Should Genetic Engineering Be Controlled by Law?
Should Genetic Engineering Be Controlled by Law?
“Just as the success of a corporate body in making money need not set the human condition
ahead, neither does every scientific advance automatically make our lives more meaningful” (
Professor George Wald, Noble Prize winning biologist, The Dangers of Genetic Engineeering
1976, p.45) . Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genes. It uses the
techniques of molecular cloning and transformation to alter the structure and characteristics of the
genes directly(Wikipedia). In the last decade, genetic engineering has become an important
subject in engineering, biotechnology, and economics. It has become a controversial debate
between advocates of science from one hand, and the advocates of religion, which is apparently the
adversary of science, from the other hand. Supporters of science believe that genetic engineering is
a way of technological and scientific development and advancement. For instance, improving the
crop technology will eventually lead to more resources, more production, and therefore to
economic amelioration. In addition, scientists argue that genetic engineering can be considered
more of a human innovation to bend the laws of nature to their species' benefit, rather than a way
to usurp the Creator's role. However, religion derides genetic engineering for one major reason:
God is the only Creator of the world, and as part of religion, it is not allowed to create or
manipulate an organism’s genes because it belies this eternal belief. These two dogmas render
genetic engineering very sensitive and critical. Due to this fact, laws should be set to keep the
research on check. Laws should control genetic engineering by prohibiting human cloning and
animal cloning and labeling the genetically modified food .
Laws should prohibit human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, or manipulating with
the human DNA
“Just as the success of a corporate body in making money need not set the human condition
ahead, neither does every scientific advance automatically make our lives more meaningful” (
Professor George Wald, Noble Prize winning biologist, The Dangers of Genetic Engineeering
1976, p.45) . Genetic engineering is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genes. It uses the
techniques of molecular cloning and transformation to alter the structure and characteristics of the
genes directly(Wikipedia). In the last decade, genetic engineering has become an important
subject in engineering, biotechnology, and economics. It has become a controversial debate
between advocates of science from one hand, and the advocates of religion, which is apparently the
adversary of science, from the other hand. Supporters of science believe that genetic engineering is
a way of technological and scientific development and advancement. For instance, improving the
crop technology will eventually lead to more resources, more production, and therefore to
economic amelioration. In addition, scientists argue that genetic engineering can be considered
more of a human innovation to bend the laws of nature to their species' benefit, rather than a way
to usurp the Creator's role. However, religion derides genetic engineering for one major reason:
God is the only Creator of the world, and as part of religion, it is not allowed to create or
manipulate an organism’s genes because it belies this eternal belief. These two dogmas render
genetic engineering very sensitive and critical. Due to this fact, laws should be set to keep the
research on check. Laws should control genetic engineering by prohibiting human cloning and
animal cloning and labeling the genetically modified food .
Laws should prohibit human cloning, embryonic stem cell research, or manipulating with
the human DNA