Genetic Knowledge
Genetics is a branch of biology that is concerned with the study of genes, genetic variations, and heredity in living organisms. Genes are the means of how living organisms inherit certain traits from their parents or ancestors. For instance, children usually have a strong resemblance to their parents because they have inherited their parent genes. Genetic knowledge is also referred to as genetic literacy is the ability of an individual to understand well and appreciate the basic principles of genetics to allow for well-informed decision-making (Annas 507). Health practitioners keep up with the latest research parameters of medical hazards to be able to be a step ahead of medical emergencies. If an opportunity to make something better is available, then it is of vital importance that the chance is seized rather than remain to wish that it had gotten done. Every experiment in the medical field is significant.
Genetic knowledge has been applied so much and in so many ways, especially the medical field. The genes of parents can undergo modification before they can be able to bring forth a child. The form of adjustment that the parents’ genes undergo directly indicates the kind of child that they will have in the future. New reproductive technology has made it possible for new parents to decide exclusively traits of the sort that they want on their children (Schmerge). Genetic self-modification is a concept that has become welcomed and embraced worldwide by health practitioners and the members of the public. Parents have a unique opportunity of shaping their unconceived baby even before the baby gets conceived.
Given that a white couple would want to have a black child, the genes of a black person get used so that the baby that will become produced has a dark pigmentation. These are all processes that take place in very advanced and sophisticated laboratories. Only the most experienced genetics doctors are allowed to undertake such tasks. Modification of genes is a process that requires the parents to be confident and very sure of the decision because once it has become done, there is no reversing the process. Similarly, the sex of the unconceived baby can also be determined and decided upon in that the parents will receive a tailor-made child (Schmerge). Genetic knowledge has changed the medical world as we know it. Scientists are making advancements at a steady pace that have served to better the lives of human beings.
Parents can seek not to get a child with a given genetic condition but rather what they want only through pre-implantation genetic diagnoses and embryo selection. There is an extensive range of genetic diseases that are available for use both medically and commercially (Yáñez-López and María de L et al. 595) Genetic alliterations of a baby are quite a costly affair hence not affordable for most. Information about the genetic diagnoses and embryo selection is not available to everyone; thus, some form of sensitization becomes highly recommended. The range of sex of an unborn child is usually not always in the hands but also in the government. Some agencies ensure and monitor children’s sex alteration to ensure that there is no set of people that are being more preferred than the other. It would not be fair if there were more baby girls than boys.
Once parents have decided to undergo genetic alterations, they assume the responsibility of the wellness and happiness of their child. A child can have their prowess in sports as much as their parents accept it. Characters such as the love for doing things can be changed in the unborn baby stage (Annas 507). As long as an individual has no ill motive, they can design their babies to the minimum allowed limit. Parents are encouraged to optimize their child’s development through control of their immediate environment, diet, and toys, and by structured activities from babyhood, to acquiring more advanced skills as they have grown.
With the advancement in technology, new techniques that target the specific location within the DNA, and remove or replace specific DNA fragments that are in the unborn child, gene editing is gradually becoming an affordable and relatively fast process. Genes and the environment interact in various complex ways, and hence, some factors within the genes need to be dictated in one way or the answer. Based on available genetic, some biochemists have argued that parents have both the right and duty to seek out the best possible version of their child (Schmerge). Parents can design their babies as sophisticated or as simple as much as they want, given that it is within the legal parameters.
Pregnant women undergo a series of blood tests in advance to assess the risk of passing down some certain genetic diseases such as arthritis (Yáñez-López and María de L et al. 600). When babies are born, a spot of blood is routinely taken from their heel and critically analyzed for any signs of the thirty treatable diseases. The test is known as the heel prick test. The genetic heritability of traits that we know most about is those of height and weight; hence, a parent should be in a position to tell which child to keep an eye one is okay. Parents can know what to buy and what not to buy as they wait for the baby to be born of a car to be parked.
Despite the considerably low knowledge level of genetics, opinion polls indicate that the public is generally positive towards genetic applications but only where there are clear medical benefits, such as genetic testing for diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer. Teens undergo genetic engineering so that when they take part in the events of their liking, they perform them exceptionally well. Human beings have numerous traits that manifest, but athletic performance is arguably the most complex of them all (Annas 508). Specific body types are naturally suited for particular sports. Aerobic endurance is the ability to sustain an aerobic effort over a given amount of time
Teenage girls are quite stubborn, especially when it comes to the way they look. Girls would rather have their breathing genes with issues but not their looks or even the shape of their bodies. Muscular strength it the ability of the muscle to generate force to carry out a given function. It is critical to remember that environmental factors, such as training and nutrition, also influence many of these traits. The heritability of a habit is generally considered an estimation of the importance of genetic factors to that trait (Ahad and Andrabi and Beigh and Bhat and Shah,1808). For example, the heritability of active status happens majorly from athletic parents only.
Public access to information is an essential aspect of public participation forums. It is one of the vital tools that could help to realize the benefits and eradicate the risks associated with modern biotechnology. Biotechnology is the knowledge of exploiting biological processes diverse purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of naturally occurring substances such as hormones and antibiotics which, cannot become industrially manufactured. Similarly, it is in the area of socio-cultural impacts that the controversy over GMOs and biosafety takes on its most complicated aspect. One can barely distinguish between a real farm banana and a genetically modified one made in a laboratory somewhere.
Genetic Contamination or Interbreeding through the introduced GMOs may interbreed with the wild-type or sexually compatible relatives. However, the tolerance abilities of wild types may also develop, thus altering the native species’ ecological relationship and behavior. This way, the plants can withstand more climatic conditions. Competition with natural species made it possible for faster growth of GMOs. It enabled them to have a competitive advantage over the native organisms, which had no special modifications (Ahad and Andrabi and Beigh and Bhat and Shah 1809). It may allow them to become mutative, to spread into new habitats comfortably, and cause ecological and economic damage to the new environments.
The increased selection pressure on target and non-target organisms’ pressure may increase on target. The non-target species tend to adapt to the newly introduced changes and modifications as if to a natural selection pressure causing them to evolve distinct resistant populations with the desired outcomes. Once the GMOs have become fully integrated into the environment, and some problems arise from their introduction, it is impossible to eliminate them. A new biological strategy needs to get introduced as a counter to the problem. The longer you use the GMO, the more the soil could also become used to the substance and hence lose its natural fertility becoming entirely dependent.
Genetic engineering has a well-distinguished line as to when it becomes unethical to practice. Ethically new genetic research has offered to help individuals with disabilities and prevent them from allowing only a single individual to be the beneficiary. The line gets drawn when parents make the ultimate decision to make modifications to their child through genomics. Genomics deals with genomes, which are complete sets of DNA and the associated genes. The most unfortunate thing is that parents are bettering their children to either make them smarter in knowledge or more athletic in the fields. These types of modifications endanger the life of the child by unbalancing their original balance of genes. Genomics gives provision on how to have the DNA of a person modified to enhance them significantly in specific areas such as sports or academics. Unfortunately, these enhancements can have side effects that harm the life of that person.
The risks and outcomes of genetic engineering will become inevitably deadly in future days. There are destructive effects regarding gene manipulation that may no way be detected for a long time, and by the time the discovery gets made, it will turn out to be long-overdue to turn aroundal, and the damage will be extreme. The vital knowledge of genetic engineering of natural substances that regulate biochemical reactions is significant in that it operates like chemical scissors and adhesives that cut and replicate DNA molecules and sticking them into the DNA of microbes (Botkin and Jeffrey R et al 15). The bacteria with these transplanted genes may be and harmful and for human consumption and even could cause illnesses before use.
The endless discussion on albeit or by no means, genetically modified foods might be permissible and how they are be controlled is not going to end anytime soon. Advocates of this advanced technology long to make sure that people are aware of fiction and fact, they want to see to it that product be genuinely and correctly labelled. Labeling will allow individuals to make a choice between genetically modified foods and other naturally grown exact foods. Generally, for the food on sale to need labeling as a control measure, the food must be different. Actually, these genetically engineered foods are very similar to the original, hence labeling might not be needed, except for when an allergic reaction may occur from a specific gene in a food. E.g. peanuts.
All living organisms are made up of very many cells. The cells work collaboratively with each other to perform various functions and tasks that ensure the survival of the organism. Some of the cells will produce enzymes, and others are designed to store sugars or fat for later use by the body. The different cells build up the skeleton, and they are primarily in charge of communication like nerve cells; others are there purposely for defense, such as white blood cells or stinging cells in jellyfish and plants, respectively. For cells to become a fully functional part of a whole organism, most of the cells have got the same information and resources (Annas 508). A cell is the smallest unit of any living organism. It is the basic structural and functional unit of all living matter, whether a plant or an animal. Some particular organisms, such as amoebae, bacteria, some algae species, and fungi, are composed of a single cell. The entire body exists as just one cell as compared to human beings who are quite different and are made up of very many cells.
Genetic knowledge has facilitated advancements in sectors that were before imagined impossible to reach. Advancement in technology has enabled scientists to make breakthroughs in various fields such as animal health, crop diversification, and even disease control. For instance, the development of drought-resistant crops has significantly helped in the reclamation of arid and semi-arid lands. The plants are genetically modified in that they can get used as both vegetative cover and fodder for livestock. Scientists have also genetically engineered crops to grow faster over a shorter amount of time as compared to the usual duration. Shortening the maturity rate of the plants ensures that the growth rate is accelerated; hence, more food is readily available for people and animals.
I believe that genetic engineering has promised to better humanity, and it is our ethical obligation to research it but not exploit it. There is a need to have morally correct legislation that guides the way science develops this. Genetic engineering is reasoned with applied bioethics and even though debates oppose its societal implementation , it should be used entirely in the attempt to convert into the 21st century (Ahada and Andrabi and Beigh and Bhat and Shah 1811). The full spread consumption of GMOs by the norm has uncertain, if any, health issues, and a lot dispute that the viable risk is adequate to put a stop to genetically engineered agricultural products.
Genetic engineering is in full swing on both plant and animal life. Genetic engineering sounds very close to cloning, which is also an extremely controversial bioethical affair that has lately been brought up. However, cloning is different from genetic engineering in the end result. Though genetic engineering caters for transferring and selecting of a specific gene known to produce a particular outcome, cloning is replicating the organism’s DNA (Annas 508). It is critical to understand that both cloning and genetic engineering, in their most simple being, have been among us for decades. Cloning cannot become widely practiced since it has a lot of regulations attached to it, and it also required very sophisticated equipment and facilities to be made possible.
There are certain species of animals that are very rare to come about and exist only in specific places around the world. With the help of zoology and zoologists, these animal species have gotten an increase in population. It has been discovered that some plant and animal species contain genes that can be of significant help to humans (Schmerge). These genes, when appropriately and adequately used by the right individuals, can bring about significant benefits. Some genes have been adopted to improve the productivity of individual animals, such as beef cattle. Genes introduced to the embryos of beef cattle help them grow fast and big so that they are ready for the beef market as soon as possible.
The discovery of oncogenes is a significant additional benefit of genetic engineering concept of knowledge. Oncogenes are genes that can potentially cause various types of cancer. These oncogenes need to be removed from the body to reduce the chances of getting cancer. The big problem is that there is no exact or well-defined way of removing the cells. Now here comes the extremely divided outcome of genetic engineering that may be seen as an advantage or a cause to be opposed of the belief (Schmerge). The result is the genetic improvement of our offspring by providing them with genes that can assist them to have a higher I.Q, to become more athletic or provide them with an upper hand in any aspect of their life that is possible to improve through genetic engineering.3
Works cited
Ahad, W. A., Andrabi, M., Beigh, S. A., Bhat, R. A., & Shah, R. A. (2017). Applications of Myostatin (MSTN) Gene in the Livestock Animals and Humans: A Review. Int. J. Curr. Microbial. App. Sci, 6(9), 1807-1811. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wani_Ahad/publication/319876814_Applications_of_Myostatin_MSTN_Gene_in_the_Livestock_Animals_and_Humans_A_Review/links/59bf7efeaca272aff2e1ba37/Applications-of-Myostatin-MSTN-Gene-in-the-Livestock-Animals-and-Humans-A-Review.pdf
Annas, G. J. (2016). A “Better Baby” with Gene Editing? Cell, 165(3), 507-508. Retrieved from https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(16)30417-2.pdf
Botkin, Jeffrey R., et al. “Points to consider: ethical, legal, and psychosocial implications of genetic testing in children and adolescents.” The American Journal of Human Genetics 97.1 (2015): 6-21. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002929715002360
Yáñez-López, María de L., et al. “Genetic relationships between varieties of Stenocereus pruinosus (Cactaceae) in the states of Puebla and Oaxaca, Mexico, through AFLP markers.” Agrociencia 50.5 (2016): 595-601. Retrieved from https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/302/30246698005.pdf
Schmerge, A. (2018). Designer Babies: A Paired Analysis of the Technological Advances and Ethical Implications of Genetic Selection. Retrieved from https://scholarship.depauw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1092&context=studentresearch