Computer: Genetics Disorders
Go to http://resources.elearningontario.ca/ , log in and search for ELO1244260. Click the link.
Read the content (note anything that you need to remember). Now…
There are many ethical issues that surround the screening of genetic disorders and how individuals will deal with the results. Leaders in the areas of medicine, science, politics, and religion all have opinions, thoughts, and beliefs about what should and should not be allowed. As genetic research continues to increase our understanding of the human genome and medicine creates new options, more questions arise and complex ethical issues continue to come up.
In this assignment you will research some of the ethical issues that arise due to genetic research and you will share your opinions/thoughts about them with your classmates.
Assignment: Using the Internet as a resource, research at least 10 of the following issues that are related to genetic research.
- Abortion
- Artificial insemination
- Artificial life
- Assisted suicide
- Biopiracy
- Cloning
- Contraception (birth control)
- Eugenics
- Euthanasia (human, non-human animal)
- Gene therapy
- Genetically modified food
- Genetically modified organism
- Genomics
- Human cloning
- Human genetic engineering
- Infertility (treatments)
- Population control
- Reproductive rights
- Reprogenetics
- Sperm and eggs (donation)
- Stem cell research
Put research notes in your LiveBinders for all 10 in your LiveBinders. Write a paragraph sharing your opinion/thoughts for at least three of the ethical issues (one paragraph of at least 150 words per issue). Put these paragraphs under this post. You are required to comment to 3 other classmates posts – do you agree with your classmates or not – WHY? Explain your reasoning…
SMART Board: Mitosis and Meiosis Review
Work through and note: Mitosis Review…
Work through and note: Meiosis multimedia
Watch Meiosis Review (27 min)
Physical Lab: Human Heredity Traits
Go to 3 separate classrooms. Take a poll to find out who has what traits. Record the number of students that do/don’t. Follow the prompts on the worksheet of Human Heredity.
Now… Create your person using the worksheet!! Follow the directions and have fun!
MP3 Players: Genetics 101 and Spit!
- Watch the 4 Genetic 101 videos. You may need to watch them several times to get all the good information out of them. Note what may be important for later recall.
Genetics 101 – Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
- Watch ‘Mailing my Spit’. Write your emotional response to it. Would it be cool to be able to this, should you be able to do this?
- Watch ’23 and Me – 1 year follow up’. What good points does she make about this type of testing. Is she a ‘happy customer’ when it comes to the results. Did she find anyone in her ‘family tree’?
Abortion- I think that when someone has an abortion they should be able to say yes or no without parental consent if they would like this done before the age of 18. I think that when you are going to have an abortion that you should think about what effects it may have on you. There are many side effects after an abortion and this includes depression. You have to be physically and mentally prepared to have an abortion. I think that if you are second guessing yourself about the abortion that you should give it more thought. I think that if you for sure that you want the abortion you should look into how much it costs first to see if this is what you really want to do. I think that you also have to think about what may happen in the future also. In the future you will also have to remember that it may bother you to have a child and you may get into a vicious cycle of having abortions.
Artificial Insemination- I think that artificial insemination has it’s ups and downs. Sometimes the insemination works and then other times it doesn’t work at all. I think that if someone wants to get artificial insemination that they should take this seriously. Sometimes when you get artificial insemination the semen can be bad causing problems. I think that there should be an age limit in when a female is aloud to be artificially inseminated. I find that sometimes there are girls who are real young who have artificial insemination and then they aren’t really ready for motherhood. I think that before you have this done you should look at what you are going to deal with for a while. You will have to take care of a child right up to adulthood.
Contraception- I think that when you take birth control it is a good idea. I think that this should be used in many places. There are many people who need to use birth control but can’t afford to use it and I think that there should be a program for it. I think that birth control is a good idea because some people who keep getting pregnant could really use but they can’t afford it. I also like the idea that it makes your periods a bit lighter to. I really think that birth control was available to everyone. If birth control was available to everyone would use it.
Euthanasia
I believe human euthanasia is a completely ethical process. If you ask me allowing some one to die of extreme pain is the unethical thing. If someone is in so much pain they would rather be put out of their misery I think they should have that option available to them. I believe the main reason euthanasia is such a controversial issue is religion. It is a sin to commit suicide, and a large percent of the population is Christian. In my opinion its dumb that people must suffer just because some are afraid they may be punished if they allow euthanasia. In many parts of the world they have assisted suicide and it has worked out, I hope one day we see the benefits of this.
Human Cloning
Cloning humans just sounds like a bad idea in its self. Making a copy of yourself would be dangerous, you would both have a strong will to live and who would say which one does. If you plan to use the copy for spare organs (the only good that could come from cloning yourself), and your clone found out he may try to stop you, or take your place and make you the spare organs in meat (that’s how the clone would be viewed). Or maybe the government could have a stock of never ending troops, aha! Think again. Whatever it took to corrupt or instill fear into that soldier would stop the whole army. Cloning will almost always backfire and I don’t see a good use for it at all.
GMO (genetically modified organism)
This is a very interesting science, changing the genetic material of an organism to get a new creature is fascinating, it offers all kinds of new things for us, and helped us in the pass with a creation of insulin. We could do things like changing the genetic code of cattle to yield better/more milk or meat, or making gold fish glow (not really useful but its freaking cool!). There is some unforeseen consequences, but when isn’t there in a new technology its just part of the science.
Abortion
I think abortion is ethical up to a certain point. If the fetus is fully developed, an abortion should not take place, but if it is a young fetus that does not have any organs then it is fine. The fetus is hardly a living thing, and is incapable of awareness or memory. If a person had no knowledge of childbirth and child bearing then he could not tell you what it felt like in the womb or what it felt like to be born. Even a person who has a knowledge of pregnancy and child birth could not tell you what it felt to be a fetus, or what it felt like to be birthed , and I do not believe that an undeveloped fetus is aware that it is being cut up. It could be argued that the heart starts beating early in the development but a heart is useless without physical feeling.
Reprogenetics
I do not think this is ethical. I think people should be made naturally. I am also thinking of how much people would brag about their “super” child. If you could make it so you have a child who is born smart, muscular, and has all the more attractive parts of the face, then people would still act like they were the one who made that child. It is almost cheating in a way, and to me it would not feel like it is my child, but my child changed just so he can be a super mutant. Also it could go wrong, because the whole body is connected.
Human cloning
Human cloning is creating genetically identical humans. This is wrong. This is the reason reproductive cells go through meiosis and one pair of chromosomes in humans and other animals are non-homologous. If everyone one were the same, everyone would have the same problems. They could think differently, and want to take part in different activities but their problems and ideals would be identical. If one clone was very susceptible to a disease then all of them are. There are too many problems involved in cloning.
Artificial Insemination
I think artificial insemination is a great way for animals and humans to have children. It can be good for women who are self conscious about there bodies. Most farmers use artificial insemination to breed animals because the sperm has a greater chance of impregnating women and often the male will increase the chances of better genetics in the baby.
For example: A weak dairy cow, gets and AI to a genetically strong bull which increase the baby’s potential to be stronger then its mother and a better milk producer.
Artificial insemination is good for women with no male partner, or a partner who’s husband can’t produce sperm. It is good for both partners as it increases self esteem, and better chances of fertility. Sperm samples donated in this way are produced through masturbation by the sperm donor at the sperm bank. A chemical known as a cryoprotectant is added to the sperm to aid the freezing and thawing process. Artificial Insemination is also good for women because if they don’t want to be pregnant until a certain date or time the sperm can be frozen.
Abortion
I think an abortion is ethical for certain reasons. If it was a young mother who had no family support what so ever and couldn’t financially afford to have a baby, an abortion might be worth looking into. However if it was an older mother around the age of 40 who knew the risks of her child developing birth defects and really didn’t want to chance it. If she was only 1-4 months along i would say go for it. If she already had children and it was an unexpected pregnancy. My reasoning for this is because i don’t think it would affect her physically but mentally she might have emotional troubles for a while,and if she had a supportive family they could help her cope. Baby wise, it wouldnt be fully developed yet, and with genetic chances of birth defects around 40 it might be less painfull on the mother in the long run. I don’t think some women really think it over when the abord because often they later regret it in life if they could have supported the child and may have serious depression.
Contraception
I also believe contraception is ethical. Yes it is birthcontrol. In many countrys like Sam said they should have programs providing it. It could lead to less sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/ Aids etc. However i don’t think birthcontrol necessarily works for everyone. The simpliest things can lead you to still getting pregnant whether its not taking the pill at the right time, or immunity to the pill. For example: I personally know a girl who was on birth control. She somehow managed to get pregnant unexpectedly. She didn’t know she was pregnant until missing her menstrual cycles…. this later lead to a misscarriage possibly because she was still taking the pill while pregnant. Personally i think it works for most people, IF they can afford it and use it properly. Yes in some countries people could use it and mortality rates might decrease in women who can’t properly deliver a baby.