Would Genetic Engineering be a Living Hell? | Teen Ink

Would Genetic Engineering be a Living Hell?

March 24, 2011
By mat123116 SILVER, Topsham, Maine
mat123116 SILVER, Topsham, Maine
7 articles 0 photos 2 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;Eagles may soar above the clouds, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines.&quot;<br /> -Jason Hutchison and John Benfield


Some people in the world consider genetic engineering to be a great idea and should be implemented as soon as it becomes possible (if it becomes possible). Genetic engineering could have many problems. It could cause many problems socially, motivationally, it could potentially deny life to those people that could bring our civilization far, and would have denied those who brought where we are today. Genetic engineering is not a good future for America.

Genetic engineering could cause a whole new meaning to the word discrimination based on whether or not you were conceived naturally, with random traits, or using genetic engineering, giving you the best traits you could have. In the movie GATTACA people are said to be “valid” or “in-valid”, valid refers to those conceived through genetic engineering and in-valid if conceived naturally, this social stand creates a high amount of genetic discrimination, which is illegal but hard to prove, and thus forcing “in-valids” to take job such as janitor while only “valids” get jobs such as an astronaut.

There are certain motivational aspects to genetic engineering. In some aspects those who are genetically altered will logically assume that because their genes say they’re perfect and
therefore figure they won’t have to try and thus those naturally born will assume that they don’t have a chance and not try at all. Although in GATTACA, a “in-valid” named Vincent Freeman never gives up his dream of being an astronaut and resorts to the only way to fulfill his dream: becoming a “borrowed ladder”, which is when and” in-valid” impersonates a “valid” by using the “valid’s” DNA to bypass genetic testing, and although no one ever discovered him, except a doctor and his lover who both proved they didn’t care, he proved that an “in-valid” can do anything a “valid” can do.

Throughout the world’s history some of the greatest minds of all time have been victim to genetic diseases that would have never been present if genetic engineering had been present in those times. People such as Abraham Lincoln who suffered from Marfan Syndrome, Emily Dickinson who suffered from depression, Van Gogh who suffered from Epilepsy, Albert Einstein who suffered from Dyslexia, JFK who suffered from Addison’s Disease, Ray Charles who suffered from Primary Glaucoma, and Stephen Hawking suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. These people made the world how we know it today.

Had genetic engineering been available 100 years ago the world would not be the same place today. The greatest minds of the time might not have existed and there’s a good chance we would not be the people we are today if we had been genetically engineered.


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on Apr. 13 2011 at 5:25 am
AmillamissPriscilla GOLD, Randolph, Maine
12 articles 0 photos 15 comments

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Do what you love in the most adventurous way and make sure it helps people.

I love this. All though I am 100% for genetic research you give a great oppinion. I wrote an atricle like this last year for my school. I never actually thought of posting it.  well this is really nice... and hey nice to see someone else from maine goes on this site. O.o