Download ESSAY 1: CONCEPTION

ESSAY 1: CONCEPTION!
INSTRUCTIONS + QUESTIONS!
During a scene in GATTACA, Vincent’s parents visited a doctor who specialized in child conception to
select for the best traits for his future brother. They hoped that his brother would have the best
possible chances for a successful life. Some of the traits mentioned in GATTACA included intelligence,
height, and any possibility of inheritable diseases.
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If you decide to have a child one day and are given the opportunity to select for special traits, would
you do so? Why or why not?
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If I decide to have a child, I would definitely not select for special traits, because of a few
reasons. The reasons fit mainly into two categories: ethical and biological concerns, and
then concerns for the psyche of the child. There may be issues with doing this, and I don’t
think it is right to try and engineer a child. But ultimately, the problem is that the child
shouldn’t feel like their life has already been chosen for them, which is why I am wholly
against this idea.
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There are many ethical and biological concerns with doing this. I don’t think it would be
considered right, especially religiously, to ‘edit’ people and try to control their lives. Even
as someone who doesn’t really believe in God, it is still not okay to choose and set your
child’s destiny. It should simply happen naturally and be up to the child as to what they
want to make of their life. Biologically, there may be issues with editing genes. If everyone
starts changing the genes of their children, most people will want similar kind of genes,
which will start to limit the human gene pool further than it already is. If any sort of new
virus or bacteria strikes, this will limit our ability to adapt, and could cause the extinction
of our species. There is a reason that everyone isn’t the same, and it is to allow for Natural
Selection and evolution. Therefore we should go against child-engineering.
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The other huge negative impact of this is on the child themselves. I think that no child
should believe that their abilities and limits were created before the were conceived.
Genes do not define everything, because nurture counts for a lot, as does the will of the
child. I think the child should simply be born naturally, and then they should be allowed to
do whatever they want. Once you define them using genes, you don’t only push them up,
but you also constrain them. What they are supposed to be capable of doesn’t actually
matter. What matters is what they believe they are capable of. And if you don’t edit the
genes of the child, they are effectively capable of anything.
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For these two reasons I would choose not to edit the genes of my child. It would help the
human race as a whole, because we need a diverse gene pool to survive any sort of
apocalyptic event. What I would care about more though is what my child believes about
their own self. Gene engineering is very valid from the parents point of view; its simply
the parent trying to help their child succeed. But the children need to be let go, to be
free, and they need to control their own destiny. Because if they are not told what they
can do, they can believe that they can do anything. ESSAY 2: ACHIEVEMENT!
INSTRUCTIONS + QUESTIONS!
Why did Eugene with near-perfect DNA makeup only get a silver medal in his Olympic competition?
What does this imply about human achievement when he is compared with Vincent?
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Anything to do with Humans is beyond simply what our DNA codes for us. I believe that
DNA is simply like an algorithm that codes for how we react to stimuli. The stimuli itself
may be different and our environment, or how we are nurtured, also has a great impact on
our lives. However, there may be something beyond DNA that controls us; our minds and
our spirits have the power to overcome all obstacles.
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DNA doesn’t really have all that much control ultimately, because it works in short
segments that are coding for enzymes that tell the body what to do, and even those short
segments are sometimes controlled by external factors. The segments simply code for
proteins and send them around the body, but the particular combinations of proteins
cannot be predicted. There are also many ‘switches’ within the DNA that can be switched
on by external factors. These external factors can control which proteins are made or
unmade and that changes the result of the DNA. People’s personalities are also heavily
affected by how they grow up and how they are nurtured. Ultimately, DNA just sets a base
for who you could be. The rest is decided by your environment as you grow up. But not
all of it is decided by DNA and environment, because in the end, we have control of our
own destinies.
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Will power and the human spirit have always had the power to overcome massive
obstacles, but not everyone has the same spirit. Eugene could only achieve a silver medal
because he probably believed too much in his DNA, and forgot to give 100% to the
swim. Someone who was comparatively like Vincent, who was considered slightly less
‘superior’ gave his best and defeated Eugene in the swim, because he tried harder, and
he was willing to go to further lengths. Vincent manages to reach his objectives beyond
all obstacles because of his belief in his infinite and unlimited power, and because he
gives everything he can towards his cause. They say ‘half the battle is won in the mind,’
and when you start believing that DNA controls everything, the entirety of the real battle
moves to the mind.
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In my previous essay I mentioned I would rather have a child with lower probabilities of
achievement but with a personality of gold and the belief that they were unlimited. DNA
cannot control everything, nothing in nature ever can. But we can control our own
destinies, we can mould our own fates, and we can find a way to overcome whatever
obstacles we have. In the competition, even though Eugene should have won he didn’t.
Even though Anton should have beat Vincent at the swim, he didn’t. DNA didn’t predetermine the results. Because what matters more is which person “never saved anything
for the swim back.”