Genetic Engineering: Ethical Issues In Genetic Engineering

Ethical Issues in Genetic Engineering

Özge Kayisoglu

Matriculation Number: 4020722 [e-mail] 1. Introduction

In today’s society, genetic engineering is an increasingly important issue. Many genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and the products of other GMO’s are currently used and consumed by humans, and research is continually conducted on ways to modify the genetic traits of organisms to better suit human lifestyles.

As being a relatively new technique, genetic engineering fundamentally involves the transfer of genes from one organism to another. It is also described as the modification of genetic material by man that would otherwise be subject to the forces of nature only. (1) Each gene is identified

Risks of Genetic Engineering

Although the benefits of genetically modifying organisms may seem vast, it is important to consider the fact that this is a very new technique, and the risks involved are not fully understood. Since the reason behind genetic engineering is basically to improve the quality of human lives, it is important to discuss the potential adverse affects that genetic engineering may have on human beings.

One risk associated with genetic engineering is that it is based on the idea that each trait of an organism is encoded in a single gene, and that the transfer of that specific gene will also cause the transfer of the favored property. However, genes cannot be regarded as separate entities. They are all related, and they are all influenced by many factors including the external environment. This means that even though a gene may be related to a specific characteristic in one organism, it may not produce the same trait in another species or even in another organism of the same species. Therefore, it is almost impossible to predict the effect that transferring a specific gene will have on the individual to which it is

In other words, all actions should be good for all of humanity. (7) When discussing genetic engineering, there are two sides. First, the risks posed to human health and to the environment by genetic engineering are enough to say that it would benefit society as a whole to completely stop all research into the field. Society would be better if new diseases were not created, or if the environment’s natural processes were not disrupted in an irreversible manner. Furthermore, the potential changes could affect generations to come, and this is not fair to the future of