Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

A Comment on 'a Glimpse of Things to Come': Two Points of View

Satisfactory Essays
332 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Comment on 'a Glimpse of Things to Come': Two Points of View
A comment on 'A Glimpse of Things to Come ': Two points of view

I. Lee M. Silvers point of view
Professor Lee M. Silver states in the prologue of his controversial book Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in the Brave New World, that with the advancements in reprogenetics (a technological mixture of reproductive biology and genetics) parents can have "complete control over their genetic destiny" and can "enhance the characteristics" of their children and grand children. Silver stresses that "the driving force behind baby-making are the individuals and couples who want to reproduce themselves in their own image"
Furthermore in the present era the parents particularly in the American society control every part of their children 's lives from birth till adulthood.
Governments cannot prevent the progress and development of reprogenetics unlike nuclear technology, because reprogenetics can be easily setup anywhere on a small scale and can be easily funded by the individuals interested in this field. The author argues further that the freedom granted by the society today cannot stop the use of reprogenetics by any individual.

II. The point of view of the opponents of reprogenetics

The opponents of reprogenetics argue that governments can control the technology in a similar manner as politics control nuclear technology. If reprogenetics is allowed to make a breakthrough then it could create a nightmarish dystopia with scenes similar to the ones mentioned in the novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley, where humans are mentioned as immoral emotionless androids that are controlled by the autocratic government. The opponents of the reprogenetics further state that the society is not ready to integrate the ideology of reprogenetics within the minds of the people. There is a fear among the scientist who question themselves "What is the guarantee that the future will be beautiful?" and "Will the results achieved be as we predicted?"

Bibliography:
Silver, Lee M. "A Glimpse of things to Come" [Taken from: "Biotehnology, An Introduction", by Susan R. Barnum, 2nd edition ]

Bibliography: Silver, Lee M. "A Glimpse of things to Come" [Taken from: "Biotehnology, An Introduction", by Susan R. Barnum, 2nd edition ]

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Most people would concede that cloning and genetic enhancements are two notorious words that most would not consent with. In Mr. Kass’s article “Preventing Brave New World” commences on the astonishing achievements in bio-medical science and technology. Mr. Leon E. Kass agrees that people should be obliged for the breakthrough of advanced bio medical science and technology. Mr. Kass’s incredible work in bio-ethical science has placed this very well known philosopher in the white house with the Bush’s administration. Mr. Kass mentions in his article that we live in a world where transforming powers are already being applied in the 20th century, For example; In vitro fertilization, bottled embryos wombs, surrogate wombs, cloning, genetic screening,…

    • 1985 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article Designer Babies and the Pro-Choice Movement, the author Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow discusses her findings and research on the topic. According to her research over the last Century the link between sex and reproduction has diminished, sex today has no necessary relationship to childbearing. Now with a growing fertility industry any one with an extra 20,000 dollars can take baby- making from the bedroom to the laboratory In-…

    • 1104 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, while showing the future possible advances of science and technology, is actually warning people of what science could become. In the Foreword of Brave New World, Huxley states, “The theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such, it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals” (11). He is not suggesting that this is how science should advance, but that science will advance the way that people allow it to. The novel is not supposed to depict a “utopian” society by any means, but it is supposed to disturb the reader and warn him not to fall into this social decay.…

    • 546 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The essay “Building Baby from the Genes Up” by Ronald M. Green explains how in the future, parents might be able to design the genes of their future baby. Green supports genetic engineering of embryos, “why not improve our genome?” (549). He thinks that with the process of in vitro and preimplantation, it could eliminate disease or confer desirable features onto our future. Some medical professionals is concerned about the effect of genetic selection in parenting, Green said “The critics concerns may be less troublesome than they appear”, he thinks that parents will not love their children any less in the quest of perfection, and any kids will not be pressured to live up to perfectionist and expectation.…

    • 538 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    To this day I still believe that Aldous Huxley is a genius. This book was written in 1931 and it poses problems that we have not even started to face yet. He saw what things could be turned into and how fast good science can all go wrong. I was amazed by the book because it was what I wanted to do with my life, which is to play with genetics and come up with cures to help people who suffer from illness. Reading this book my senior year showed me how serious playing with genetics could get. In “Brave New World” there are no diseases and there is world peace. Everyone belongs to a group so no one feels left out, but everyone is genetically made to go into a certain group. People are made in test tubes and genetically made to serve a purpose and do their certain job. They are developed in an incubator and gone under certain things to make them fit into a group. For instance, for a group that is not supposed to be very smart and is supposed to do manual work they will expose the embryo to chemicals throughout the embryos development to harm the development. Once they are born they are not released into the world until they are adults. The children are brainwashed growing up so that they do not threaten the World State. The World State is that everything is at peace, ruled by a few that really know all of the secrets. Many people believe that when we strive for perfect genes when are making progression to the “Brave New World.” Some People believe that by fixing genes we are causing more problems. In America, we have never stopped progressing. We strive to be the best and sometimes we cross boundaries to do it. What’s to say a boundary won’t be crossed here? Ethics are already starting to be challenged and yet we continue to progress. All it takes is a few people to convince everyone and we could turn our world into Huxley’s…

    • 1928 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    2. Stanford, C, Allen, J, & Anton, S. (2006). Biological anthropology. New Jersey: Pearson Education.…

    • 1804 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In his article “Supersize Your Child?,” Richard Hayes explains the pros and cons of genetic engineering. His claim is one of policy that states by giving examples of what could happen if you genetically engineer your child; you could make them attractive, give them photographic memories, or even ensure they have a life span of up to 200 years. The warrants of his claim are that Hayes makes this all sound very attractive to the reader. He also assumes that the reader wants this for their children; the parents want the children to be the best of the best. (Hayes 184)…

    • 1060 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Of all the works that Aldous Huxley has produced the most intriguing and philosophical one would have to be Brave New World. Throughout his carrier Huxley has written many satirical novels about the flaws of society but none can compare the symbolism and depth that this novel presents. As the above quote suggests the citizens of this futuristic society known as the World State chose to live a life of hedonism devoid of emotions and beliefs rather than suffer any pain. Both Huxley's focus on the tragic flaws of this society and satirical development of the utopian scheme, lead us to believe the hypocrisy of such a utopian state. Furthermore there are many parallels that can be drawn between our way of life and the society portrayed in the book; these parallels include soma, hynopaedic messages and sex. Huxley uses this parallelism to warn us that the path that our society is taking will lead us to damnation.…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Aldous Huxley's Brave New World is a work of science fiction, but it is not a work about the dangers of science. Huxley himself says in the forward to the novel that "the theme of Brave New World is not the advancement of science as such; it is the advancement of science as it affects human individuals" (Huxley xi). In the novel, Huxley shows that science itself is dangerous and that the true goal of the World State’s research is to advance consumer technology—the aspect of science that directly affects the State’s citizens.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Designer Babies Analysis

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages

    People strive for progression in order to move forward with the changing times. As scientific technology progresses, people begin to move towards the bright idea of perfection. This could be seen in the concept of designer babies. A designer baby is a baby that has its genes specifically chosen in order to ensure that a certain gene is or is not present. This concept brings about many questions regarding the safety and the ethics of choosing specific traits for a child. The articles “The art of medicine: Designer babies: Choosing our children's genes,” by Bonnie Steinbock and “Children to…

    • 1131 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Here, when parents are planning on having a baby, they are faced with having to decide whether they want a genetically engineered baby or whether they want to let nature run its course. However, this decision involves much more than a simple yes or no, as this decision will decide their child’s social location and will assign them a master status. Deciding to genetically engineer their baby, parents are assuring their baby the master label of valid, but parents who decide to let nature run its course, are taking the huge risk of having a no-perfect child who will be labeled with the master status of ‘invalid,’ one which can’t be changed.…

    • 1645 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    parents or guardian approve of them making the decision. Some children are reliant on other…

    • 1368 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    -When a parent makes all decisions in a young child’s life without explaining the reasons why behind the decision, the child gets the impression that he/she has no control over their circumstances.…

    • 156 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Changing World

    • 1368 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The world is has never been the same. People living a century ago, can never imagine the world we are living in. Over the last one hundred years we have seen extraordinary changes in technology. We had been on the foul smelling four leg carts and now at the foul smelling gas consuming four wheels. We wished to be like birds flying here and there, now we are visiting planets and isolated areas. We dreamed to go “Around the world in Eighty Days” and now we communicate across the world in seconds. The culture of the people changes accordingly with the devolvement in science and technology. From the literature to living styles, every thing changes shape with the passage of time.…

    • 1368 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Another argument is that children would not be able to explore the world in their own and better way if they always be in control. Although I agree with it at first but then I thought they wont have any future. They would be too busy doing things their own way that they wont be able to concentrate on their studies. In the future, they wouldn't have any qualifications that leads them to not having any jobs.If parents controlled them, they would be much more responsible and they would have better future.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays