Question

1. Describe one issue affecting society that scientists will be able to address using the sequence of the human genome.

2. If this research is pursued, what ethical issues will arise?

3. Who do you think should decide whether scientists pursue research that creates ethical dilemmas? Explain your response.

Answer 1

The sequence of the human genome has been (and is continuing to be) mapped out to determine the location of genes with specific outcomes (traits). A prevalent issue that arises from this is the potential to assign specific traits (e.g. blue eyes) to an individual using genetic engineering, i.e. "designer babies".

There are several ethical issues at play here, one being the experimentation on individuals and the potential for failure - not only loss of life, but undesired mutation outcomes.

Also, once experimentation is successful and can be replicated with accuracy, children of parents that are able to afford to have their offspring "designed" can have a greater inherent advantage to those offspring from natural processes. In other words, designer babies can have more desired traits (e.g. intelligence) and less (or none) undesired traits (e.g. diseases) than children conceived through natural means.

If you need more information on this just google "designer babies".

Answer 2

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