Genetic engineering

Although it has been going on for over 30 years, genetic engineering has just lately begun to cause so much commotion. To begin with, I would like to give an explanation on gene editing. The DNA of an organism is like an instruction manual, which defines its characteristics. Gene editing allows scientists to modify an organism's DNA, thus affecting the organism's specificities. It has led to major breakthroughs; however, it has also raised a heated debate over more questionable uses such as genetically modified humans. We may wonder what are the stakes and the dangers of this new technology. First of all, I will concentrate on the upsides of gene editing on humans beings. Then, I will focus on the risks associated to this technology.

Firstly, genetic engineering is a tremendously promising field, with numerous helpful uses. One of the biggest and most important applications is for curing genetic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, or Down syndrome. This would be a revolution for medicine: it could save the life of thousands of people, as shown in document 4. The TV report by BBC News illustrates this idea very well. It points out the huge potential of genetic engineering for curing some types of diseases, and underlines the hope brought by the new research in this field for all the ill people.

On top of that, gene editing could do more than solely curing diseases; it could make us stronger, healthier and more intelligent. But for some, like the famous physicist Stephen Hawking, this is more than just enhancing ourselves. For him, it is a matter of life and death for the human race. "Alter our DNA or robots will take over", warns Hawking. Document 2, illustrates a much more radical application than the first document's example. While document 1 only mentions medical application, this one goes far beyond .Indeed, Hawking advocates the creations of GM humans to stay ahead of computers and prevent machines from taking over the world. But even without going that far, we could make "designer babies", as suggested in document 3. This could have many advantages, like having a much healthier population, thereby reducing the healthcare cost.

Yet, are we ready to start making GM humans? As a matter of fact, human gene editing is a very controversial topic. First of all, gene editing could worsen a disease or cause noxious side effects. Besides the technical risks, the creation of enhanced humans raises burning ethical issues, which are highlighted by both documents 1 and 3. In the two documents, the idea put forward is the dangerous consequences that it could have. The cartoon stresses the potential eugenic policies that could result from this technology. The cartoonist warns us against the consequences of such policies: he shows a world where all men are bred and designed to be perfect. This world looks rather dehumanized as they all look alike. In fact, the thought of such factory in itself is very disturbing. The TED talk by Paul Knoeplfer also denounces these possible consequences, in a similar way. Gene editing open the door for eugenics, and it will have negative repercussions: some people would find themselves on "the wrong side of the equation". Eugenics aims to make better human, but what is better when we are speaking of humans? History has shown us the dangers of this ideology. Overall,

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