Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Kristopher L. Charles
Professor Pamela Reed
Composition I, 0800-0915
September 16, 2015
Standing Views on Oocyte Modification
Charles, 2
many peoples opinions, violate all the principles on which humanity has
founded itself; many have claimed that this is playing God and condemning
all future generations. All while the FDA has basically stated that morals and
opinions do not have a place inside of scientific discussion.
Charles, 3
FDA recognizes that there are ethical and social policy issues related
to genetic modification of eggs and embryos and that these issues have the
potential to affect regulatory decisions; however, such issues are outside the
scope of this meeting. (Food and Drug Administration, 2014) The FDA has
made it very clear that all opinions and moral objections have no room or
place in whether or not this technique is okay to be used on the homosapian
race or explored further before going into human trials. FDA views these
matters as they are scientific and factual. Any and all opinion, which are
always changing with the times and people in every generation, have little to
no value when it comes to the advancement of our knowledge and
advancement as a species. Opinions are flimsy and can be changed at the
drop of a hat. All the while facts are forever and solid. They have and are
tested perpetually by all kinds of individual. Which goes to show the
consistency of this knowledge. Though it may change, it will only change
with the growth of our knowledge in that field of research. Not like opinions,
they will change with the different vantage points of life for every single
individual on this planet. This causes a very unreliable scope of
information. It gives no real reliable input. Only what an individual,
normally without any real research, thinks is okay to do; which calls into
question all of the value of everything that is not factual in the scientific
field. So the FDA tossing out anything that is not factual is completely
Charles, 4
understandable. FDA cannot have any data that is questionable when it
comes to a serious and impacting subject such as this.
"What the Chinese did is they took human embryos that harbored a
mutation that cause a certain blood disorder and they literally went in and
very precisely cut out the bad piece and replaced it with a good piece to
eliminate that particular disorder," Eric Schadt, director of the Icahn Institute
for Genomics and Multi-scale Biology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York,
explained on "CBS This Morning." (Welch, A., 2015) Even though this
experiment was done on a non-fertile embryo this was still considered
extremely controversial. The Chinese are the first to perform any experiment
like this on a human embryo. This is a huge first step for this Reproductive
Genetics field. With this experiment will come all kinds of ifs, buts, and canwes? This is being viewed by all communities, whether negatively or
positively put, a stepping stone to greater pathways in this field. This will
give rise to the capabilities, if allowed, to cure diseases before they are ever
handed down; to give someone, who would otherwise not be capable of, a
life. It would in fact be at the same scale of giving someone their freedom
and independence. These scientists are aiming directly at major diseases
such as Huntingtons Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Anemia, Tay Sachs
Disease, etc.
Charles, 5
Each side of this topic has valid points in their own perspective. Some
back their opinions up with morals. Others reason purely with moral opinions
and teachings handed down through generations. With the FDA making it
clear that opinions and morals have no place when it comes to this topic, it
seems to add fuel to the fire on the opposing sides of the Oocyte
Reproduction technique. This argument of morals seems to have been put
aside due to the preference of fact over moral opinion. Yet, it seems, the
discussions and guideline changes might just be starting to heat up as
advancements are made and laws are questioned in this field.
Charles, 6
References
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/designer-
baby-controversy-scientists-edit-genome-of-human-embryo/
http://www.aaplog.org/get-involved/letters-to-
members/fda-explores-oocyte-modification-in-assisted-reproduction/