The Website

For genetic engineering there are a lot of websites. The best website for a person that is interested in genetic engineering is http://www.genengnews.com/ because it is easy to use, it is up to date, and has reliable information.

The website is a business in which was crated in 1981. There job is to altruistically inform the public about what is happening today with genetic engineering and biotechnology. You can subscribe to them to get there magazines. Someone can find this information online or on print from Gen. The issues come out two times a month but only once in July, August, and December so this magazines are current. There are a few sponsors and they are all science base. This website is laid out so it is easy to use but some times it is difficult to find information. It has the main topics on the top of the website that will lead you in your search. The website in not really visual appealing but it will inform you. This website is banal compared to other websites. Also since the website has articles, they are well right and edited. The information on the website is correct but there does seem to have a bias opinion towards genetic engineering. The website favors genetic engineering. This website is good for finding recent information on genetic engineering or if you just want to learn about it.

In conclusion the website look credible but its sponsors and all the people working on it has a PHD. The main reason why it is credible is because it is constantly up to date. Visit this website.

What is happening currently?

Today we are still modifying and messing with genes. What you might ask? Well currently scientists are trying to break the genetic code for the potatoes. It sounds so simply but it is one of the hardest tasks scientists have faced. The potato has 840 million DNA base pairs, while humans have 3 billion DNA pairs. In other words potatoes are pretty sophisticated. Breaking this code is really important. Potatoes are the world’s third most important crop under wheat and rice. If we can break the code we can make it resistant against droughts and diseases. Also the cost of potatoes will go down.

Another very important issue we are debating is engineering animals as food. The government is saying that we are close to allowing genetically modified animals as food. So we would put in a gene from another animal to elicit a certain trait. For example the might add in a gene to a fish so it can grow faster. This being said the government also says that this meat will not be labeled. So you might get a genetically modified piece of meat and you do not even know it. Jean Halloran, the director of food policy for Consumers Union had this to say, "They are talking about pigs that are going to have mouse genes in them, and this is not going to be labeled?” Can the government really exploit the public like that? Unless we do something about this we might as well eat mouse genes.

REUTERS, IST. "Race to crack potato's gene code." The Times of India. 14 Sept. 2008. 20 Sept. 2008 .

"FDA to review genetically engineered animals as food." Chron. 18 Sept. 2008. 20 Sept. 2008 .

History

The beginning of genetic engineering opened doors that we would never imaged come be opened. The first time genetic engineering techniques were applied was in 1970. Ever since then humans now have the power to destroy something from the inside as well as the outside. The numbers of doors are endlessness. Having control of genetics means you can make a slow growing plant fast or make a cow give more milk. With something this big wouldn’t you think the government should inform the public? Well they don’t. Most of genetic engineering is under military use which limits the informant we obtain. In 1970 (well it all began) leaders of biomedical research had an encounter to discuss the social and ethical issues. As strikes being formed genetic engineers died down but they were soon working for the National Institutes of Heath in 1976. Controversy popped up every where. As smart as the scientist are they were able to find loopholes to get around this. Some scientists adamantly believe that genetic engineer will do well. The scientists said that thanks to genetic engineering we have made a vaccine for hepatitis B, and that in the future we might find a cure for AIDS or malaria.

In 1994 the genetically engineered tomatoes so they can be on the selves for a long period of time. This of course made the headlines. Should we genetically modify our food? In some cases it can help, for example they sprayed cotton with something called herbicides which alters the cotton’s DNA so that is can be resistant to bromoxynil. They sprayed millions of acres with that. But there is a downside to this. Herbicides have toxics that mess with the plants and animals. It also contaminates water supplies and destroys wildlife habitats. So as you can tell genetic engineering has its ups and downs just like everything else. One can learn from the past so we won’t make that mistake again.

Wright, Susan. "Genetic Engineering Could be Dangerous." Opposing Views. 1998. .

McMillan, Faith. "Ethics of Genetic Engineering." Newspaper Source Plus. 1999. .

Introduction to genetics

As human become smarter and are able to do things they only imagined, ethical questions pops up. I am talking about genetic engineering. Genetic engineering is when we mess with the gene structure of a living thing. We have used it on corn so it can grow bigger. We have also added a gene to a fish to make it glow in the dark. But when you really think about this is it ethical to do all this? Is it ethical to mess with the genetics of a plant so we can use it to our advantage? Are we trying to playing God's role by doing this? Who should decide if this is ethical or not? Who has the power to stop this or keep it going? This are questions I plan to answer in my research. As a student that is interested in science, this topic is based on science. I hope one day I can become a scientist and put in my own information for this topic.