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Would you be willing to take advantage of genetic screening/engineering to overcome sterility and guarantee a child free of genetic diseases?
Results so far:
| Yes | 60% | 324 votes | Total: 538 votes | |
| No | 40% | 214 votes |
Yes
by William Lhamon
Created on: November 12, 2007
This is an excellent debate topic that will generate plenty of responses, both pro and con. There are also a number of issues that are tangential to the topic that can also provide food for thought. I'll dive right in and say that genetic screening when used as a tool to combat disease is a good thing. Problems arise when we contemplate genetic engineering for purposes other than reducing the incidence of disease, such as genetic enhancement of the population, or for vanity purposes such as eye color or gender selection.
I think the fundamental issue we face when considering the question is "if we have the technology, how can we ensure that it is not used for unsavory purposes?" Historically, people have shown a tendency to hijack technology, using benign inventions for doing harm. Several hundred years ago, we learned to work with iron instead of stone; how long was it before the first blacksmith turned his attention from the plow to the sword? More recently, we harnessed the atom, generating plenty of energy, which is good. But Oppenheimer and the Manhattan Project quickly turned that positive technology into a potent weapon. Those who vote "yes" on this issue take the first step in developing ideas that can have fundamental ramifications for how we reproduce as a species.
The question of whether or not to use genetic screening to combat genetic diseases appears straightforward at first glance: what parent would not use any tool available to make sure his or her child is as healthy as possible? But there are critical subtexts we must consider. Once we start down this road, how can we stop people from using the technology to screen for gender, say, or for any other marker that might suit the parents' fancy.
Taken one step further, let's consider for a moment what happens if we approve genetic screening, and a child tests positive for whatever significant defect you wish to name. At least until gene therapy moves out of the science fiction novels and into the common practice of medicine, won't a failed genetic screening put pressure on parents to terminate the pregnancy?
I'll stipulate that a discussion of abortion's morality is beyond the scope of this topic, and simply conclude with an explanation why I think the right answer for this debate topic is "yes." I believe that, in spite of the risks and ethical hurdles involved, we ought to explore the tools that medical science makes available to us, the better to make an informed decision about the ethical issues involved and the best way to move forward.
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No
by Emma Walker
Created on: November 16, 2007 Last Updated: September 07, 2008
Genetic Screening.
Genetic screening is the screening/testing of blood and other tissues to identify genetic disorders. There are around 1000 different types of these tests available for several purposes such as: the diagnosis of an individual with symptoms, determination of a person's risk of future disease, guidance of medical treatment, research etc
Genetic screening of couples before they decide to have children, especially if there is a family history of genetic disease, is a fantastic way of allowing couples the chance to decide about their suitability as a couple to have a child together naturally.
Prenatal screening is a test performed after a woman is pregnant. It provides information about the unborn baby's health before he/she is born.
The problem with this type of screening is that if the results do highlight a problem, the prospective parents face the unenviable task of deciding whether to continue or abort the pregnancy.
Genetic Engineering.
Genetic engineering is the use of technology to alter the genetic material of living cells, to make them capable of producing new substances or performing new functions.
Broadly speaking genetic engineering can be split into three types:
1) Applied genetics; cloning, transgenics.
2) Chemical engineering; gene mapping, gene interaction, gene coding.
3) Analytical genetic engineering; computer modelling.
Through the use of transgenic technology it is possible that scientists one day may be able to develop cures for currently incurable diseases. If this is achieved and we were (for example) able to cure cystic fibrosis, it does not necessary follow that the cure would reverse the effects of the disease, i.e. if a person was sterile before treatment they probably would still be sterile after treatment.
Genetic engineering in general raises a lot of ethical questions in particular when applied to humans, and even more so when applied in terms of an unborn child.
It would be nice to think that one day we could eradicate genetic disease however
with autosomal recessive diseases such as Sickle cell anaemia, at any one time a portion of the population will be carriers, and the possibility of two carriers having a child together and passing on a clinically significant genetic disease is always there. This and the fact that random genetic mutations do occur from time to time is the reason why genetic disease will always persist.
Currently the exact function of every single gene is not yet known. Financially screening every person alive is impractical and would be an intrusion of a person's rights.
Genetic engineering in crops for improving crop production, and for developing cures for devastating, debilitating and deadly diseases is a positive thing, but using it to overcome sterility and guarantee a child free of genetic disease in my opinion is taking things a step to far.
Evolution is all about genetic adaptions, survival and regulation and on the whole it works. I do not think humans could do as good a job as nature, never mind better.
Undoubtedly it will not be long before we can screen an unborn baby, produce a genetic blueprint of it and alter it if we believe it to have errors, but for evolution to occur natural genetic selection of existing genes and potentially positive mutations must occur.
Genes are what make us what/who we are. Manipulating the genes of an unborn child to me does not seem right.
Nature is not perfect and humans by no stretch of the imagination could be classed as being perfect. Sometimes just every now and again maybe we should take a step back and let nature take its course.
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