There are many kinds of scientists. Zoologists, oceanographers, astronomers, and physicists are just a few of the examples that one could name. However, somewhere within that long list of scientists is a biotechnology technician. He’s going to tell you about how genetic engineering will change the future. He’ll tell you it’s the biggest leap mankind has ever made since we learned how to make fire. Although, the big question is genetic engineering only made up of positive aspects or are has genetic engineering, also known as biotechnology, been sugar-coated by those who support this research? The simple answer to that is yes. People are unaware of the dangers of biotechnology because of all the media references to all the “good” biotechnology can do.

If you, like many people, don’t know much about genetic engineering outside of movies, many consequences to genetic engineering fail to come to mind. These forgotten factors are: dangers, environmental harm, social consequences, the lack of ability from world governments to properly monitor this technology, the loss of bio-diversity, and the overall devaluation of life, further propelled by the buying and selling of genes.

First, let us take a look at the harmful consequences of genetic engineering on humans and animals. There is the obvious issue of danger. We just don’t know about how organisms work to be able to move on with something like this. What would the life of a genetically engineered person look like? What of their offsprings? Just by chance, we could end up with a person or animal who is ‘defective’. Could we end up consuming animals that are unhealthy, filled with hormones and disease causing material? The answer is that no one knows. All we can do is guess but is it really worth playing a lottery if a life is at stake?

For example, when the first cloned sheep- Dolly- was created, the sheep’s mother rejected the cells dozens upon dozens of times. This means that the sheep said “What the hell is this?” and spontaneously rejected the offspring. Now, imagine the uproar if this were to one day happened with children? Yet, the scary part is that if this could happen to children once the technology we have today moves onto another stage.

This leads me to my next point. Let’s just say that, yes, scientists have managed to create perfect children using genetic engineering. However, we’d be faced with a whole new type of discrimination: one that’s not based on the colour of your skin, your gender, or by your mother tongue but instead by you genes. Just because medical information is kept private doesn’t not mean that genetic information will be kept in the same context. Going to a job, they won’t care about what you have done. They will only care about what you could do. Now think of the huge difference between what you could do and what you can do. There is a substantial difference. No longer will every child born into this world will be given the same expectations. No longer will each child be given the equal opportunity to shine.

Again, people in favour of this technology will question, if every child is the same, why would this matter? In this case, another issue is raised. We will lose our bio-diversity. No longer will you have people of different heights, skin tones, eye colours, and so forth. We may end up looking like clones. Would individual humans be considered as valuable if they were alike? Why would someone care if ‘John’ were to die? We could then always create an identical John the second. Furthermore, people with ‘favourable’ genes could be turned into a marketing scheme, with genes being bought and sold legally and illegally.

The last reason why biotechnology should be condemned that I will be covering today is the evidence that it will lead to unwanted restrictions on society. There have been instances where people have been banned from having children due to their medical history or disabilities. Negative eugenics means the people found to have ‘undesirable’ genes could be sterilized, becoming outcasts in society. It can even lead to genocide, forced abortions and pregnancies, marriage restrictions, and segregation.

Sounds like something out of a movie? Well it’s not. Negative eugenics takes place today and has taken place throughout history. It happened in Nazi Germany, where Nazis sterilized millions of mentally and physically ‘unfit’ people or murdered them. In 1907, certain individuals were sterilized. Sixty thousand Americans had been sterilized in all. In Canada, the sterilization kept going until 1972! Today, this example of eugenics is a reality in Dor Yeshori.

As of now, we are getting closer and closer to regularly using biotechnology. Who knows? It may even one day become nothing out of the ordinary: something that won’t even be mentioned day to day. However, I think that Albert Einstein said it best: “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity