Why Genetic Engineering is a Threat to Humanity?

Genetic Engineering, simply, is the alteration of an organism's genetic, or hereditary, material to eliminate undesirable characteristics or to provide fascinating new ones. It has been always the marker of a new age. We have increased the plant and animal production, diagnosing and treating disease condition, medical treatment improvement along with production of vaccines and other beneficial drugs. However, over the past decades, a considerable amount of research has challenged this process by showing that genetic engineering despite its benefits are not without its peril. Genetic modification development raises serious issues in (1) ethical, moral, and social issues, (2) safeness (3) possibly creating a new disease that cannot be reversed. I will discuss these in turn, and ultimately argue that Genetic Engineering is a threat to humanity and should not be used for clinical and/or reproductive purposes.

Genetic modification is a serious ethical problem. “Playing God”-- once making an attempt to modify the law of nature, one tries to act as a God that's clearly not the duty of society, is constantly referred to as a strong argument against genetic modification. In relation to Supreme authorship, it absolutely states that it is immoral to reconstruct something, which God made. Moreover, Genetic modification clearly disrespect our ethical and legal principles such as autonomy, privacy, and equity.  Autonomy—informed consent can simply be defined as self-determination, self-rule, or self-governance. Embryos for example, genetic engineering clearly disrespect this principle as it is impossible to obtain informed consent for gene intervention because the patients affected by the edits are the embryo. However, in particular cases have held that competent adults have the right to choose whether to undertake medical interventions or not. Nevertheless, before people make such a choice, they have a right to be informed of facts that might be material to their decision. Again, it is impossible to obtain autonomy since until now genetic intervention’s future effects is unknown. Privacy -- a state or condition of limited access to a person. The failure to obtain autonomy is also a failure to obtain privacy.  Equity-- justice, fairness, and equity. Genetic modification causes social problems, separation of altered and unaltered humans and mistreatment of cloned humans, thus, causes psychological problems to the offspring or person.

We are aware that pre-clinical testing of human genetic engineering are conducted to animals like mice, chick and cows. So it does not mean that it works for the animals it will works also for humans, right? The possibility of off-target effects (edit in the wrong place) and mosaicism (when some cells do not adopt causing two or more genetically different sets of cells), safety is the primary concern for humans. There is something called epistasis—simply the interaction between the genes, once genetic makeup or DNA is altered it will be ruined. Because it does not mean that you plucked out a defective gene and insert a good one other is will not be affected. Furthermore, Ian Wilmut the designer of Dolly says, if the mutation occur, if the unexpected occur to the person or thing you are trying to help, you cannot reverse it. Since the future effects of gene modification is unknown, it is a threat and risky. Dolly, for example, first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, developed arthritis, abnormal metabolism and locked knee syndrome, which could be found on humans. Moreover, considerable amount of researchers generally agree that until gene modification is proven safe through research, it should not be used for clinical and/or reproductive purposes.  Are you willing to take the risk of being abnormal despite the procedures failure in pre-clinical test?

Since gene intervention allows us to alter genes in order to make new substances, one serious problems that genetic modification causes is that it could possibly produce a new diseases which nature cannot conquer. Again, the repercussion of gene modification are still unknown it may lead to another health condition or disease to human. The possibility of creating a monster with the use of genetic engineering that cannot be controlled and is therefore, morally wrong.

Genetic engineering is a powerful process, which makes many people including scientists forget about any precautions. However, it causes unethical, immoral and social problems occurrences in the society. Moreover, it causes new serious health problems which nature cannot conquer. Once again, genetic engineering is a threat to humanity and should not be used for clinical/or reproductive purposes.