Researched Persuasive Writing and Speaking
Gene Editing is Here to Stay
Petra Hemphill
Secondary Division
New Prairie United School Corporation
New Prairie High School
Indiana
As a society, our knowledge and comprehension of the world around us has expanded due to scientific advancements. If we examine and measure the disadvantages and advantages of gene editing, there are significant advantages in the gene editing world. From this powerful notion, I believe gene editing should be allowed to excel. Of course, one of the leading concerns about gene editing is that it can be developed for non-therapeutic and enhancement purposes (Ethical, 2017). The fear is that individuals will engineer "designer babies" and create "classes"
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In 2017, the Oregon Health & Science University was able to edit the DNA in embryos to correct a mutation that causes heart failure (Maron, 2017). They were also able to eliminate mosaicism which occurs when only some cells carry the edits, and this helps parents who both have a homozygous condition but still want a genetically related child (Ethical, 2017). A theologian and ethicist, Ronald Cole-Turner, commented, "It's not like God had put up a huge ‘No trespassing' sign right on the edge of the chromosome” (Joseph, 2016). Concerning religion, certain people believe that God never told anyone directly that gene editing was going against his commands. Jennifer Doudna was one of the pioneers to CRISPR when it launched in 2012, she explains, "As scientists, we need to explain what we're doing and why we're doing it not dictating how these discoveries and technologies should be used” (Pandika, 2017). This quote reinforces my core belief that gene editing should be explained and studied instead of dismissed from the scientific