• Question: Do you think that human genetic modifications should be legal?

    Asked by arturo-bartolome@stpauls. to Anais, katy, Lauren, Richard, Stuart on 11 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Lauren Laing

      Lauren Laing answered on 11 Mar 2016:

      This is an interesting question, I think there are many advantages to being about to genetically modify things such as human cells, but this should be tightly regulated, and modifications should only be made if the intention is to improve the quality of life for that individual. We should always ensure these techniques are used in an ethical way, and this is regulated by the government.

      Things such as building better athletes with gene doping are not great! But there are some uses which could hugely improve people’s quality of life. Some scientists believe we could use genetic engineering to prolong life, to make certain diseases a thing of the past, and to develop better drugs.

    • Photo: Anais Kahve

      Anais Kahve answered on 12 Mar 2016:

      No I do not. I do not think we should be messing about with human genetics. I think that humans should just accept that we are the way we are. What if someone were to make a super-race of humans? How would that make you feel if you were seen as less-of-a-person than someone with ‘better’ genes? I know that I wouldn’t like it!

    • Photo: Richard Friend

      Richard Friend answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      Depends on the modifications. There’s a few diseases caused by some really specific genes being faulty, which we can now fix using viruses to cut out the bad parts of your DNA and put in the patch. This was such a great discovery with the capacity to help so many people that I think it would be stupid to ban it. There are some very strict rules around it which helps. I don’t think we should tinker with DNA for minor things like changing hair colour or things like that though. The trouble is, is that the people with the money to pay for it aren’t always the people who are ill and need the treatment!

    • Photo: Stuart Atkinson

      Stuart Atkinson answered on 15 Mar 2016:

      I think that if it can prevent people having inherited diseases and other serious, life-affecting conditions then we should consider it as it is improving the quality of their lives. However, if it’s for cosmetic reasons eg wanting a baby with blue eyes, then that is not necessary – we should just accept who we are, like Anais says.

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