Biological Risks
There is a wide variety of biological risks associated with genetic modifications. There may be irreversible genetic changes that get passed from generation to generation with germline treatment/enhancement. New diseases may be introduced, although it is impossible to predict what they may be until they appear. Pleiotropic effects of genes are well known. For example, the gene for sickle cell anemia confers resistance to malaria. If this gene is expunged more people could die. Given the inherent variability of the technology, a new gene could insert into the targeted genome in a way that could lead to deleterious interactions with other genes. It is thus difficult for scientists to accurately predict the outcomes of genetic modification because genes operate in partnership with many other genes and the environment.
Read more about this topic: Designer Baby
Famous quotes containing the words biological and/or risks:
“Much of the ill-tempered railing against women that has characterized the popular writing of the last two years is a half-hearted attempt to find a way back to a more balanced relationship between our biological selves and the world we have built. So women are scolded both for being mothers and for not being mothers, for wanting to eat their cake and have it too, and for not wanting to eat their cake and have it too.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“There are risks which are not acceptable: the destruction of humanity is one of them.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)