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Biomedicine английский. методичка.doc
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Pros and cons of genetic engineering

The techniques of genetic engineering may be utilized to manufacture a range of materials that can be used to treat diseases and disorders. In addition to insulin, human growth hormone is now produced by bacteria to allow all children to be treated. Among other hormones produced in this manner are erythropoietin, which controls red blood cell production, and calcitonin, which regulates the levels of calcium in the blood. Much research is taking place into the production of antibiotics and vaccines through recombinant DNA technology.

The scope of recombinant DNA technology is not restricted to the field of medicine. In agriculture, it is now possible to transfer genes which produce toxins with insecticidal properties from bacteria to higher plants such as potatoes and cotton. In this way these plants have 'built-in' resistance to certain insect pests.

There is no end of possibilities - transfer of genes conferring resistance to all manner of diseases, development of plants with more efficient rates of photosynthesis, the control of weeds are just some of the potential uses of recombinant DNA technology. There are however ethical as well as practical problems to be overcome before many of these ideas can be brought into practice.

The benefits of genetic engineering are obvious but there are also some hazards. It is impossible to predict with complete accuracy what ecological consequences may occur with releasing genetically engineered organisms into the environment. It is always possible that the delicate balance that exists in any habitat may be damaged by the introduction of organisms with new gene combinations.

Perhaps more real is the fear that the ability to manipulate genes could allow human characteristics and behaviour to be modified. In the wrong hands this could be used by individuals, groups or governments in order to achieve certain goals, control opposition or gain ultimate power.

Even without these dangers there are still ethical issues which arise from the development of recombinant DNA technology. Is it right to replace a 'defective' gene with a 'normal' one? Who decides what is 'defective' and what is 'normal'? Is there a danger that we shall in time reduce the variety so essential to evolution by the removal of unwanted genes? Where a gene probe detects a fetal abnormality, what criteria should be applied before deciding whether to carry out an abortion?

The challenge is to develop regulations and safeguards within moral boundaries which permit genetic engineering to be used in a safe and effective way to the benefit of both individuals in particular and humans in general.

Biology around us. Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project (HGP) is a massive international effort to identify and catalogue all the human genes and place them in their sequence along the 23 pairs of chromosomes. This will lay the foundations for finding out genes function to cause disease and uncover new approaches to prevention and cure. This will develop an understanding of inherited disease and genetic aspects of chronic disease such as cancer and heart disease. Perhaps we will be able to identify genes responsible for schizophrenia and other forms of mental illness. Will we begin to understand what makes a genius and learn more about our evolution? Will we learn to adjust the human life span? The basic work on the Human Genome Project is expected to be completed in the 21st century and then we will be faced with ethical concerns about what should be done with the information about an individual’s genetic make-up. Should it be confidential or should the family, the employer or the life insurance company have the information? Will DNA profiling create a bank of information and will people be eager to have ‘designed’ babies?

The benefits from the Human Genome Project could be enormous but all people, not just scientists, will need to be properly equipped to make the decisions that may face us in the future.

Speaking

1. Подготовьте сообщение (доклад, реферат) об истории развития теорий наследственности. Какие наблюдения (открытия) стали, по Вашему мнению, наиболее значимыми? Используйте таблицу «Historical review of the main events leading to present-day knowledge of reproduction and heredity» на стр. 35.

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