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On the 12th of June 2020 the future is in your hands. The referendum on Human Genetic Engineering is where the people decide whether to allow the technology to become everyday practice. Have your say in a matter that will shape the world.

Why Vote YES?

To follow, in the left hand column, you will find all the arguments pro human genetic engineering, explaining why you should vote YES in the upcoming referendum.

Why Vote NO?

The arguments on the right contain detailed information regarding the cons of human genetic engineering and will explain why you should vote NO in the referendum.

1

When there is a consensus as to which traits are good or bad, there is a tendency for future generations to lose their diversity and individuality. There will be no short people because being tall is more desirable. There will be no fat people because being slender is more desirable. Ultimately, the reduction of undesirable traits in humans would lead to a generation of “pure breeds” with very little capability of adapting to changes in the environment as in the case of pure breed animals, which are prone to disease. Humans as a whole would have a very similar immune system, which means if any new virus or disease develops, it could wipe out all of mankind, as was shown in the examples of several pandemics that plagued people in the past.

Superhumans?

Humans will have a chance to be taller, stronger and healthier.

Genetic engineering could help humans have a chance at a better life. You could be healthier and live longer, due to the potential of eliminating hereditary diseases, like Cystic Fibrosis or Alzheimer’s disease, or humanity’s biggest foes, including Cancer. People could obtain more desirable physical characteristics, increasing well-being and quality of life. By altering the genes of fetuses, there is a strong likelihood that future generations will be taller, stronger, healthier and better looking. This in turn is bound to increase life expectancy and will lead to making mankind a more resilient and capable species. Humans will be able to harness their full potential.

Carbon Copy?

Genetic diversity and human individuality will be a thing of the past.

Since genetic engineering is not a perfect science, and far from being so, there will be failures along the way, and this leads to termination of embryos with “undesirable” gene pool. To some people, this is tantamount to abortion. We simply do not possess the knowledge to determine, whether eliminating one trait or disease does not activate another, more lethal one, which could potentially result in the patient’s death. When the actual results of genetic engineering are not the outcome initially intended, society could have grave issues regarding the presence of erroneously engineered humans, specifically if they turn out to be mentally ill, psychotic, abusive, or non-responsive. How does society control these badly designed humans – by murder, by further experimentation or by imprisonment?

No Child Disease?

A cure for illness and disease in unborn and young children.

One of the largest benefits of genetic engineering is the prospect of helping cure illness and diseases in unborn children. Having a genetic screening of a foetus and in the case of undesirable genetic strands, responsible for hereditary diseases, the elimination of such can allow for treatment of the unborn. Over time this can diminish the growing spread of diseases in future generations and ensure them to be free of the risks of being predisposed to inheriting incurable illnesses. A large number of hereditary diseases, carried in the parents' DNA, lie dormant and could only be activated in the next generation. Many of them result in children dying before the age of three.

Putting Lives on the Line?

It is not a perfect science and there will be failures on the way.

Many of those opposed to human genetic engineering have their opinion based on ethical views. The belief that god should have ultimate power and we should not be altering nature is what many think should halt the progression of human genetic engineering. The power to shape the human race should not be left up to us humans, because there is divine intervention at work. With many people who religiously believe in God, or who are born and baptized as Christians, genetic engineering may not be acceptable. Somehow, people can be questioned of what gives them the right to manipulate divine laws. It also questions the theory of Darwin, “the survival of the fittest”.

A Gateway to Medical Progress?

New advancements in medicine can spring from genetic engineering.

Human genetic engineering relies heavily on science in technology. It was developed to help end the spread of diseases. Using human genetic engineering it could be possible to change the way genomes are constructed to end some diseases. Genetic mutations can be to blame for certain diseases including Cystic Fibrosis, but with the help of human genetic engineering it could be possible to end this disease completely. If the complete benefits of human genetic engineering therapy are ever seen, it could have a huge impact on disease as a whole.

Playing God?

Many believe shaping the human race should not be left to humans.

As it stands now, our planet is dealing with a serious overpopulation. The natural energy sources, as well as food and water supplies are rapidly depleting and it is common knowledge that there are insufficient resources to sustain the population of Earth forever. Human interferance into the delicate ecosystem of our planet has led to a number of ecological threats and disasters. A doubled or tripled life span of the human race might actually be equivalent with our extinction.

Live Longer?

Humans could have their life spans extended by over a hundred years.

Without certain diseases to increase death rates and decrease life span, it would be possible for more individuals to live longer and healthier lives. This means that human genetic engineering has the potential to improve the quality of life and allow for longer life spans. Reversing some of the cellular causes for decline of the body could be possible if strides are made with human genetic engineering.

No Room Left on Earth?

The threat of too high a population on our already overcrowded planet.

There are still many different unknowns linked to human genetic engineering. This brings up issues involving of safety. Getting genes into the human body is a complex process that could go bad very easily. The extent to the consequences if it goes bad are not fully known and could be quite devastating. The success rate is also something that brings up concern. Some feel that more research needs to be done to further human genetic engineering technology, but others say that this type of engineering has no place in society at all.

Some genes are carried in on viral vectors and these bugs have been altered so as not to infect a patient with a disease. However, a small number of gene therapy trials have resulted in the deaths of some subjects. Also, we simply do not know long term the potential ramifications of altering genes. For example, if you were to stop telomeres from shortening would this have negative knock-on effects elsewhere in the genome? The human genome and our whole bodies are a maze of complicated biological signals, pathways and interrelationships. A positive change upstream could cause a negative effect downstream.

Supermedicines?

Genetic solutions will aid the design of better pharmaceutical products.

Thanks to genetic engineering, the pharmaceutical products available today are far superior to their predecessors. These new products are created by cloning certain genes. Some of the prominent examples are the bio-engineered insulin which was earlier obtained from sheep or cows and the human growth hormone which was earlier obtained from cadavers. New medicines are being made by changing the genetic structure of the plant cell. Thus, this results to better and highly-graded products that can help humans fight their illnesses and diseases.

Playing with the Unknown?

There are still many uncertainties linked to human genetic engineering.

It is every human being’s right, to be able to decide their own fate. Giving parents the ability to modify an unborn child’s genetic code, altering their physical characteristics, ultimately takes that right away from the child. Not every person would agree to being artificially engineered, relying not on mother nature, but the parent’s tastes, in many cases following current fads and trends. As of yet we are not fully aware of the society’s response to genetically engineered humans and performing such a procedure on the unborn child might subject them to future social implications arising from the issue.

A Perfect Version of You?

Future parents will have the chance to decide which traits the child inherits.

Genetic engineering does hold the potential that parents could assemble their kids genetically, to be smarter, to be more athletic or have a particular hair or eye colour. Though it's rather fanciful to suggest that intelligence could be improved by the substitution of a gene, it may be found that there are several genes that are more commonly expressed in the genomes of intelligent people than those with more limited intellectual capacity. And parents might want to engineer an embryo to house a greater number of these genes.

Masters of Our Own Fate?

Every human being should have a say whether they agree to be engineered.