How can we influence humanity to arrive at the next evolutionary stage of mankind?

Genetic engineering: the basics

 

What is genetic engineering?

 

Genetic engineering, also known as transformation, works by physically removing a gene from one organism and inserting it into another, giving it the ability to express and communicate the trait passed over by that gene. It is comparable to taking a single recipe out of a cookbook and placing it into another cookbook.

 

Genetic engineering is a process in which the genetic makeup, or DNA, in a living human cell are altered. Ideally, genetic engineering in humans would be used to correct defective genes that cause diseases and other complications due to faulty genes.

 

How is genetic engineering done?

 

 

More specifically, the extracted gene(s) are heated up with chemicals so that they release their contents. The contents are then spun around very fast in a laboratory centrifuge which separates their components further. The genes are added to other living things via phages (the virus-like organisms mentioned above), which are a type of bacteria which carry the new genes into other cells adding new genes to the DNA.

 

In one method of genetic engineering, a new gene is inserted into a virus-like organism. The organism is then allowed to enter cells and insert the new gene into the genome of the human. Human genetic engineering uses two different techniques to do this: somatic and germline. 

 

In processes of somatic engineering, specific genes in specific organs and tissues are targeted, without affecting the genes in the eggs or sperm. This does not alter the genes that will be passed down to this person's offspring, therefore the aim of this type of human genetic engineering is to treat or cure an existing condition. It does not alter the entire genetic makeup.

 

The second type of genetic engineering in humans is germline, which targets the genes in sperm, eggs or embryos while in very early stages of development. The result of germline engineering is that the genetic modifications that take place affect every single cell created afterwards in the developing embryo's eventual body.

 

Germline engineering means that the modifications are passed on to all future generations if the individual goes on to have offspring, which causes great uproar amongst people throughout the world. Germline genetic engineering is generally more controversial because the introduction of genes alter future human beings, whereas somatic engineering only affects the individual that the modifications are made to.

 

We can gather that germline engineering can be used to influence and potentially improve us in the future, however somatic engineering is purely to correct diseases in one person.

 

According to Dr. Chee Chan of La Trobe University, germline engineering is a prohibited practice, and rightly so. Altering genes at a embryo/zygote level is prohibited because of its unpredictable impact on the child and the generations to come. Despite these ethical issues, germline engineering has been successfully conducted in animals, albeit at a low success rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a gene?

A gene is a piece of biological information stored inside cells and passed on to future generations of an organism. Genes inform proteins how to perform specific actions, many genes also tell cells how to build specific proteins and determine physical features and looks of an organism or species.

 

The Human Genome

The human genome is basically the information which makes us our own individual being. It is made up of 3 billion 'letters' which is what the bases are known as. It contains around 23,000 genes shared between 23 chromosomes. Cells have two copies of each chromosome, so each human cell has a total of 46 chromosomes. 

 

In the 1960's, many scientists figured out that the four different nitrogen bases of genes operated like letters in a four letter alphabet. In a human body this information is placed in 3 billion bases, which, following this comparison, would be the equivalent of around 6,000 average-sized books. 

 

All this information as a full set is called the genetic code, which scientists call the human genome. The genetic code is very simple, just like in English and most other languages, Information is placed in order of arranging letters in the right sequence. Cells surprisingly do the exact same thing; the genetic code is created by arranging the four nitrogen bases in a specific sequence.