetic manipulation. Genetic engineering is dividing the scientific

community because some are focusing on scientific ability and others are focusing on the ethics

of this process.

The scientific ability of genetic manipulation is similar to something out of a sci-fi

movie, but the reality is closer to the truth than most would think. When genetics are changed, it

is as if a new organism is created or synthesized. Genetic engineering is related to synthetic

biology, which is the synthesizing entire lifeforms, not just changing genetics (Boldt 412).

Advancements in genetic engineering technologies are happening at an alarmingly fast rate. The

latest and most popular technology is CRISPR-Cas 9. CRISPR stands for Clustered Regularly

Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, which are the bacterial defense system that forms the

basis CRISPR-Cas 9 genome editing technology (Questions and Answers about CRISPR). In a

video on the Broad Institute website Feng Zhang, from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard,
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compared the genome editing tool to editing a typo on a novel. His example was that in the novel

the sentence Twinkle Twinkle Big Star was written, but the word big does not go with the rest

of the sentence. Instead of adding the word little along with big or taking away big without

adding the word little, the CRISPR-Cas 9 would cut the word big and replace it with a template

of the word little which would then make the sentence Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (Questions

and Answers about CRISPR). That example was used to describe how CRISPR-Cas 9 works as a

gene editing tool. Their hope is to be able to precisely correct mutations to treat genetic causes of

disease (Questions and Answers about CRISPR). The scientific ability to manipulate and change

genes has been increasing along with skepticism of this process. Many people question the

safety, certainty, or ethics of genetic editing. A risk with genetic engineering is harming

biodiversity (Boldt 412). It has come to the point where people are no longer just arguing over

the harms of biodiversity, but instead argue about how humans should interact with what nature

gave them and how nature should be respected (Boldt 412).

Ethics has been the biggest divider of genetic engineering. For example, the perfect child

is something many parents want in their own child. Thanks to genetic engineering, the "designer

baby" can be manufactured (Prentice 233). James Watson, co-founder of the double-helical

structure of DNA, asked the question If we could make better human beings by knowing how to

add genes, why shouldn't we?. A conflict some have with that sentiment is the definition of

better human beings (Prentice 233). Then three parent babies started happening. Originally,

three parent offspring were created to treat mitochondrial genetic defects (Prentice 234). Three

parent babies are an example of germline genetic engineering because the change will not be

with only the offspring but with the future generations of that genetically edited offspring

(Prentice 233). Three parent embryos had saved future generations from the life threatening
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genetic defect (Prentice 234). What was once used to just treat genetic diseases was eventually

turned into a form of human cloning, which does not sit well with many people (Prentice 234).

The technology was giving parents the option to not just have a healthy baby, but a healthy baby

with whatever traits the parents want. In 2015, U.S Congress added an amendment to fundind

legislation which prohibits the FDA approval of genetic editing and three parent embryos

(Prentice 236). Despite the limitations, a New York fertility doctor created three parent human

embryos, but he had to do the embryo transfer in Mexico to avoid U.S law prohibitions (Prentice

237). In places outside the U.S, the three parent embryo procedure is not prohibited. New reports

of their attempts showed that they are not using this procedure to prevent mitochondrial genetic

disease, but they are using it to overcome infertility (Prentice 237). Any way of using this

process still seems unethical for a majority of people. Another technology that is already

receiving some negative criticism is CRISPR-Cas 9. The CRISPR-Cas 9 was used in an attempt

to genetically engineer human embryos in a Chinese study and an American study, similar to

what three parent embryos were doing (Prentice 239). Once again, not everyone was thrilled

about these experiments being conducted. The thought of genetically modified children split

people down the middle. Half of the people say that genetically modified children are the future

and the technology to do so should be regulated, but the other half says germline gene editing is

unwise and unethical (Prentice 239). Three parent embryos, CRISPR, and other gene editing

technologies have been and always will be a topic of heated discussion.

Genetic engineering has as many benefits as it has concerns. For the divided scientific

community, genetic manipulation is either praised correcting natures mistakes or condemned for

changing natures canvas. The never ending battle between scientific possibility and ethics will

continue until a definitive answer can be proven in favor or against genetic engineering.
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Works Cited

Boldt, Joachim. "Do We Have a Moral Obligation to Synthesize Organisms to Increase

Biodiversity? On Kinship, Awe, and the Value of Life's Diversity." Bioethics, vol. 27, no.

8, Oct. 2013, pp. 411-418. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/bioe.12051. Accessed 09 October

2017

Questions and Answers about CRISPR. Broad Institute, 21 Aug. 2017,

www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/questions-and-answers-

about-crispr.2017. Accessed 17 October 2017

National Institutes of Health. Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms.

National Human Genome Research Institute. from https://www.genome.gov/glossary/

Accesed 11 October 2017

Prentice, David A. "3-Parent Embryos, Gene Edited Babies and the Human Future." Issues in

Law & Medicine, vol. 32, no. 2, Fall2017, pp. 233-240. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rzh&AN=125384600&site=ehost-live.

Accessed 11 October 2017