Term Papers on Genetic Engineering

Term Paper Title	Genetic Engineering
# of Words	1077
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.31

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, one of the most recent technological
sciences, is now a great issue in society.  While the effects of
it can be very helpful in some ways, it can also cause many
problems.  In spite of potential risks, genetic engineering

should be allowed in some fields of science.

      Collier's Encyclopedia defines genetic engineering as

"recombinant DNA technology, the application of biochemical and

genetic techniques to alter the chromosomal materials, the basic

genetic substance of cells" (Kornberg 1993, 620-621).  Genetic

engineering has been applied in various areas such as in plants,

animals, and now even in humans.  The MacGregor's tomatoes, the

first genetically engineered food product to be sold commer-

cially, are now available in supermarkets across America.

Though the tomatoes start out regularly, they are artificially

ripened with ethylene gas.  An extra gene is also added to make

them firm enough to handle shipping ("Consumer Reports" 1995,

480-481).  The first animal genes to be combined with other

genes, in this case the genes of the E. Coli bacteria, was a

toad.  After combining the genes of the toad with the E. Coli

genes, the toad showed both the composition of the toad and the

E. Coli.  These transgenic genes, or foreign genes obtained from

another animal, can be transferred in three different ways - by

injection into a fertilized egg, by using a virus to carry the

gene with it into a cell,  or by utilizing the unspecialized stem

cells from an

embryo (Kornberg 1993, 620-621).  Last but not least comes the

genetic engineering of human beings.  "One microscopic cell - a

fertilized egg - contains all the information needed to produce a

complete working human, and long before birth, that cell develops

into a fetus that itself contains the potential for millions of

humans to come," says World Press Review (Radford 1994, 22-23).

Tinkering with genetic material may soon allow us to select

characteristics in our children, and possibly even in ourselves.

"Gene therapy could become the cosmetic surgery of the next

century," says George Annas of Boston University (Olson and

Gershon 1994, 6-7).

      There are many advantages of genetic engineering.  Many

reported the MacGregor tomatoe to be slightly better-tasting than

regular tomatoes found in supermarkets.  Thanks to the extra gene

added to these tomatoes, MacGregor's tomatoes are slightly

firmer, allowing them to survive shipping for up to ten days

longer than usual ("Consumer Reports" 1995, 480-481).  Other

vegetables with rapid growth and ripening rates have also been

produced by genetic engineering (Olson and Gershon 1994, 6-7).

By genetically altering genes, scientists have found ways to

produce interferons, a natural protein that fights viral

infections, and may be used in the future as a possible cure for

AIDS.  Genetically engineered insulin is now being used in

treatments for diabetes.  Scientists have also been able to

produce a vaccine for hepatitis, an otherwise incurable disease.

Along with producing the human growth hormone, the only known

treatment for pituitary dwarfism, recombinant DNA techniques have

produced a bacteria that is helpful in cleaning up oil spills

(Kornberg 1993, 620-621).  Also through genetic engineering,

plants have been redesigned to produce plastics instead of food.

Scientists have recently succeeded in alt...

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