Monday, November 15, 2010

Tampering with nature


http://www.csb.yale.edu/userguides/graphics/ribbons/help/dna_rgb.gif

DNA... it is a truly amazing thing, for without it, we wouldn't be who we are today. DNA shapes us for the better, or for the worse making us different from everyone else. If everyone had the same DNA then we would all be the same, there would be no differences, no way to tell yourself from somebody else. So is it right for us to be tampering with what makes us unique as human beings?



Recently, technology has evolved to detect what "genes" we have, and what "genes" our children will have. We can tell whether weak hearts are in our DNA, or whether we might live to 100 or only to 76. By knowing what is going to happen to us early, we can try to change what will happen to us in the future . For example if high cholestrol runs in your family then you will know to keep a healthy diet so as not to put as much pressure on your heart.


In the past ten years we have gone from analog to digital, 2d to 3d, and from not caring about the enviroment to trying to help all living creatures like tigers, pandas, and various kinds of fish( for more information on the enviroment follow http://ecoteensera.blogspot.com//). Now that we are able to see all of our "genes", how long will it be before we will be able to alter them? Should we progress so much that we can alter all of the animals we share Earth with? Will we lose some of our humanity if we are able to make ourselves out as the perfect human? Only time will decide when and if we will have this remarkable/horendous invention.

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