I need an explanation for this Biology question to help me study.
DISCUSSION POST MUST BE 10+ SENTENCES AND THE PEER REVIEWS MUST BE 7+ SENTENCES PLEASE USE YOUR OWN WORDS AND DO NOT COPY FROM OTHER SITES STAY ON TOPIC ,BE POSITIVE , AND DO NOT COMMENT ON GRAMMAR ERRORS. TALK DIRECTLY TO CLASSMATES IN PEER REVIEWS!!! YOU MUST COMPLETE BOTH PEER REVIEWS AND DISCUSSION QUESTION!! THANK YOU
1) DISCUSSION QUESTION
Part 1: Post a Response
There are many practical applications of biological knowledge that we mostly accept and take for granted. Many (though not all) modern techniques in medicine, agriculture and sanitation are examples of widely accepted practices. However, our knowledge about biology has enabled us to do things that raise ethical and social issues. Cloning is one example of such a technology, but there are many others. Choose one such example, then:
- Describe the technology.
- Describe the ethical and social issues that are raised by the issue, and how you think that society should proceed.
2) PEER REVIEW #1 (TEMEKIA)
Dr. Cox and classmates,
I choose to write about Genetic testing. According to the textbook, Genetic testing, or screening is a technology used to study human inheritance patterns, which helps the genetic disorders arise and progress, and how they are treated. Genetic testing is done post-conception, in some cases, it is called prenatal diagnosis. As a parent, the text says that parents can benefit from human genetics studies by finding out if their future child will inherit a genetic disorder, that type of test will estimate the prospective parents for alleles that are associated with genetic disorders.
The ethical and social issues of this technology are that some procedures of the women will carry risk to the fetus, and some may vary by the type of procedure. Occasionally the CVS can disrupt the placenta’s development and may cause underdeveloped or missing fingers or toes in 3% of newborns.
Couples who are at high risk of having a child may opt for reproductive interventions such as vitro-fertilization. This procedure will save the couple eggs in a test tube for fertilization. I do not think that most of the babies in a test tube are healthy. I believe that if the baby is born in the womb of the woman with all the healthy nutrients they will obtain a better growth pattern.
Temekia.
3) PEER REVIEW #2 (JESSICA)
Hello Dr. Cox and Class,
Gene Therapy
This is an introduction of normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones in the process of correcting genetic disorders. Stem cells are the body’s raw materials. These are the cells from which all other cells with specialized functions are generated. Under the right conditions, stem cells divide to form more cells called daughter cells. These daughter cells either become new stem cells or specialized cells such as the brain, blood, or bone cells (Nimesh, 1). Stem cell therapy is the use of stem cells to treat a condition or disease. Bone marrow transplant is one of the most widely used and accepted steam cell therapy.
The ethical issue with gene therapy is the source of these stem cells. Embryonic stem cells come from embryos that are three to five years old. Some consider these embryos as human life, and their destruction for the harvest of stem cell recognized the moral issue with this technology. Oocyte harvesting raises issues concerning the safety of the donor (Lemoine, 2). There is also the need for informed consent of both donors of gametes and embryos.
I think society should create an awareness of this technology and try to explain the issues people have with gene therapy. They should assure the public that not all gene therapy involves harvesting from Oocytes. This awareness will help the society realize the potential this technology has in curing diseases that have no other cures. The society should understand that bone marrow transplant is one of the most widely used and accepted gene therapy.
Sources
- Nimesh S (2013) Gene therapy: Potential Applications of Nanotechnology Woodhead Publishing Series in Biomedicine, Elsevier Science
- Lemoine N. R (1999) Understanding Gene Therapy Medical Perspectives (BIOS), BIOS Scientific Publishers
