Imagine a world where humans are able to play around with their genes. You could remove a genetic disorder plaguing your family, add another 20 points to your son's IQ or even change your daughter's gender. With the advent of new and improved technology on genetic manipulation barging on our doorsteps, many people believe that all this will soon become possible. But is genetic manipulation really this miraculous? History of failed genetic experiments, time and time again, have shown that perhaps it is just to soon to assume ourselves as Gods. According to Zallen (2002), Jesse Gelsinger, a young man, died in a gene therapy experiment. This tragic event sent shockwaves throughout the United States research community and raised new questions about the prospects of human gene therapy. Friedmann (2002), a professor from UCSD quoted in Recer (2002), said that " inheritable genetic modification, or IGM, is not safe for humans.". Indeed, it is clear that genetic manipulation of human beings should not be allowed. Based on our current technology and scientific knowledge, it is simply foolhardy to imitate mother nature.
The most feared and heatedly debated issue on human genetic manipulation is that technology associated with it will be strongly abused, causing discrimination based on the quality of your genes. Scientists around the world predict that even if the technique of manipulating genes could be perfected, it will still be too pricey for the common people. As a result, only rich clients can benefit from the technology. .
"Many think that it is inherently unfair for some people to have access to technologies that provide advantages, while others, less well off, are forced to depend on chance alone".
(Silver, 2002) a molecular biologist from Princeton University, quoted in (Hayes, 2002). .
As a result, gene theft will occur. Genewatch UK, a group established to monitor the advance in genetic manipulation, reported that people's genetic information may be used without their information, or even worse, genetic materials could end up stolen and sold on the black market.
