Human Genome Project- Are its benefits Greater than the Damage that can Occur?

The Human Genome Project is the mapping of the approximate 100,000 genes found on human chromosomes. The 13-year project begun in 1990, by scientists in bases all over the world, one of the most important are the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, European Union, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Sweden, and United Kingdom. The project was planned to last fifteen years, but rapid technological advances confirm the genes all genes will be located by 2003.

A genome is all the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) in an organism. Genes carry information necessary for the making of making the proteins that determine how an organism looks, how well its body metabolizes food, fights diseases, and even how one behaves. The research done by this problem will benefit biologists and scientists in other field for generations to come. It will provide detailed DNA information that will be the key to understanding the structure, organization, and function of DNA in our 26 pairs of chromosomes. Gene maps of other organisms will provide the basis for comparative studies that serve for understanding complex biological systems.

However, some ethical or religious, legal, and social issues will arise. There is question about the fairness in the use of genetic information by insurance companies, employers, courts, schools, adoption agencies, law enforcement and military. Who will have access to your genetic information, and how will they use it? This is one of the legal arguments that are still to be decided. Religious problems are based on the idea that babies should be fertilized naturally, be born naturally, and die if God intended that for them. With the new technologies, parents will be able to view their offspring s+ life before they are born, killing them if their futures don t look worthy- a great example is the abortion of down-syndrome babies. Social issues have developed with the studies of overpopulation. If diseases are cured, only the healthy are bred, and people who shouldn t have been able to reproduce do so, then the social and economic structure of the world will be greatly affected by overpopulation, and lack of sources from Earth to support such a large mass of humans. We are also aiming for the perfect race , which is what we fought against sixty years ago. The physical appearance of fetuses can be altered to have beautiful babies causing religious, legal, and social conflicts with people who are in favor against people who aren t.

So now it is up to each of one of us to decide whether we are for or against the effects the HGP will have on our society. If we cannot stop the project, at least we can take advantage of the situation and use the information correctly.