Genetic Engineering Essay

Sara just found out her baby will be born with ADA deficiency (bubble-boy syndrome). The baby will be born with no immune system, and be forced to live a short, sheltered life with no “out-siders”. Sara’s baby will only die early if they can’t find a bone marrow donor match, which is rare. What should Sara do? Look into genetic engineering of course! “The idea, simply, is to inject corrective genes into a patient’s body to replace faulty ones”(How Soon is Too Soon?). Genetic engineering can make better food products, help cure and control disease, and has worked on animals.

Scientists study genetic engineering for animals, to make better food and control spread of animal disease. In cattle they slip in extra genes to reduce fat in meat. In chickens they are developing genes that make chickens mature faster and have more meat. They are also working on enhancing disease resistance (Thro 41-42).

Genetic engineering is used to understand the cause of disease, for treatments of disease and for possible cures for disease. Gene therapy is another form of genetic engineering. It is basically the same technology but it puts the genes into an unborn baby (Thro 70, 81). With these technologies, in the near future, if someone were to get a third-degree burn, doctors would just grow some skin cells in a container and then place them on your skin. Or if someone had a heart attack they could replace the bad heart cells with the artificially made “good ones”. What if someone broke his or her back? Scientists could grow nerve cells to place into your back. Scientists in California are working on a gene-based drug that will cut-off the blood flow to cancerous cells in someone’s body. These cells will eventually strangle the cancer cells, curing the cancer. In the future there will be artificial genes that can protect against HIV, diabetes, cancers, and Parkinson’s disease. “This research obviously promises to significantly advance human life”. Now, some people still think this procedure is wrong. Do you think that it is wrong to take some skin cells (that otherwise would have washed down the drain) and put them into an enucleated egg and grown in a petri dish with the intention of curing your grandpa’s Parkinson’s disease? Besides, does your uniqueness really come from your genes? Say that Fred could have a brain transplant with George. So after the procedure is done Fred is still Fred just in George’s body, right? Anyway the point is that brains make you who you are. Not your genes (Petri Dish Politics)! In the 1970’s there was a boy born with no immune system (ADA deficiency). America came to know this boy as “the boy in the plastic bubble” or “bubble boy” because he lived in a large bubble made of plastic. The bubble acted as his immune system; it kept the germs out. He lived into his early teens, but could not see his family or friends. ADA deficiency is a rare disease, and is usually treated with enzyme treatments or bone marrow transplants, but these don’t come close to correcting your immune system. That is until now! In 1990 the first gene engineering on humans was approved. They worked this phenomenon on a four-year-old girl. First they made copies of the normal ADA gene, and then inserted them into a dormant virus. Next they mixed some T cells (part of the immune system) with the ADA gene and the dormant virus. Then that grew into a colony of about a billion. Next they put that into the girls body like a regular, everyday, blood transfusion. Then she returned for a few more. In 1992 the treatment seemed to be working well and her immune system was strong (Thro 81)). Eight years later she is still living a good life, swinging and smiling (How Soon is too Soon). The most studied disease in this field is cystic fibrosis, which is a disease that effects the lungs. A thick, sticky mucus clogs the lungs. This disease makes you vulnerable for fatal infections. People that have this disease usually die before age 30. Scientists have now found the gene that carries cystic fibrosis (Thro 70-72). They can now test adults fore this gene. For example doctors tested Jerry and Emily, a married couple for the gene. They found that Emily has the gene but Jerry doesn’t. If they ever decided to have kids, their kids would not get this disease because the gene is recessive. Bob and Linda had the same test done. It says that they both have the gene. If they ever decided to have kids, their kids would have this disease. Thanks to genetic engineering scientists can see this. “The pace of scientific advance in genetic engineering is sure to increase (How Soon is too soon).

Scientist has done some genetic engineering testing on animals. In September 1999 Joe Tsien made mice smarter by putting in extra copies of a gene into the mice’s brain cells. In a short time they will be able to put these genes in humans. These humans would have an easier time learning and remembering (Petri Dish Politics). Two groups of scientists have been able to treat hemophilia B in mice and dogs (Thro). From Dolly the lamb we learned that doctors might one day take the nucleus of a skin cell and put them with an egg and mix them with the appropriate hormones and proteins. Then they would turn the cell into a heart tissue; for example, your body would not reject this because it’s a match with your immune system (Petri Dish Politics). If genetic engineering has worked on animals well doesn’t that mean it possibly will work on human’s well in the future?

Genetic engineering is a technology that will help us in the future. As far as we know you CAN NOT change your personality with this maneuver. “Genetic engineering as a whole is one of the most promising technologies on the planet”(www.foxbghsuit.com). With genetic engineering we can make better foods, fight disease and has worked on animals.

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