Social ethical and legal considerations
Due to the nature of The Human Genome Project, many were against this major project at the time of its release due to many issues that mainly concerned the abnormality of changing the course of nature by removing the weakness of humans. This spurred The Human Genome Project to create the ELSI and with 11 million dollars, they studied the legal and social implications of The Human Genome Project.
Gene Therapy
One of the outcomes of The Human Genome Project would be gene therapy, a process which involves the replacement of 'disease' genes with 'healthy' genes. The human genome genome project has also done research on how to create a "perfect baby" which will not get sicknesses like Alzheimer's disease later in life. This has concerned many people, as they feel like humans will be tampering with nature's will and some religious groups feel we would be taking the role of God.
Discrimination
There is also the possibility of the project to cause discrimination. For example, if an employer is looking for employees, they may access the genetic information on a particular person and, if they have any undesirable genetic traits, they may be discriminated against. This also applies to insurance companies which may raise prices based on a persons susceptibility to alcohol or diseases. In the future, if the genetic information becomes common knowledge, it may affect a persons social and personal life.
Knowledge
ELSI surveys have indicated that the majority of the population do not know what genetic information is. This can be quite problematic for the integration of gene research into society and even harder for doctors or researchers to explain their findings. A large proportion of health professionals also have a lack of knowledge regarding genes which may require large funding for the education of geneticists to apply the knowledge.
Legal
In the commercialisation of products from The Human Genome project such as research materials and tissues for medical uses, there is an issue of the ownership of these products. There is also an issue regarding the patenting of genetic sequences as some say it belongs to The Supreme Creator and cannot be patented while others believe that it belongs to the whole world. A suspect may also be charged of a crime due to their genetic make-up.
Genetic alteration
Probably one of the most prominent issues regarding the genomes, this raises fundamental issues. By eliminating unhealthy genes, we may potentially break the natural order of life that may result in a whole new order of diseases due to the altered bodies. Even if it does succeed, it would mean that the human population will grow at an insane rate that may very well destroy the earths ecosystem. Genetic alteration is also theorised to have the ability to change ones gender, both mentally and physically which can lead to ethical issues. If the ability to modify and change genes becomes reality, many people would jump at the offer of getting rid of traits they wish they didn't have. Tampering with natural genetics could be dangerous for evolutionary traits which humans have. An example would be removing unwanted body hair. If the gene for growing body hair was removed then the function that body hair serves would also be removed. Body hair is used to keep us warm and also to help us sense unwanted things touching our skin.
By changing the make-up of our genes will weaken diversity through the cure of obesity, baldness and as it advances, we would be able to completely customise our body shape, athletic ability and mental prowess. This could cause the entire human population to look like an epitome of perfection which is both a social and ethical issue. This has already had success with mice in the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Although these mice have athletic powers comparable to our top athletes, although it is aggressive. Other examples include:
Spinach pigs
Spider silk goats
By changing the make-up of our genes will weaken diversity through the cure of obesity, baldness and as it advances, we would be able to completely customise our body shape, athletic ability and mental prowess. This could cause the entire human population to look like an epitome of perfection which is both a social and ethical issue. This has already had success with mice in the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Although these mice have athletic powers comparable to our top athletes, although it is aggressive. Other examples include:
Spinach pigs
Spider silk goats
Our Opinion
We believe that The Human Genome Project has enormous potential to cure incurable diseases and benefit in the study of biotechnology. Many of these social and ethical issues have already been solved with the implementation of laws that forbid employers and insurance companies to have access to genetic information. Genetic alteration, if controlled can be a huge benefit to society. The Human Genome Project will definitely have profound effects, and even if there were a huge reason to stop, it would be immensely difficult with our thirst for knowledge. So rather than debating on whether this is a good or bad idea, we believe that it is better to put our efforts into controlling this field of science.