It will only end up in tears (GM and cloning)

Member Name: chocoholic

Product:	GM and cloning
Date:	15/10/00 (19 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: If not abused it could help many people

Disadvantages: Lots

Genetic engineering has always been linked with science fiction, because of stories such as Frankenstein. But as scientists all over the world have been studying genes and DNA it has become a science and the results are frightening.
DNA is contained n all organisms. Instructions and information are stored on threads of DNA. These instructions are called genes and they give us our characteristics such as eye colour and blood group, which are passed on from our parents.
Genetic engineering is the transfer of a section of DNA from one organism to another. Three out of four Americans disapprove of genetic engineering because they think it is morally wrong or against God's will. I think that anyone who agrees with genetic engineering does not understand the serious problems it could cause.
Using genetic engineering to cure diseases and alter vegetable and livestock traits would just be the beginning for powerful people like Saddam Hussein. Manipulating genes could eventually change everything- what we wear, eat, look like and even how we live and die and you wouldn't have any control over it.
From a single piece of your hair or a drop of your blood, somebody could make many identical versions of you or find out what diseases you will get before you die.
Other unnatural discoveries include a mouse with a human ear and possibly being able to invert the genes, which control ageing and so making old people young again.
Unfortunately, even the benefits of genetic engineering could well cause problems. Couples trying for a baby using genetic engineering could be effected emotionally as there is only 15% chance of it working. There could also be emotional effects for those being treated for diseases that were previously incurable. Treatment can go wrong and sometimes diseases can come back after about a year, which means having the stress and expense of treatment all over again.
The advantages of genetic engineering can also be abused. Its me
dical use could be used by people who want to change the way they look or even their personality, or by athletes to make them stronger. So in years to come everybody could be intelligent, good looking and the perfect weight and height. This would not only be boring, but could lead to disastrous consequences.

Summary: