Essay on Human Genetic Screening and Discrimination in...

Human Genetic Screening and Discrimination in Gattaca Works Cited Missing A few months ago I watched a movie called Gattaca, which dealt with the issue of genetic discrimination in the near future. In the movie, people were separated into two classes, those that were genetically screened and positively altered before birth and the class that was unaltered. The separate classes had stark divisions, from what jobs that you were able to apply for to where you could eat. Security was aimed at keeping unaltered people away from the enhanced people. Knowledge about who and what you are was done by instant genetic genotyping that tells anyone everything that they want to know about a person’s genome from a small sample of blood or a hair†¦show more content†¦So far, there are relatively few people who have been genotyped already, and those that have usually have their information withheld from insurance companies as a precaution. Genetic screening is done with RFLP analysis. RFLP stands for Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism. RFLP analysis is used to find an identifiable pattern of fragments (an RFLP) that indicates a genetic marker. The genetic marker is unique and is inherited in all people with a disorder or disease. The RFLP comes from a strand of DNA near a suspected gene location that has been cut with a restriction enzyme into smaller pieces. The pieces of DNA are separated using gel electrophoresis into their distinctive bands. The RFLP is a distinctive pattern of the fragments in the gel. All people with the disorder or disease have the RFLP pattern, it is written in stone or in this case, DNA. DNA bands are studied to determine if a person has a disease, is a carrier, has no prior deposition to the disease, or if they will develop the disease in the future. A detailed human map is being developed by scientists worldwide who are contributing information to the human genome project. The human ge nome project is an attempt to map out every gene on every chromosome of the human genome. It is going slowly, but growth in knowledge of the genome is growing exponentially every year. Along with the growth, we are accumulating knowledge about moreShow MoreRelatedGattaca1123 Words   |  5 PagesGattaca examines science, religion, genetic engineering and ethics. By opening the movie Gattaca with quotations from Willard Gaylin and Ecclesiastes, director Andrew Niccol invites us to ponder the tension between science and religion with regard to the ethics of genetic engineering. This tension is further sustained through the complex relationship of the main protagonists Vincent and Eugene, who must ultimately conquer their own physical limitations in order to find ``God. As the titlesRead More Genetic Engineering and the End of the World As We Know It Essay1405 Words   |  6 PagesIt (And I Feel Fine) --- From a Song by REM Having completed the Human Genome Project, scientists now seek to uncover the secrets of the human proteome (Begley 1). It is guesstimated that the proteome, meaning all the proteins, will involve up to 1000 times more data than the genome did. But this again brings us to the question: What will the scientific and medical communities do with all this information? deCode Genetics, partnered with Roche Holding of Basel, wants Icelands genes to examineRead MoreGattaca Movie Review1306 Words   |  5 PagesIntroduction Gattaca, one of the best science fiction movies thus far, may not be so far from the truth. Many people would wonder why I would say this and it really is for the simple fact that things of the nature that Gattaca is based on can and will eventually in time happen. Regardless if it is frowned upon or not cloning and genetic engineering have already started and the field will continue to grow beyond the general knowledge of it. Looking at anything from fruits and vegetables to mankindRead MoreCompare And Contrast The Blind Side And Gattaca1457 Words   |  6 PagesGattaca is a movie that we watched in class together. It is about a boy who has the dream of going to outer space. He grows up in a home where he is inferior to his brother, whether it be physically or mentally. To get into the school that he needed to get into to become an astronaut, he needed to be a perfect human being. He had to have a perfect IQ; he needed to be a â€Å"top line human being† that had no flaws. T hink of it as him having to be the smartest person in his class. Eventually his dreamsRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Design906 Words   |  4 Pagesthey may turn out to be detrimental. From a biological standpoint, decreased biodiversity due to baby designing will impede the human ability to adapt, which is quite dangerous considering the worsening environmental conditions. On the other side, eugenics, an idea worshiped by the Nazis holds the similar idea that selective breeding can be used to improve the human race.( Parry,2013) Winston and Krimsky pointed out that genetically modifying children via selecting desirable traits for them evokedRead MoreSymbolism on Gattaca Essay4547 Words   |  19 PagesHollywood-esque Gattaca is a prophetic distopia concerning genetic discrimination in the early 21st Century. A true hero is one who is willing to commit body and soul to achieve a dream, discuss. Gattaca is a provocative science-fiction interpretation of the future of genomics. Andrew Niccols presents us with insight to a pessimistic view of genetic enhancement set in the not to distant future. The film takes us through the journey of Vincent Freeman, and Jerome Morrow who with the valueRead MoreGenetic Analysis : The Field Of Genetics1707 Words   |  7 Pagesmalfunctions. The field of genetics is the study of heredity and the different variations of those genes, which is inherited by each offspring from its parents. A closely related field of study called genomics focuses on structure, purpose, and evolution of all of the genes of an entire person or species and how those genes are effected by an organism’s environment. Currently, genetic mapping and testing has many helpful uses. Prenatally a fetus can be tested for 29 to 50 major genetic abnormalities, includingRead MoreBenefits and Obstacles of Genetic Sequencing1954 Words   |  8 Pagesâ€Å"The Human Genome Project has already fueled the discovery of more than 1800 disease genes† (Human, 2010). Genetic sequencing is a vastly expanding industry that began with the Human Genome Project in the 1990s. The Human Genome Project was an ambitious endeavor that undertook the challenge of sequencing the entire human genome which is composed of billions of base pairs. Although this was no easy challenge, the project proved successful and in 2003 researchers finally sequenced a complete set ofRead More Ethical Issues Surrounding Genetic Screening and Genetic Engineering1909 Words   |  8 PagesEthical Issues Surrounding Genetic Screening and Genetic Engineering In today’s modern age science is moving at a rapid pace; one of those scientific fields that has taken the largest leaps is that of genetics. When genetics first comes to mind, many of us think of it as a type of science fiction, or a mystical dream. Yet genetics is here, it is real, and has numerous ethical implications. One of the particular areas of interest is prenatal genetics. In this field, many new andRead MoreGenetic Engineering Of Food Products Essay1769 Words   |  8 PagesGenetic engineering of food produce is considered a miracle technology. Many speculate that this discovery has the possibility to end world hunger. By mass producing and marketing produce, the associated costs will decrease. With lower production costs for crops, healthy options will not only be more accessible, but more affordable for customers as well. Some even contend that the overall health of the general population will improve. How does this affect the healthcare industry? If we can genetically