Outlaw Genetic Modifications
- Details
- Hits: 6985
The author is associated with orderwriters.com which is a global custom writing company. If you would like help in custom writing or term paper writing and essays, you can visit orderwriters.com.
Outlaw Genetic Modifications
Fellow congressional representatives, I stand here in support of the crucial bill that seeks to outlaw genetic modifications in the United States of America. This bill has come at an opportune time when genetic engineering has wrecked havoc in the whole of the United States of America. As an expert in the field of Bio-technology, I will use my expertise to prove to you that genetic modifications especially in Human beings is the biggest time bomb that poses the largest amount of threat to America. The future of this nation is under threat, and it is upon us to save our future before things go out of hand. As the adage goes, too much of anything is poison, genetic modifications were meant for a certain cause but the problem is that the concept has been over utilized and its usage has crossed the boundaries of safety.
One of the questions that arise concerning the use of genetic modifications is on ethics. Is genetic engineering ethical? In my own opinion and using my wide expertise in this field, Genetic modifications are unethical. Why do we want to create a master race? Is science trying to rise above nature? At this level, people with the money and technology can even start a country of their own because they can genetically engineer millions of people, which is against the tenets of nature. It goes against the intentions of God for some scientists to create animals and even human beings using artificial ways that differ with the ones that God intended. There is no point of a human being trying to alter his or her natural make up because this goes against the original master plan of God. Genetic engineering of people is very dangerous because it will fill the world with people of the same kind (Roderick 44). God in his wisdom created people who were very different in a variety of ways because he knew that this was health for the world. Nevertheless, human being has emerged creating scientific people who are all the same and this is playing with fire. Scientists may argue that they are trying to create a pure race that is free of diseases, free of defects and free of many other complications. This may be healthy for the world but are the scientists are working on the jobs now that everyone will be free of health complications? This is dangerous because the same scientists will result to creating other dangerous disease causing organisms to attack people who have not been genetically altered for them to remain relevant. The other ethical consideration is, will we not be creating a nation of robots as the one Hitler was trying to create a century ago? What will happen to the Godly uniqueness that we possess? What will happen to our creativity and innovativeness? Surely, we are courting disaster and I maintain that genetic modifications are a threat to the future of this country.
Genetics testing on animals is also unethical as some animal rights activists would say. Genetic modification of fetuses is also unethical because the fetuses has the right to develop undisturbed though there are some well up families who say they want to design their children to expose them to the coolest opportunities that life has to offer (Roderick 49). The problem is that these traits will be passed on to generations of the future. I will also argue against genetic modifications from a scientific point of view. When the scientists do not regard the boundaries of reproduction that are set by the laws of nature, they are threatening the genetic composition of human beings, which in the end compromises the rich biodiversity of nature, altering the ecosystem. It is almost impossible to perceive the nutritional value of the genetically modified foods that we consume yet they continue to pose health dangers onto our bodies.
Genetic modification goes against the traditions of breeding by using genetic elements that are considered parasitic (Roderick 54). These include viruses, vectors and other pathogens that have been blamed for the proliferation of cases of cancer. The procedures for testing food altered genetically are not always safe and you remember a case of the deaths in 1983 in Spain after people consumed rap seed oil that had been engineered genetically. There ought to be a moratorium about the release of genetically engineered organisms, drugs and even organisms. This is because genetic encoded proteins are involved in all biologically controlled technologies. The transfer of genes across barred species risks going against thresholds of nature creating unexpected processes of biology. Some infectious diseases of the neural system can arise if a folded form of normal cellular protein molecules is replicated (Roderick 34). The biggest threat comes from genetically modified crops where modified viruses are usually implanted into crops that can lead to replication of new dangerous viruses. Some of these viruses are Para-retroviruses that multiply by creating RNA codes from DNA. These can in turn destroy all the crops leading to unprecedented levels of famine or cause tremendous destruction of human beings and animals. One of the genes that I am sure will cause a lot of trouble is the Canola that has been engineered some years ago because it is replicating fast creating codes that are different from the engineered ones meaning that it will be hard for the scientists themselves to contain their proliferation. The current generation of genetically engineered animals is made of integrated combinations of genetic material that come from species that are unrelated which alters the organisms genetic blueprint creating circumstances that are completely unpredictable. In this way, substances that are very toxic to human beings will be produced in large quantities and there is even a rise in the number of genetically engineered disease causing organisms that are posing a major health hazards to human beings and animals. In the case of genetically engineered foods, it is a very sorry state because their effects are not visible immediately after consumptions. It takes a lot of time before the toxic effects of these genetically engineered foods can be seen meaning that toxics will be working slowly in the human body and they will have done a considerable level of harm to the human body by the time they are being detected (Roderick 69).
The problems posed by genetic engineering and all forms of DNA related technology in the world today are unprecedented in the entire history of the world and there continues to be an intense risk posed as science tries to wrestle with nature. Some of the things that have taken billions of years to evolve are being modified within hours by human beings. People may say that this is an intervention mechanism but I see it as unnecessary intrusion on the order that nature has laid down. The boundaries created along the spheres of living organisms by the new developments in biotechnology will remain permanent though the adverse effects cannot be seen immediately (Roderick 76). This is why people should not rejoice over the gains made by biotechnology because dire consequences lay in wait. This madness of using proteins to transform overnight things that have taken years to evolve is going to pose insurmountable problems on the human race. Things may appear big and happening so fast but the imminent collapse that will catch us unawares is going to leave a lasting impression that is going to affects decades of generations to come. Furthermore, the issue of morality has not been examined in respect to the new technological advancements in the field of biology. This is because the current restructuring of nature has taken a toll on the moral order of every society thus promoting elements of recklessness because after all everything can be biologically modified even if the worse happens (NAS 4).
Pollutants that are genetically engineered are even more harmful than the chemical ones because the genetic ones are actually alive meaning that they can undergo mutation, they can involve in reproduction and they can even migrate from one place to another. The problem is that it is hard to recognize genetically engineered organisms once they have been released into the environment because it is hard to differentiate them from the natural ones. This will pose one of the most devastating threats to human existence and the ecology at large. As I said before, products that are genetically engineered are not always safe for human consumption. You remember some years ago when the genetically modified version of the L-cryptogam nutritional supplement killed almost 30 Americans and caused some major health complications to more than a thousand others. It was then discovered that the substance used to make the supplements was a form of a toxic genetically modified bacteria, which underwent transformation during the process of DNA recombinant thus contaminating the whole package (NAS 7).
The other threat that is posed by genetically modified foods is the elimination of farming, especially the natural farming. We risk having a situation whereby people lease animals and plants from conglomerates of biotechnology where there will be expected royalties after getting seedlings or young ones of the animals. This is known a tenant farming and will be very risky for the national economy. Still the joy that emanates from eating fresh natural foods will be long gone while millions of people who earn their livelihoods through agriculture will have their means of income threatened by the destruction of sustainable agriculture. The cruelty of experimentations of bi techs in animals and even human beings has been seen in the birth of deformed offspring’s that may be either blind, lacking some limbs or born with deformities that are painful. The Harvard mouse that was genetically engineered some years ago is known to carry some genes that can cause cancer in human beings and this gene will remain for generations to come.
This country has even genetically modified its weapons though international bodies have outlawed the production of such biological weapons (NAS 7). We may say they are for defensive not offensive purposes but the fact remains that they are biological and they remain potentially dangerous because they are made with bacteria that can resist every antibiotic that is available in the world. The bacteria used are very virulent, last long and are very fast in killing meaning that in case of a leak, a large proportion of our population would be decimated. This biological manufacture of weapons has set a bad precedence because some naughty scientists can produce biological substances that target certain racial groups, which can have very devastating consequences.
Fellow congressmen, after these identifications of the possible harms poised by genetic modifications we must ask ourselves whether we are blind enough to let our county sink deeper into this pit dug by scientific genetic engineering. I am confident that you have understood all the human, health and environmental risks that are posed by genetically modified organisms. As we continue to discuss this bill let, we analyze these risks with many confidence applying high levels of critical thinking skills so that as we make the final decision, we ensure that we have the future of this country in mind. As I said before, it is highly impossible that the effects of genetic modification will be seen in us or during our lifetime, these things take a lot of time to be discovered and as we pass this bill, we are either protecting or endangering our grandsons and daughters. This is support the outlawing of genetic modification in the united states of America not because I am against bio technology, mark you, I have a doctorate. This means that I also stand to lose career wise as a result of the passage of this bill but I emphatically understand the grave dangers that the future generations will be exposed to if this bill is defeated. That is why I took all that time to educate you on the dangers that is posed by genetic modifications so that as you make your decisions regarding the bill, you make the correct decision based on hard scientific facts that I have laid down and not mere generalizations that is not backed by evidence.
Works cited
National Academy of Sciences, Transgenics. Cambridge: CUP, 2000.
Roderick, T. Principles of Genetic engineering. New York: Willey, 2002.