Biotechnology, Genetics, and Human Cloning

Nacorda, Jenny T.
BSAIS-III
1. What was the Human Genome Project? What was its primary goal?

Human Genome Project has matured and has unearthed a gold mine of genetic information.
Researchers have traced genetic connections of varying degrees to hundreds of diseases.
Insuring genetic privacy and confidentiality has essentially been accomplished, but there are
still issues about what to do with all this potentially life-changing information.The goal of the
project was to map the entire human genetic code, thereby finding as many genetic links and
predispositions to disease as possible.

2. What is the difference between a genetic link and a genetic predisposition?

A genetic link is the tendency of DNA sequences that are close together on a chromosome to
be inherited together during the meiosis phase of sexual reproduction. While, genetic
predisposition is an increased likelihood of developing a particular disease based on a person's
genetic makeup. A genetic predisposition results from specific genetic variations that are often
inherited from a parent.

3. What is the argument for maintaining a person’s genetic privacy?

The reason for protecting privacy is that a person’s genetic makeup constitutes the sacred
ground of a person’s identity. In view of the biblical teaching on the existence of both body and
soul, however, a person who wishes to be consistent with Scripture should be very careful about
accepting the prevailing scientific assumptions of this kind of genetic reductionism.

4. What are the various types of prenatal genetic testing available today?

Prenatal care for expecting mothers now routinely includes prenatal genetic testing women.
Simple blood tests like the AFP test (alpha-f) are among them. Ultrasound imaging of the
unborn kid in the womb, as well as more intrusive procedures like amniocentesis, in which
amniotic fluid is scooped out from the woman's abdomen with a needle and the baby's proteins
are examined, are all used to discover serious defects like spina bifida.

5. What does a couple have to gain by having prenatal genetic tests performed?

Prenatal genetic testing help couole make a decision about continuing the pregnancy. It is
not unusual for couples to decide to end a pregnancy when faced with the news that their child
has a genetic anomaly. This was one of the difficult decisions that the couple in the second
scenario in the introduction faced.

6. What are some of the moral concerns about using genetic testing to decide whether to end a
pregnancy?

Tests that are both genetic and nongenetic can reveal details about a person's potential
medical future. Accordingly, some authors have come to the conclusion that a lot of genetic
test findings "may cause stigmatization, family strife, and psychological misery.

7. Why do disability rights advocates become nervous about prenatal genetic testing?

As the numerous advocacy groups for the disabled have long contended, for a child with a
genetic defect there is no necessary connection between disability and unhappiness. In fact,
many disabled persons are happy with their lives and find some of their purpose for living in
overcoming their challenges

8. What is preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PDG)?

Couples who have a history of genetic disease or have had one or more genetically
anomalous children can choose another way to procreate. Instead of attempting to conceive a
child naturally, they can undergo in vitro fertilization and have the embryos screened for genetic
disorders prior to implantation. This procedure is known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis
(PGD)

9. What reproductive technology is necessary to use with PGD?

In order to have embryos to biopsy for PGD/PGS, patients must undergo in vitro fertilization
(IVF). After fertilization of the egg with sperm, embryos are allowed to develop into cleavage-
stage embryos

10. What is the difference between gene addition and gene correction?

Conventional gene therapy in past experimental protocols was performed with what is
called gene addition. While, gene correction is a technique that relies on the creation of a break
at a specific site in the DNA.

11. How would you distinguish between somatic cell gene therapy and germ line gene therapy?

Conventional gene therapy was costly, since repeated treatments were necessary,
inefficient since much of the genetic “payload” dropped into the body never found its mark, and
risky since genetic interactions were not always predictable. This germ line aspect of the
technology raised concerns about the procedure’s safety in embryos, particularly since the
genetic changes, both intended and unintended, would be inheritable by successive generations.

12. What are some examples of biotechnology being used for enhancement instead of
treatment?

These are. brain drugs are known as “cognitive enhancers” and include the ADD drugs
Adderall and Ritalin, beta-blockers such as Inderal, and Aricept, which is used to treat the
memory loss in Alzheimer’s patients. Enhancing already existing traits does not seem the same
as reversing or alleviating the effects of the entrance of sin. Rather, enhancement therapies
attempt to improve some already existing condition that falls within normal human parameters.

13. Why is the treatment-enhancement distinction not an adequate criterion for the moral
evaluation of biotechnology?

The same could be said for male pattern baldness. It is hard to have a problem with
treatments to restore hair growth, though it is not clear that baldness is a result of the entrance
of sin into the world. Using this same criterion, it is not difficult to justify many forms of
cosmetic surgery that offset the effects of aging, which is a result of the general entrance of sin
into the world. Y

14. List some of the concerns with enhancement biotechnologies.

There are, however, some general points of concern when it comes to the widespread use
of enhancement biotechnologies. First is the concern about safety of their use, second concern
has to do with fairness, particularly when it comes to the use of biotechnology in competitive
situations, such as sports or academics, A related concern has to do with the access to these
technologies, a tension that is perhaps clearest when it involves expensive genetic therapies,
Further concerns include how enhancement “short-cuts” can undercut the notions of hard work
and achievement, thereby undermining important and widely held moral values that are seen as
foundational to our flourishing.

15. How is procreative cloning different from therapeutic cloning (discussed in ch. 5)?

Reproductive cloning involves creating an animal that is genetically identical to a donor

animal through somatic cell nuclear transfer.

16. Describe the process of somatic cell nuclear transfer.

In genetics and developmental biology, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) is a laboratory
strategy for creating a viable embryo from a body cell and an egg cell. The technique consists
of taking an enucleated oocyte egg cell and implanting a donor nucleus from a somatic body
cell

17. Does procreative cloning constitute “playing God”? Explain your answer.

Question whether cloning violates a person’s right to his or her unique genetic identity. It is
unclear whether the charge of playing God can be maintained, since it is not an accident but
under God’s sovereignty and common grace that science has developed this technology.
Further, the “violation” of one’s unique genetic endowment does occur naturally when identical
twins or triplets are produced. However, the notion of children as begotten and not
manufactured suggests that cloning is problematic and deserves further moral reflection before
proceeding.

18. What are some of the reasons someone would engage in procreative cloning? Which ones
are morally acceptable?

Reasons why someone would want to engage in procreative cloning, apart from the more
obvious reasons, such as curiosity seeing whether it could be done and narcissism the desire to
copy oneself and approach something like immortality; Helping to make infertility treatments
more efficient and less costly and Providing embryos for research.