Essay Example on Human germline engineering is the Process

Human germline engineering is the process in which a human s inherited traits or genes are adapted This is attained through altering specimen within the germinal cells for instance the oocyte and spermatogonium Human germline engineering should not be confused with gene therapy Gene therapy consists of altering somatic cells which are all cells in the body that are not involved in reproduction While gene therapy does change the genome of the targeted cells these cells are not within the germline so the alterations are not heritable and cannot be passed on to the next generation This attempt was rather unsuccessful only a small fraction of the embryos successfully spliced the new genetic material and many of the embryos contained a large amount of random mutations Currently there are no successfully engineered humans but there are many prospective uses such as curing genetic diseases and disorders In the first study published regarding human germline engineering the researchers attempted to edit the HBB gene which codes for the human β globin protein In an extreme case people would be able to effectively create the offspring that they want with traits of their choosing 

The main conditions when it comes to whether or not it is morally and ethically acceptable lie within the intent of the modification and the conditions in which the engineering is done Another very interesting point on the debate of whether or not it is ethical and moral to engineer the human germline is a perspective of looking at past technologies and how they have evolved Dr Gregory Stock discusses the use of several diagnostic tests used to monitor current pregnancies and several diagnostic tests that can be done to determine the health of embryos Such tests include amniocentesis ultrasounds and other preimplantation genetic diagnostic tests These tests are quite common and reliable as we talk about them today however in the past when they were first introduced they too were scrutinized One of the main arguments against human germline engineering lies in the ethical feeling that it will dehumanize children At an extreme parents may be able to completely design their own child and there is a fear that this will transform children into objects rather than human beings There is also a large opposition as people state that by engineering the human germline there is an attempt at playing God and there is a strong opposition to this One final and very possible issue that causes a strong opposition of this technology is one that lies within the scientific community itself Inevitably this technology would be used for enhancements to the genome which would likely cause many more to use these same enhancements By doing this the genetic diversity of the human race and the human gene pool as we know it would slowly and surely diminish Despite the controversy surrounding the topic of human germline engineering it is slowly and very carefully making its way into many laboratories around the world These experiments are highly regulated and they do not include the use of viable human embryos which allows scientists to refine the techniques without posing a threat to any real human beings