Download Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering
WHAT IS IT?
Human Genetics &
cloning
Raise large moral
& religious issues
Recent advances
in both could allow
scientists to cure
major medical
conditions
• Could help to
eliminate genetic
disorders e.g.
cystic fibrosis
• These advances
also raise the
possibility of
'designer babies’
and the selective
breeding of human
beings
MENDEL & HIS
PEAS
• Gregor mendel
(1822 -84)
• Experimented with
peas to see how
characteristics
were passed on
from one
generation to
another
• The study of this
process was
called 'genetics’.
• He wrote the first
4 rules of
genetics
1. All organisms get
their characteristics
from their genes
2. A pair of genes, one
from each parent,
controls particular
characteristics
3. Genes may be
dominant or
recessive
4. Dominant genes
determine
characteristics over
recessive.
•
James Watson &
Francis Crick 1953
• One of the greatest
discoveries
• Unravelled DNA
• A complex molecule
found in all cells
• Holds the blueprint
for everything that
happens in the
human body
• Called the ‘building
block of life’
 The Human Genome
project 1990
 Attempt to map out
the DNA structure of
Human beings
 Make it possible to
see how individual
genes work
 Ultimately lead to
development of drugs
to cure even more
diseases
MANIPULATING
THE GENES
It is thought that
within a decade we
will be able to
manipulate most of
the genes in the
human body
There are 3
possible uses for
this:
1. GENETIC
ENGINEERING
 Process of
manipulating DNA
directly
 Allows particular
characteristics to be
deleted, altered or
replaced
 By changing the
genetic code the
new characteristic
will be passed on to
next generation
2.GENE THERAPY
 Involves replacing
a defective gene
with a new one.
 Could help people
with cystic fibrosis
and other
conditions
3.XENOTRANSPLANTATION
 Method of
transplanting organs
from one species to
another
 Pig organs have
been used as a
short term
replacement for
human organs in the
past few years.
MORAL &
RELIGIOUS
ISSUES
 Raises immense
issues
 Should insurance
companies be
allowed to ask for
genetic tests
before providing
life insurance?
 Should unborn
foetuses be tested
for conditions that
lead to an early
death?
 Give the parents
an opportunity to
seek abortion if
they wanted to?
 Could tell if foetus
was likely to have
breast cancer
later on in life,
could save the
NHS money in the
long term to stop
people with
potential disease
from living in the
first place?
 ? Raised are very
serious and far
reaching
 Positive side - some
killer diseases could
become things of the
past
 Negative side whole map of
person’s life laid
bare
 Human beings given
the opportunity to
play ‘god’
 Have an effect on
the way we view
human life
 Have an effect on
faith
 Effect on sanctity ,
tolerance
prejudice etc?