How far should the scientists go to modify humans through genetic engineering?

How far should the scientists go to modify humans through genetic engineering?

Introduction

Genetic engineering is the act of direct manipulating human beings DNA to change a certain characteristic of an organism. It is used by scientists to modify the features of an organism by additional of a copy of gene or removal either in the sperm or the egg (Sparrow, 2014). The paper seeks to discuss how far should the scientists go to modify humans through genetic engineering. Therefore the paper exemplifies the extent to which the scientists should go to modify human beings through the help of genetic engineering.

Background

There are many types of diseases which are inherited from our parents such as cancer, polycystic ovarian syndrome, cyst fibrosis among others. These diseases are acquired from the genes of the parents during mutation and formation of an embryo which grow to form a fetus. Scientists have discovered that they can use genetic engineering to alter these genes to prevent the continuation of inheriting these killer diseases. However, there is the limit in which they can go to do this. This essay focuses on discussion of how far the scientist should go using ethical analysis and the biblical point of view.

Ethical analysis

It is unethical to change human beings’ features without his or her consent. The scientists should not go to the extreme of changing the egg or the sperm genotype as this would mean tampering with creation which is designed for God only. In Genesis 1:11-25, “God designed all the living things and everything He created in good.” This means that scientists should be careful when altering the DNA to avoid too many changes. It would also be unethical to add too many traits or remove a lot of genes leading to exaggeration of the way God created human beings. Addition of more gens can lead to the production of very tall and very intelligent people.

Removal of some genes to the extreme can also lead to the bearing of very short or less intelligent people. The children born out of too much designing of the gene might end up getting emotionally torture and have psychological problems compared to Children who were born normally (Sparrow, 2014). This may lead to future complications such as those children hating themselves or acting abnormally. Studies have shown that most of the children born with physical or mental issue contemplate suicide while others lead isolated life and end up getting depressed. It would thus be very important for the scientists to be careful or exaggeration. Yes, it is good for the scientist to apply the genetic engineering to prevent the passing of these deadly diseases but they should design too much.

The bible supports human beings taking care of their health and well being. For example, in Ephesians 5:29, Apostle Paul says that we have a responsibility to take good care of our physical body. He also encourages Timothy to seek medical attention for his infirmities (1Timothy 5:23).This means that the Bible supports human beings using artificial remedies for the sake of their wellbeing. However, exaggerating it through scientific skills can alter the purpose of creation, and this can show lack of faith in Jesus Christ who died for our since in the home that in future God will restore creation whereby nobody will get seek.

Genesis 3: 17-19, says that creation got impacted by the sinful nature of human beings. However, there is still hope that God will restore perfect creation as He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins. Using this verse, there is an illustration that God has a solution for perfect creation. This means that when scientists go to the extreme of tying to perfect creation, there is interference with what God’s mission.  Scientists should, therefore, avoid taking much freedom on how to design human beings as God is the only Designer of creation. It would be important for scientists to focus on removing the infectious genes and stop modifying other features of human beings. During the process of modifying human beings by the use of genetic engineering, mistakes can happen, and a disease can be passed on in the process (Powell). This is because scientists are not perfect like God and can end up making errors. There is also the usage of tools involved when carrying out the modification procedures which can lead to damage to the egg or the sperm. Assuming such a thing as passing on an illness to a child when altering the gene occurs. Such an illness can come out of the improper handling of the egg making the egg weak leading to the production of a baby with abnormalities (Cohen, 2014). Maybe that child could not have acquired that illness could he/she was born naturally in the normal way. This can make the child have an unhealthy life due to science and genetic engineering experimentation. This is not just to the child, and therefore, scientists should be very careful and avoid going to the extreme. It is only in the right conditions, and the requirement should the scientist alter the infected genes and follow the appropriate procedures. This can prevent occurrences of such incidences in the life of the young ones.

Going “too far “ could interfere with the God-ordained process of life. In Psalms 139, the psalmists describe how human beings have an intimate relationship with their Creator form the womb. This can mean that the process of too much modification might and of hurting God-conscious soul. The cause of human sufferings is as a result of the sin. Therefore scientists should not go to the extreme trying to prove God wrong for his decision to punish human beings for sinning. They should not alter all genetically inheritable diseases which do not pose too many risks to the life of a person (Cohen, 2014). Exemptions can be given for cancer scientists have not discovered a cure for it. However other inheritable diseases which can be cured should not be altered during the baby making. Therefore scientists should consider what illness is motivating them to modify a human being. They should not take advantage of genetic science to manipulate a physical appearance of human beings or add other types of genes to the human beings body. It should be important for scientists to respect Creation and avoid going beyond what only God can handle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, genetic engineering is used by scientists to modify the features of an organism by additional of a copy of gene or removal either in the sperm or the egg.  Scientists have discovered that they can use genetic engineering to alter these genes to prevent the continuation of inheriting these killer diseases. However, there are limitations of the extent they can go in the use of genetic engineering. Using the Biblical point of view among other scholars argument, scientists should not go too far in the usage of genetic engineering in the modification of humans’ characteristics. There should be a limit of modification, and some modification should only apply to very severe situations such as in case an egg or a sperm carry a cancerous disease. In such case, modifications can be done since even the Bible supports human beings taking good care of their well being since a body of human is a temple of the Lord and the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthian 6:19,20).

References

Cohen, G. (2014). www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/. Retrieved from www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/opinion/comment/genetically-engineering-humans -a-step-too-far/20069421.article

Powell, K. Young, talented and fed-up: scientists tell their stories. Nature 538, pp. 446–449 (27 October 2016), doi:10.1038/538446a.

Sparrow, R. (2014). www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/. Retrieved from www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/opinion/comment/genetically-engineering-humans -a-step-too-far/20069421.article

The  Bible (King James Version)