The application of transgenic technology to medicine is rarely discussed. Much of the reason, I think, is that many people donโt even know it exists in that context, and those who do donโt understand it well enough to debate it. There does, however, need to be some discussion here of the technology as it is used in food production. While at first glance, there is no apparent relation to the application to humans, the ideological resistance against the transgenic technologies across the board stem from the fear of those used in agriculture.
Humans have been modifying plants and animals for as long as anyone can see, historically. The furthest archaeological evidence we have is of the grey wolf, which was domesticated around 12,000 BCE. Throughout the early agricultural period in the first civilizations, humans have altered wild plants to their needs using the concepts behind evolutionary theory long before Charles Darwin. Transgenic techniques, the idea of making changes specifically at the level of the gene in order to select for traits, however, didnโt come about until the 1970s.
There are several different illnesses that are well known and can potentially be prevented using these methods. Some of the big ones are anemia, which involves having a low red blood cell count, diabetes, which is a chronic condition that relates to levels of blood sugar, and allergies. These are common and long term ailments that, if we can change a human at the genetic level prior to birth to prevent, would be able to be eliminated for the betterment of humankind.
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The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis. Read full, original post: In a Genetically Perfect World
