Genetic Engineering 3 Essay, Research Paper

Genetic Engineering, history and future Altering the Face of Science

Science is a creature that continues to evolve at a much higher rate

than the beings that gave it birth. The transformation time from

tree-shrew, to ape, to human far exceeds the time from analytical

engine, to calculator, to computer. But science, in the past, has always

remained distant. It has allowed for advances in production,

transportation, and even entertainment, but never in history will

science be able to so deeply affect our lives as genetic engineering

will undoubtedly do. With the birth of this new technology, scientific

extremists and anti-technologists have risen in arms to block its

budding future. Spreading fear by misinterpretation of facts, they

promote their hidden agendas in the halls of the United States congress.

Genetic engineering is a safe and powerful tool that will yield

unprecedented results, specifically in the field of medicine. It will

usher in a world where gene defects, bacterial disease, and even aging

are a thing of the past. By understanding genetic engineering and its

history, discovering its possibilities, and answering the moral and

safety questions it brings forth, the blanket of fear covering this

remarkable technical miracle can be lifted. The first step to

understanding genetic engineering, and embracing its possibilities for

society, is to obtain a rough knowledge base of its history and method.

The basis for altering the evolutionary process is dependant on the

understanding of how individuals pass on characteristics to their

offspring. Genetics achieved its first foothold on the secrets of

nature’s evolutionary process when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel

developed the first “laws of heredity.” Using these laws, scientists

studied the characteristics of organisms for most of the next one

hundred years following Mendel’s discovery. These early studies

concluded that each organism has two sets of character determinants, or

genes (Stableford 16). For instance, in regards to eye color, a child

could receive one set of genes from his father that were encoded one

blue, and the other brown. The same child could also receive two brown

genes from his mother. The conclusion for this inheritance would be the

child has a three in four chance of having brown eyes, and a one in

three chance of having blue eyes (Stableford 16). Genes are transmitted

through chromosomes which reside in the nucleus of every living

organism’s cells. Each chromosome is made up of fine strands of

deoxyribonucleic acids, or DNA. The information carried on the DNA

determines the cells function within the organism. Sex cells are the

only cells that contain a complete DNA map of the organism, therefore,

“the structure of a DNA molecule or combination of DNA molecules

determines the shape, form, and function of the [organism's] offspring ”

(Lewin 1). DNA discovery is attributed to the research of three

scientists, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and James Dewey Watson in

1951. They were all later accredited with the Nobel Price in physiology

and medicine in 1962 (Lewin 1). “The new science of genetic engineering

aims to take a dramatic short cut in the slow process of evolution”

(Stableford 25). In essence, scientists aim to remove one gene from an

organism’s DNA, and place it into the DNA of another organism. This

would create a new DNA strand, full of new encoded instructions; a

strand that would have taken Mother Nature millions of years of natural

selection to develop. Isolating and removing a desired gene from a DNA

strand involves many different tools. DNA can be broken up by exposing

it to ultra-high-frequency sound waves, but this is an extremely

inaccurate way of isolating a desirable DNA section (Stableford 26). A

more accurate way of DNA splicing is the use of “restriction enzymes,

which are produced by various species of bacteria” (Clarke 1). The

restriction enzymes cut the DNA strand at a particular location called a

nucleotide base, which makes up a DNA molecule. Now that the desired

portion of the DNA is cut out, it can be joined to another strand of DNA

by using enzymes called ligases. The final important step in the

creation of a new DNA strand is giving it the ability to self-replicate.

This can be accomplished by using special pieces of DNA, called vectors,

that permit the generation of multiple copies of a total DNA strand and

fusing it to the newly created DNA structure. Another newly developed

method, called polymerase chain reaction, allows for faster replication

of DNA strands and does not require the use of vectors (Clarke 1). The

possibilities of genetic engineering are endless. Once the power to

control the instructions, given to a single cell, are mastered anything

can be accomplished. For example, insulin can be created and grown in

large quantities by using an inexpensive gene manipulation method of

growing a certain bacteria. This supply of insulin is also not dependant

on the supply of pancreatic tissue from animals. Recombinant factor

VIII, the blood clotting agent missing in people suffering from

hemophilia, can also be created by genetic engineering. Virtually all

people who were treated with factor VIII before 1985 acquired HIV, and

later AIDS. Being completely pure, the bioengineered version of factor

VIII eliminates any possibility of viral infection. Other uses of

genetic engineering include creating disease resistant crops,

formulating milk from cows already containing pharmaceutical compounds,

generating vaccines, and altering livestock traits (Clarke 1). In the

not so distant future, genetic engineering will become a principal

player in fighting genetic, bacterial, and viral disease, along with

controlling aging, and providing replaceable parts for humans. Medicine

has seen many new innovations in its history. The discovery of

anesthetics permitted the birth of modern surgery, while the production

of antibiotics in the 1920s minimized the threat from diseases such as

pneumonia, tuberculosis and cholera. The creation of serums which build

up the bodies immune system to specific infections, before being laid

low with them, has also enhanced modern medicine greatly (Stableford

59). All of these discoveries, however, will fall under the broad shadow

of genetic engineering when it reaches its apex in the medical

community. Many people suffer from genetic diseases ranging from

thousands of types of cancers, to blood, liver, and lung disorders.

Amazingly, all of these will be able to be treated by genetic

engineering, specifically, gene therapy. The basis of gene therapy is to

supply a functional gene to cells lacking that particular function, thus

correcting the genetic disorder or disease. There are two main

categories of gene therapy: germ line therapy, or altering of sperm and

egg cells, and somatic cell therapy, which is much like an organ

transplant. Germ line therapy results in a permanent change for the

entire organism, and its future offspring. Unfortunately, germ line

therapy, is not readily in use on humans for ethical reasons. However,

this genetic method could, in the future, solve many genetic birth

defects such as downs syndrome. Somatic cell therapy deals with the

direct treatment of living tissues. Scientists, in a lab, inject the

tissues with the correct, functioning gene and then re-administer them

to the patient, correcting the problem (Clarke 1). Along with altering

the cells of living tissues, genetic engineering has also proven

extremely helpful in the alteration of bacterial genes. “Transforming

bacterial cells is easier than transforming the cells of complex

organisms” (Stableford 34). Two reasons are evident for this ease of

manipulation: DNA enters, and functions easily in bacteria, and the

transformed bacteria cells can be easily selected out from the

untransformed ones. Bacterial bioengineering has many uses in our

society, it can produce synthetic insulins, a growth hormone for the

treatment of dwarfism and interferons for treatment of cancers and viral

diseases (Stableford 34). Throughout the centuries disease has plagued

the world, forcing everyone to take part in a virtual “lottery with the

agents of death” (Stableford 59). Whether viral or bacterial in nature,

such disease are currently combated with the application of vaccines and

antibiotics. These treatments, however, contain many unsolved problems.

The difficulty with applying antibiotics to destroy bacteria is that

natural selection allows for the mutation of bacteria cells, sometimes

resulting in mutant bacterium which is resistant to a particular

antibiotic. This now indestructible bacterial pestilence wages havoc on

the human body. Genetic engineering is conquering this medical dilemma

by utilizing diseases that target bacterial organisms. these diseases

are viruses, named bacteriophages, “which can be produced to attack

specific disease-causing bacteria” (Stableford 61). Much success has

already been obtained by treating animals with a “phage” designed to

attack the E. coli bacteria (Stableford 60). Diseases caused by viruses

are much more difficult to control than those caused by bacteria.

Viruses are not whole organisms, as bacteria are, and reproduce by

hijacking the mechanisms of other cells. Therefore, any treatment

designed to stop the virus itself, will also stop the functioning of its

host cell. A virus invades a host cell by piercing it at a site called a

“receptor”. Upon attachment, the virus injects its DNA into the cell,

coding it to reproduce more of the virus. After the virus is replicated

millions of times over, the cell bursts and the new viruses are released

to continue the cycle. The body’s natural defense against such cell

invasion is to release certain proteins, called antigens, which “plug

up” the receptor sites on healthy cells. This causes the foreign virus

to not have a docking point on the cell. This process, however, is slow

and not effective against a new viral attack. Genetic engineering is

improving the body’s defenses by creating pure antigens, or antibodies,

in the lab for injection upon infection with a viral disease. This pure,

concentrated antibody halts the symptoms of such a disease until the

bodies natural defenses catch up. Future procedures may alter the very

DNA of human cells, causing them to produce interferons. These

interferons would allow the cell to be able determine if a foreign body

bonding with it is healthy or a virus. In effect, every cell would be

able to recognize every type of virus and be immune to them all

(Stableford 61). Current medical capabilities allow for the transplant

of human organs, and even mechanical portions of some, such as the

battery powered pacemaker. Current science can even re-apply fingers

after they have been cut off in accidents, or attach synthetic arms and

legs to allow patients to function normally in society. But would not it

be incredibly convenient if the human body could simply regrow what it

needed, such as a new kidney or arm? Genetic engineering can make this a

reality. Currently in the world, a single plant cell can differentiate

into all the components of an original, complex organism. Certain types

of salamanders can re-grow lost limbs, and some lizards can shed their

tails when attacked and later grow them again. Evidence of regeneration

is all around and the science of genetic engineering is slowly mastering

its techniques. Regeneration in mammals is essentially a kind of

“controlled cancer”, called a blastema. The cancer is deliberately

formed at the regeneration site and then converted into a structure of

functional tissues. But before controlling the blastema is possible, “a

detailed knowledge of the switching process by means of which the genes

in the cell nucleus are selectively activated and deactivated” is needed

(Stableford 90). To obtain proof that such a procedure is possible one

only needs to examine an early embryo and realize that it knows whether

to turn itself into an ostrich or a human. After learning the procedure

to control and activate such regeneration, genetic engineering will be

able to conquer such ailments as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other

crippling diseases without grafting in new tissues. The broader scope of

this technique would allow the re-growth of lost limbs, repairing any

damaged organs internally, and the production of spare organs by growing

them externally (Stableford 90). Ever since biblical times the lifespan

of a human being has been pegged at roughly 70 years. But is this number

truly finite? In order to uncover the answer, knowledge of the process

of aging is needed. A common conception is that the human body contains

an internal biological clock which continues to tick for about 70 years,

then stops. An alternate “watch” analogy could be that the human body

contains a certain type of alarm clock, and after so many years, the

alarm sounds and deterioration beings. With that frame of thinking, the

human body does not begin to age until a particular switch is tripped.

In essence, stopping this process would simply involve a means of never

allowing the switch to be tripped. W. Donner Denckla, of the Roche

Institute of Molecular Biology, proposes the alarm clock theory is true.

He provides evidence for this statement by examining the similarities

between normal aging and the symptoms of a hormonal deficiency disease

associated with the thyroid gland. Denckla proposes that as we get older

the pituitary gland begins to produce a hormone which blocks the actions

of the thyroid hormone, thus causing the body to age and eventually die.

If Denckla’s theory is correct, conquering aging would simply be a

process of altering the pituitary’s DNA so it would never be allowed to

release the aging hormone. In the years to come, genetic engineering may

finally defeat the most unbeatable enemy in the world, time (Stableford

94). The morale and safety questions surrounding genetic engineering

currently cause this new science to be cast in a false light.

Anti-technologists and political extremists spread false interpretation

of facts coupled with statements that genetic engineering is not natural

and defies the natural order of things. The morale question of

biotechnology can be answered by studying where the evolution of man is,

and where it is leading our society. The safety question can be answered

by examining current safety precautions in industry, and past safety

records of many bioengineering projects already in place. The evolution

of man can be broken up into three basic stages. The first, lasting

millions of years, slowly shaped human nature from Homo erectus to Home

sapiens. Natural selection provided the means for countless random

mutations resulting in the appearance of such human characteristics as

hands and feet. The second stage, after the full development of the

human body and mind, saw humans moving from wild foragers to an

agriculture based society. Natural selection received a helping hand as

man took advantage of random mutations in nature and bred more

productive species of plants and animals. The most bountiful wheats were

collected and re-planted, and the fastest horses were bred with equally

faster horses. Even in our recent history the strongest black male

slaves were mated with the hardest working female slaves. The third

stage, still developing today, will not require the chance acquisition

of super-mutations in nature. Man will be able to create such

super-species without the strict limitations imposed by natural

selection. By examining the natural slope of this evolution, the third

stage is a natural and inevitable plateau that man will achieve

(Stableford 8). This omniscient control of our world may seem completely

foreign, but the thought of the Egyptians erecting vast pyramids would

have seem strange to Homo erectus as well. Many claim genetic

engineering will cause unseen disasters spiraling our world into chaotic

darkness. However, few realize that many safety nets regarding

bioengineering are already in effect. The Recombinant DNA Advisory

Committee (RAC) was formed under the National Institute of Health to

provide guidelines for research on engineered bacteria for industrial

use. The RAC has also set very restrictive guidelines requiring Federal

approval if research involves pathogenicity (the rare ability of a

microbe to cause disease) (Davis, Roche 69). “It is well established

that most natural bacteria do not cause disease. After many years of

experimentation, microbiologists have demonstrated that they can

engineer bacteria that are just as safe as their natural counterparts”

(Davis, Rouche 70). In fact the RAC reports that “there has not been a

single case of illness or harm caused by recombinant [engineered]

bacteria, and they now are used safely in high school experiments”

(Davis, Rouche 69). Scientists have also devised other methods of

preventing bacteria from escaping their labs, such as modifying the

bacteria so that it will die if it is removed from the laboratory

environment. This creates a shield of complete safety for the outside

world. It is also thought that if such bacteria were to escape it would

act like smallpox or anthrax and ravage the land. However,

laboratory-created organisms are not as competitive as pathogens. Davis

and Roche sum it up in extremely laymen’s terms, “no matter how much

Frostban you dump on a field, it’s not going to spread” (70). In fact

Frostbran, developed by Steven Lindow at the University of California,

Berkeley, was sprayed on a test field in 1987 and was proven by a RAC

committee to be completely harmless (Thompson 104). Fear of the unknown

has slowed the progress of many scientific discoveries in the past. The

thought of man flying or stepping on the moon did not come easy to the

average citizens of the world. But the fact remains, they were accepted

and are now an everyday occurrence in our lives. Genetic engineering too

is in its period of fear and misunderstanding, but like every great

discovery in history, it will enjoy its time of realization and come

into full use in society. The world is on the brink of the most exciting

step into human evolution ever, and through knowledge and exploration,

should welcome it and its possibilities with open arms

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1989: 68-70. Lewin, Seymour Z. Nucleic Acids. Microsoft (R) Encarta.

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Brian. Future Man. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1984. Thompson,

Dick. “The Most Hated Man in Science.” Time 23 Dec 4 1989: 102-104