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Kyle Bruce
Nancy Elliott
English 111
11- 15-14
Is Genetic Engineering Harmful?
The study of genetic engineering has been around since the mid 1800’s, starting with a
study in the breeding of all living species. Over time, the experiments and information found
about the formation of genes has increased rapidly because of many advances in technology.
Genetic engineering has become so advanced that scientists are now able prevent some disorders
such as Down syndrome through in vitro fertilization. In vitro fertilization is when scientists use
a tested embryo for fertilization that does not contain the disorder. Other examples of genetic
engineering include cloning of small organisms, growing plants at a faster rate, and having crops
take in more nutrients to grow. However, some people think that genetically modifying the genes
in living things is not a good idea.
With genetic engineering there are also many ethical issues that come along with it, such
as social and many other concerns. A possibility of social and cultural consequences from
modifying genes can occur because it could go against certain religious beliefs. Also it will need
to be decided who will be able to possess the technology to perform these modifications and
where the resources will come from. Other concerns like any health risks that are involved with
genetically modified food, or any long term effects on the environment may occur. In transgenics,
which is the transfer of genes between two different species, people may not perceive a plant,
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animal, or human as normal, and could then redefine what it means to be normal. Genetic
engineering in plants, animals, and humans can be dangerous and harmful due to new toxins
found in crops, environmental harms, and the possibility of humans having allergic reactions.
Genetic engineering can seem like it is very helpful to us, but there can be a few dangers
from it as well. One danger is new toxins found in genetically modified crops such as a specific
corn called Bacillus Thuringiensis. What happens is the corn’s DNA is fixed with a gene found
in a certain bacteria that will ultimately produce a toxin. Then, this toxin is used to kill insects
and prevent the corn from dying. Although this genetically engineered corn seems like a plus, a
study showed that the toxin was found in the blood streams of humans after eating the corn.
When the Bacillus Thuringiensis toxin enters the blood stream, the possibility of an immune
system failure may take place, and it could eventually lead to human disorders. According to
Ann Simon Moffat, author of the journal Can Genetically Modified Crops Go
'greener'?, scientists have a better understanding of these toxins and are developing new plant
modifications that will take more than a simple transplant of bacterial genes (253). However,
scientists are not sure when they will be able to have a new genetically modified crop that won’t
produce these harmful toxins. Another problem with having the toxins in the crops is that many
animals, such as cows, will eat them and will end up dying from them. A problem with eating
these crops is that if humans and animals were to stop eating these crops, they would still
continue to have genetically modified proteins in their body, which is still extremely dangerous.
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Another issue from genetic engineering is environmental harms, such as increased weed
growth and poisoned wildlife. It is possible for some genetically engineered plants to become
weeds in places that are not wanted and have bad effects on the environment. Weeds can
increasingly stop the growth of plants and possibly upset an entire ecosystem. In addition,
engineered crops like tobacco and rice can poison small animals who consume them because the
crops are meant to be made into plastics. Another example of an environmental harm is when
genetically modified crops are equipped with a specific chemical called herbicide in their genetic
makeup. According to the article by Clifton E. Anderson, author of "Genetic Engineering:
Dangers and Opportunities”, a chemical company manufactured herbicide, and it was used to
help remove the unwanted weeds on farms (21). This was a problem because sometimes the
modified plants were resistant to the chemical and did not work as it was supposed to, letting the
weeds around them grow. With the weeds growing, a different chemical is needed to be sprayed
to kill weeds. Unfortunately, when farmers did this they sometimes end up killing the plants and
it becomes very costly for them to regrow the plants.
Another danger with genetic engineering is the possibility of humans developing an
allergic reaction to foods that are modified; however, this rarely occurs. When genetically
engineered food is modified, it may create a new allergen, causing an allergic reaction for some
people, especially in smaller children. An example of this would be when some soybeans are
embedded with a specific gene found in Brazilian nuts because these soybeans were causing a lot
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of allergic reactions and were eventually abandoned. Another example is allergens found in
transgenic crops, meaning the genes are transferred from one crop to another. Some vegetables
like carrots are equipped with genes from milk, creating a certain protein in the carrot needed by
young infants. However, with transgenic crops, some children are very sensitive to it, easily
casing an allergic reaction. Also, some organisms can be genetically modified so that they can be
considered food and consumed by animals and humans. Like the carrots, when equipping these
organisms with certain genes, they could also produce proteins that cause a lot of allergic
reactions. Most of these reactions are treatable and not many lead to death, but it still can be
dangerous when the reaction occurs.
Even though genetic engineering has some dangers, it can also have many benefits from
it. When thinking about genetic engineering, the most common thing people think of is the
manipulation on DNA in plants, animals and humans. One example of this is when the genes
from spiders is transferred into the DNA of female goats. What happens is the goat’s milk
becomes more of a silky material like a spider’s web. According to Theresa Bilbao, author of
“Spinning Spider Webs from Goat’s Milk”, the silk that it produced from the goat can act as a
super light and strong string that can be used for fishing lines or surgical structures.(182)
Another example of genetic engineering is when a certain plant is able to stop pollution in the
air. A Poplar tree is able to absorb polluted water from the ground and bring it up through its
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roots and clean it. Then the water is released back into the air preventing pollution. These
genetically modified tree were much more efficient at cleaning the water than any regular
poplars. Next, scientists are also able to genetically modify tomatoes so that are bigger and
longer lasting than a regular tomato. With the tomatoes being able to stay fresher for a longer
time, this is very beneficial when shipping them from place to place because they won’t go bad.
There are many things that scientist and engineers can do to modify animals and foods so
that they can overall became more enhanced, and humans will soon be able to be genetically
engineered. Modifying the DNA structure of a human can be very difficult, but scientists believe
that they are on the right track. According to writers Russell Powell, Guy Kahane, and Julian
Savulescu, authors of the journal Evolution, Genetic Engineering, and Human Enhancement,
eventually humans will be able to manipulate biological and psychological characteristics found
in their genes by modifying them (1). This would be an incredible success in the genetic
engineering field because people would then be able to create the perfect child. According to an
anonymous author of an article named "Genetically Engineering a 'Perfect' Baby” , within the
next 20 years, scientists may be able prevent many diseases, and engineer a smarter, taller,
thinner, and stronger children (1). Although this process will be very expensive to do, it will be
one of the greatest reproduction procedures known to man.
Genetic engineering is a subject that is still developing in many ways and new
information is being found out about it every year. New dangers are being discovered from it and
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there are also many benefits from it as well. Although there are a lot benefits, the dangers are
very serious because it can be very harmful to the environment and humans as well. Scientists
will only be able to consistently engineer the genes of plants, animals, and humans to perfection
one the technology becomes advanced enough. However, this will not happen until a few
decades from now.
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http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-genetic-engineering.html
http://action.responsibletechnology.org/o/6236/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1165644
http://www.sites.ext.vt.edu/newsletter-archive/cses/2000-02/risks.html
http://www.csa.com/discoveryguides/gmfood/overview.php
http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotechnology/glenn.html