Public are afraid that the total completion of the human genome project will give scientists the opportunity to manipulate the human make-up. The whole issue of genetics frightens people because they feel it is the fact that scientists intend to play “God”. Looking at the legal issues concerning genetics in this country, there is no law in the United Kingdom to prevent or regulate human cloning by the technique know as cell nuclear replacement. Which is the same method that was used by scientists to produce dolly the sheep. Scientists claim that the completion of the human genome would not allow them to play “God” but to infact make life saving therapies for a wide range of disease conditions.
There can also be mutant genes in the DNA, which may cause irregularities in the final human. The Human Genome Project’s aim was to find out the order of nucleotides, in the DNA and when mutant genes occurred that gene could be eliminated/changed so the patient would recover and then the patient’s offspring would not have contracted that specific hereditary mutant gene. For example, if a person had cystic fibrosis, doctors could located the mutant gene responsible for this disease, change it to make it “normal” and then the person who has this mutant gene would survive and live a healthier life. Now that the odd gene has been changed, the children of that patient would have no risk of being passed on with cystic fibrosis. Although this sounds like a great idea, to cure people of horrific hereditary diseases, some individuals believe that it is wrong to alter the course of nature and create a “perfect race”. Another pro is that, the offspring of the victim would have no fear of having that mutant gene and therefore diseases such as Huntington’s could be wiped out for good. The down side of this is, scientists are playing the part of God and this may go against some religion’s belief. Also, they are trying to create a “perfect race” which could result in a boring, dull life for everyone. The opposite of this is that, why wouldn’t God want to cure its people after all Jesus was a healer, surely there is no harm in making people better.
The human genome project has also provoked religious feelings and views. The idea of any form of cloning, weather human or animal is seen as wrong in a religious point of view. This is because in most religions life is considered a gift from God, and by changing the genome of a germ cell you are playing God yourself, which is considered wrong because this is supposed to leave God to do his work without interference. This is going to be one of the major stumbling blocks for those who want this kind of ‘treatment’ to be available.
The organisers of the human genome project have taken all of the ethical social and legal issues into consideration. The department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health Genome Projects set aside 3 to 5% of their annual budgets to study the projects Ethical, Legal and Social issues. There have been new goals set by the research team regarding Ethical, legal and social issues which include:
Overall I think that the human genome project will be a success and I hope that the positive side will be clear when it is completed. Hopefully the findings will result in many lives being saved and an overall healthier population, as diseases could be eradicated. I feel that if the aims are reached and it benefits human well being, then I support the project. I do feel that there is a big risk in the human genome project, and I hope scientists do not get carried away with the project and spoil it for the public. I hope that the scientists involved will take into consideration the publics views before rushing to make a human clone. I feel that the public need time to settle on the results of the human genome project. If scientists show the benefits clearly then it has been a success.
