Ethical Complications of Genetic Engineering and Eugenics...

Genetic engineering is currently the fastest growing and perhaps most controversial field of science. Genetic engineering is decoding and manipulating DNA to use for scientific and medical purposes. The discovery that human cells can be grown in a petri dish has opened up breathtaking possibilities for curing disease - and a morass of ethical complications (Allen 9). Genetic engineering has already started to be most helpful in the field of medicine. The map of the human genome offers many cures and potentially successful medical procedures. By creating artificial chromosomes, scientists may be able to replace diseased inherited traits with functional ones. Determining the genetic make up of viruses such as the HIV virus that†¦show more content†¦Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859. In this book, he explained his theory of natural selection which is that members of species with the most desired (best-fit) traits will survive and reproduce. Eugenicists took Darwins ideas of natural selection and applied them to society and the human race. Some American and German scientists agreed the human race could be cleansed by means of artificial selection and sterilization (Proctor 10-15). In Germany, eugenics became focused on racial hygiene and was transformed into genocide. In the beginning, Nazis targeted people with handicaps or mental illnesses, those who they felt had real, medical justifications to be killed. In Grafeneck, Germany in 1940 approximately 10,000 mentally handicapped people or people with mental diseases were killed with toxic gas in the course of the Nazi euthanasia program (Wunder 1). After this they moved on to other groups that they believed tainted their Aryan race. The Nazis fabricated scientific reasons for killing gypsies, Jews, blacks, and Jehovahs witnesses along with the handicapped, saying that their brains were smaller and that they were inferior. The Holocaust was the extreme case of a groupShow MoreRelatedHuman Genetic Engineering At The Germ Line Of A Family1267 Words   |  6 PagesContinuous advancements have been made in these fields, and thus contribute to human genetic engineering. The method of pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, also known as embryonic screening, allows parents at risk of transmitting a genetic disease to ensure their future children are unaffected by the disease. Some say that it would be greatly favorable for parents to have the ability to avoid passing on a genetic disease. While there is potential to eliminate many diseases, it also has an equallyRead MoreConcerns with Mitochondrial Replacement Essay1240 Words   |  5 Pagestechniques have only been used on animal subjects such as rhesus monkeys and mice and human zygotes that were abnormally fertilized (unipronuclear or tripronuclear) (Craven at el. 82). 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