Nature/Nurture: Genes and Culture
March 9, 2011 by Jocin
The topic of genetics always reminds me of the movie Gattaca, featuring Jude Law and Uma Thurman. The movie is a satirical projection of a society that classifies humans based on genetic make up, segregating individuals with a better genetic make up from those of a ‘lower’ class of genetics. Ultimately in the film people with the better genetic coding are individuals that have better jobs, and people with a lesser quality of genes are used for menial occupations.
Although the Human Genome Project (HGP), (defined as is an international scientific research project with a goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA and to identify and map the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional standpoint), is something that seems virtually harmless in terms of research, there is always the possibility of something harmless becoming dangerous. I think the true issue arises when there are no genetic information gathering guidelines for individuals to follow. Therefore, something as awesome and informational as knowing what each sequence of DNA contributes to what, becomes tricky. The concern spills over to the topic of “designer” babies which although may seem logical for parents to circumvent specific diseases in their children, contributes to the idea of an individual playing God. I think a great deal of knowledge can come from the information on genes mentioned by LCC. The idea of dominant and recessive genes can gage the possible traits an individual may have, and information can probably be acquired without a blood test of any sort.
It gets confusing really, I mean it’s okay in once sense to figure out genes a child may have to prepare for the child itself, but when it comes to customizing the genes things get a little tricky. How far is too far? Is there an ethical guideline? Does this coincide with an individual’s rights for freedom? Most of the nation still has an issue with abortion saying it is murder, but what would something so advanced as knowing the traits of your child and customizing them be summed up as?
