Genetic Engineering Outline

Thesis Statement:

Genetic Engineering is the intentional manipulation of Genetic Material. Human understanding on this subject is very minute. Any interference in a person’s genes may cause irreversible damage, outweighing benefits of genetic engineering such as eradication of diseases, hunger, hereditary defects and nutritious food.

I. Genetic Engineering has many potential applications in agriculture, including novel foods, pesticides, and animal drugs.
a. Agricultural benefits include plants engineered for herbicide tolerance or insect resistance.
b. Bacteria are engineered to produce drugs for livestock.
c. Animals are engineered for leaner meat.

II. Manipulation of genetics can lead to newer technologies like biotechnology and cloning, which can pose benefits and risks to the ecosystem.
a. Biotechnology is the use of any biological processes to produce a desired result.
i. Biotechnology increases productivity in a world that I currently drowning in too much grain.
ii. Biotechnology will be aimed at improving qualities of crops, including nutrition, and agronomic performance.
b. Cloning is the production of progeny that is genetically identical with a signal progenitor.
i. Cloning may someday be used to reverse the aging process.
ii. Embryonic stem cells can be grown to produce organs or tissues to repair or replace damaged ones.
iii. With cloning, infertile couples could have children.
iv. Because of human cloning and its technology the days of silicone breast implants and other cosmetic procedures that may cause immune diseases should soon be over.

III. Even though there are many advantages of genetic engineering, risks outweigh its benefits.
a. Genetic Engineering may pose risks that we simply do not know enough to identify.
b. The introduction of a new gene into a plant, or a change in the expression of an existing gene may cause that plant to become allergenic.
c. Genes introduced into GM plants might become incorporated into the consumer’s genetic make-up.
d. It has been suggested that the introduction of viral DNA sequences into GM plants would produce new viruses through recombination (gene exchange) either with the remnants of viral DNA sequence that are commonly found in genomes of all species or with naturally infecting plant and animal viruses. There are however natural barriers to this process.
e. It is possible that GM technology could lead to unpredictable harmful changes in the nutritional states of food.

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