Q: "Designer babies" is the term being used by the media to describe the future of modifying or selecting our childrens genes for desirable characteristics (medical and cosmetic). Are things getting out of hand with our research into genetic processes? In this blog, investigate social and ethical implications of this research and technologies that have been developed from it.


Over the years, technology has improved drastically to improve medically. Further knowledge has led us to finding cures to diseases that were once deadly but now are curable. Unfortunately, not only have further advancements in technology benefit health care, it is starting to have a negative effect. People are finding different ways to clone human DNA and people have even created designer babies. Things are definitely getting out of hand with our research into genetic processes.

The study of genetic processing was first discovered by the human genome project developed in the mid 1980's where maps of the entire genetic makeup of human beings was produced. Prior to the human genome project, the genes for hereditary disorders such as cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, and Huntington's chorea had been identified. The aim of the project was to add to this list so that new rugs and genetic therapies can be developed to combat genetic disorders. Huntington's Chorea was an incurable brain disorder that strikes people in the prime of time, setting them on an irreversible course of debilitating mental break down and eventual death. Victims had been described as being trapped inside their own bodies, unable to communicate. In 1993, Dr. Michael Hayden of the University of British Columbia led a team that isolated the gene responsible for Huntington's Chorea. As a result, doctors can now use a simple DNA test to screen people with a family history of the disease and warn potential sufferers, or parents who might pass on the disorder. Cystic Fibrosis is another inherited disorder. It is associated with a single gene, which produces a protein known as CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator). Those who suffer cystic fibrosis have to inherit two defective alleles, one from each parent. Muscular dystrophy is a genetic disorder that causes the weakening and deterioration of muscles. Some forms of muscular dystrophy result from defects on auto somal chromosomes and may occur in both males and females. How did something that was intended for a good cause end up so wrong? People are now trying to make babies cosmetically by duplicating DNA and genetics.

Reproductive techniques involve using invitra fertilzation or IVF to fertilize eggs with sperm in test tubes outside the mother's body in a laboratory. These techniques allow doctors and parents to reduce the chance that a child will be born with a genetic disorder. At the moment, it is possible to carry out two types of advaned reproductive technologies on humans. The first involves choosing the type of sperm that will fertilize an egg: used to determine the sex and the genes of the baby. The second technique screens embryos for a genetic disease: only selected embryos are implanted back into the mother's womb. These techniques are called pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). The option to being able to choose what gender and genes of the baby displays that we've come a far way with our research, but it has gone too far. Babies should be made naturally and not scientifically. Due to the advancements in scientific research with genetic processing, the future for natural babies will be foggy because people will choose to genetically modify the baby first. This is unfair for the baby, even though it is still a fetus this is very wrong.

It is very important that we acknowledge how far technology has brought us in the possible examination of inherited genetic diseases. We have originally used our knowledge for the cure of these diseases and that is how far we should take our knowledge. We should not use our knowledge for what is bad, because religiously this is very sinful. God has created us himself and for what he sees in his plan for us. If scientific research was to modify the genes of one, it would cause a lot of problems not only for what people believe in but for also the other possible genetic diseases that are not known yet.


Biology 11. Print.
Designer Baby Picture. Web. .
What is a Designer Baby? Web. .

Humans have negatively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems through global warming.
Some people believe that global warming only affects the temperature of the world as ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland continue to melt. This is false; not only does global warming change more than just climate, but also the biodiversity of our ecosystems necessary in sustaining life forms. Climate change leads to the destruction of biodiversity. The constant changes in our climate has given little time for our natural ecosystems to adapt, causing massive extinctions, declining amphibian populations, dwindling fish stocks, declining ocean biodiversity and loss of forests which equates to a loss of many species. Not only have species in forests been declining and disappearing, there have been reported declining numbers of tigers, lions, rhinos, vultures, polar bears, penguins, monkeys, apes and other primates. Some people would think to themselves, “This doesn’t affect me,” but little do they know that it does affect them; and it threatens our existence on earth too.

Some people ask, how can global warming influence our lives so greatly? Well, global warming has caused Antarctica and Greenland’s ice sheets to melt, which is then causing a seven meter rise in sea levels. Human activity such as emitting carbon dioxide from cars, power plants and burning of fossil fuels is behind all of this. Temperature is estimated to rise from 1.9 – 4.6 degrees which is causing further melting of the ice sheets. These temperatures are affecting species in negative ways including the expansion, contraction and migration of habitat, increased incidence of disease and invasive species, changes in temperature, precipitation and other environment environmental conditions; shifts in food availability, and failure of ecological relationships with other specieis, for example the loss of critical pollinators or mutalistic nutrient fixers. In the past, species have escaped extinction by migrating in response to climate changes but today, humans have made it a lot tougher by fragmenting, converting and destroying habitats and potential migration corridors.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) notes that,
-1 bird out of 8
-1 mammal out of 4
-1 conifer out of 4
-1 amphibian out of 3
-6 marine turtles out of 7
-75% of genetic diversity of agricultural crops have been lost
-75% of the world’s fisheries are fully or over exploited
-Up to 70% of the world’s known species risk extinction if the global temperatures rise by more than 3.5°C
-1/3rd of reef-building corals around the world are threatened with extinction
-Every second a parcel of rainforest the size of a football field disappears
-Over 350 million people suffer from severe water scarcity

Following is a video speaking about Climate Change and the Ocean

Tigers are expected to be extinct by 2010 as they are in popular demand for Chinese medicine. Lions are close to extinction due to trophy hunting and tourism. Rhinos are close to extinction due to the demand for their horns and vultures in India have declined 97% because of their anti-inflammatory diclofenac simular to ibuprofen. The threats polar bears face include toxic pollution, oil exploration, and hunting as well as climate change. Scientists are still struggling to wonder what caused the decline of penguins, whether the starvation due to over fishing, climate changes or a combination of both. Amphibians are particularly sensitive to changes in the environment, and they provide an important signal to the health of biodiversity. Causes for monkey and primate extinction included habitat destruction, the hunting for food and illegal trade. Extensive coastal pollution, climate change, over-fishing and enormously wasteful practice of deep-sea trawling are all a contributing problem to dwindling fish stocks. A 20 year study has shown that deforestation and introduction of non-native species has led to about 12.5% of the world’s plant species to become critically rare. It is obvious that we, humans are the reason why the poor animals of our world are suffering from extinction. And as a long term affect, we can too one day be extinct, so we should start being careful and thinking twice before doing something stupid that will turn around and bite us in the long run. Enjoy! :)

Sources

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions. Web.
Nature and Animal Conservation. Web. .
Why is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares? Web. .