By Morgan Ellman

What is genetic engineering?  Genetic engineering consists of the technologies that are being used to change the genome of cells and move genes across species boundaries to produce new and improved organisms.  Genetic engineering has been most commonly researched in an effort to cure the disease Diabetes.

The basics:

Activity Time  Cut the desired gene from the human strand of DNA using your restriction enzyme.  Using the same restriction enzyme, cut the bacterial plasmid at the dashed line.  Attach the desired gene to the sliced part of the plasmid, and connect it using DNA ligase.  You’ve now created a new plasmid that will reenter the bacterium it was from, and clone new cells that express the function of the desired gene.

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Is it ethical?  Essentially, the problem with genetic engineering is that scientists are gaining the ability to recreate life that is completely synthetic and unnatural to the world. This freaks many people out, and makes people fear for the future.  Additionally, stem and embryonic cells are used within genetic engineering which is a largely argued topic in itself.  Regulation: Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA (due to Boyer and Cohen), est precautionary principle

What do you guys think?

Conclusion  From the information gathered, and my personal opinion, I would observe that genetic engineering in itself is a vastly powerful practice.  It can potentially save a myriad of lives, however it may also cause concern for future harm that we are unaware of.  Due to the lack of knowledge behind what may occur due to genetic engineering, the conclusion can be made that the technique should be heavily regulated and test so that there is a clear understanding of it’s power and repercussions. However, the great amount of help that it may do for society makes it a subject that should be focused on a great deal.

Work Cited  Kathy Wilson Peacock (2010). Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. Infobase Publishing. Berg P, Baltimore D, Boyer HW, Cohen SN, Davis RW, Hogness DS, Nathans D,  Roblin R, Watson JD, Weissman S, Zinder ND (1974). "Letter: Potential biohazards of recombinant DNA molecules”   images/genetic_eng.gif images/genetic_eng.gif