Natural?

The concept and processes of transgenesis, or genetic modification of humans has raised many controversies regarding the ethics of this practice. The main concern that seems to plague many individual’s thoughts on the topic is whether or not transgenesis is a “natural” thing for humans. Although many individuals are under the impression that the process of transgenesis is something that goes against human nature, it has been theorized that evolution itself is proof of transgenesis among many organisms, even humans (da Fonesca et al., 1).  Varieties of transgenesis have also been found to occur in prokaryotes such as bacteria and viruses, prokaryotes that many would deem natural, as well as common in human nature. For the individuals that would consider transgenesis to be an unnatural occurrence, it must also be understood that the risks associated with this process are not higher than other manipulations of people; education processes, surgical interventions, and cognitive therapy are all examples of human manipulation that pose risks to an individual’s well-being (da Fonesca et al., 1).

Although certain processes of transgenesis are looked upon as improving well-being, many of the authors agreed that the process of genetically engineering an embryo is one that is not viewed fondly. For example, it was discussed while antenatal screening has many benefits, including reduced risk to mothers and reduction of children born with burdensome conditions, it is ethically wrong when an individual terminates a pregnancy when a detected disease or disorder is not an untreatable, fatal disease of infancy (Zahedi, 2). If one were to terminate a pregnancy that did not pose a serious threat to herself or her child based on an antenatal screening, it would seem that the mother would be minimizing the actual benefits of the genetic screen and maximizing overall harm. Zahedi especially would be extremely opposed to this because he feels that we must use genetic screening and transgenesis to “maximize its benefits and minimize any harm” (Zahedi, 1). In order to truly increase one’s overall well-being, as well as maximize the benefits and minimize the harm of genetic screening and transgenesis, we must make sure that weary individuals are able to access the proper information about the issue itself and we must make sure these individuals properly understand the ways in which transgenesis can and ought to be used. To sum it up, “the problem does not lie in the tool itself, but in what use people will make of it” (da Fonesca et al., 10).