Sample Essay On Human Genetic Engineering

The quest for genetic perfection and biological immortality have obsessed scientists for eons of time. Technology and infrastructure are mere proofs of that. It is almost a primal need for man to strive for perfection, for example, in the genetic engineering whereby the idea of creating designer babies, building better athletes through gene doping and testing for traits unrelated to disease.
Human genetic engineering, for the major part, is ethical. No moral argument can refute the fact that testing for traits relating to diseases and eliminating them or finding ways to suppress them is necessary for the survival of mankind. It helps improve the quality of life as human beings can plan their futures. It is also not ethically or morally wrong to want to have children who are healthy. However, the pertinent concern is whereby human genetic engineering is used in the pursuit of perfection in an unnecessary manner.
It is unethical for medical researchers to obsess about building better athletes, testing for traits unrelated to disease such as eye color and having perfect designer babies when there are more incurable illnesses that shorten the life span of man. This is because if human genetic engineering is used in such a manner, it seeks to create a utopia. Human beings have to pose and think, if we all have the chance to be the best, then who will come second? All athletes would have to win gold medals or sue their doctors, most parents would want geniuses for children, who would thereafter mow these geniuses’ lawns or clean their houses?
Human genetic engineering is a search for perfection that will forever elude mankind as we all end up dead. It is, therefore, prudent to concentrate on the advantageous side of genetic engineering such as curing and preventing illnesses than worrying about the eye color of the next generation.