Genetics

Antisocial personality disorder s a mental health condition In which a person has a long-term pattern of manipulating, exploiting, or violating the rights of others. This behavior Is often criminal. Like all personality disorders, antisocial personality disorder Is a deeply Ingrained and enduring behavior pattern, manifesting as an Inflexible response to a broad range of personal and social situations This behavior represents an extreme or significant deviation from the way In which the average Individual In a given culture relates to others.

This behavior pattern tends to be stable. It may not cause sub]ectlve distress, but does cause problems In social performance. Individuals with antisocial personality disorder often are divorced, have alcohol/drug abuse, anxiety, depression, unemployment, homelessness, and criminal behavior. However, some Individuals with this disorder rise to high posltlons of power In society by becoming masters ot manipulation and deceit. In childhood, these individuals usually have oppositional defiant disorder, towards parents and eachers which develops into conduct delinquency in adolescence.

This delinquency takes the torm ot reckless thrill-seeking, physical violence towards people or animals, and law-breaking. Most adolescent delinquents grow out ot this behavior as they enter adulthood. However, those that increase their delinquent behavior as they enter adulthood have their diagnosis changed from conduct disorder to antisocial personality disorder. In adulthood, these individuals become more antagonistic. They show an exaggerated sense of self-importance, insensitivity towards the feelings and eeds of others, and callous exploitation of others.

Their increased manipulativeness, callousness, deceitfulness, and hostility repeatedly puts them at odds with other people An individual diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder needs to meet the following criteria, Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest. Deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead. Irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults.

Reckless disregard for safety of self or others. Consistent Irresponsibility, as Indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations Lack of remorse, as Indicated by being Indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another. Three percent of the population, or about 8,100,000 individuals In the united states have antisocial personality disorder. The National comorbldlty survey, which used DSM-III-R criteria, found that 5. 8% of males and 1 . 29t of females showed evidence of a Ilfetlme risk for the disorder.

Prevalence estimates wlthln cllnlcal settings have varied from 39t to 30%, depending on the predominant characteristics of the populations being sampled. About ot men and ot women in the population have this disorder. Although in later adulthood, the more outward and aggressive symptoms ot ASPD may diminish and the person remain, thereby affecting the individual’s role in society as well as all those who come n contact with him/her. The disorder tends to occur more often in men than in women, and in people whose predominant role model had antisocial features.

The incidence of antisocial personality is higher in people who have an antisocial biological parent, parents with histories of drug and/or alcohol abuse and who physically and/or emotionally abused the individual during childhood. Abandonment may have been an issue for the person with ASPD Antisocial personality disorder is probably caused by a combination of factors. Having any of these characteristics oes not necessarily mean that a person has antisocial personality disorder. Influences from the environment can impact the onset of this disorder.

A chaotic family life contributes to the development of this personality disorder, especially where there has been little supervision from parents or other adult role models. The disorder also may be more common where the community is not supportive or provides little reward for positive behavior. Genetic or biological factors. Researchers have found certain physiological responses that may occur more frequently in people ith antisocial personality disorder. For example, they have a comparatively flat response to stress. They seem to get less anxious than the average person.

Some researchers have found changes in the volume of brain structures that mediate violent behavior. People with this kind of brain function may thus have more difficulty restraining their impulses, which may account for the tendency toward more aggressive behavior. Neurobiologists cannot say with certainty that these variations in brain structure are a cause of antisocial personality. The variations could easily be he result of life experiences that are more common in people with this personality disorder rather than a cause.

The cause of this disorder is unknown however, genetics and environmental factors influence its development. I believe that personality makes each individual special and consists of thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Personality is forged during childhood via the interplay of genetics and environmental factors. Problems with inherited genetics or the early environment, such as significant exposure to abuse and/or violence, make it more likely that a ersonality disorder such as ASPD will develop. Therefore, I believe in order to understand the cause of ASPD, both genetics and the environment need to be explored.

Dr. Martha Stout, in her book, “The Sociopath Next Door,” explains that a genetic predisposition for sociopath may already present at birth for some people. Determinations regarding how this increased risk for ASPD become expressed come from an individual’s life experiences. We are accustomed to think of sociopaths as violent criminals, but in The Sociopath Next Door, Harvard psychologist Martha Stout eveals that a shocking 4 percent of ordinary people”one in twenty-five”has an often undetected mental disorder, the chief symptom of which is that that person possesses no conscience.

Don’t we already know how this movie’s going to end?

In a potentially terrifying case of life imitating art, the renowned paleontologist who served as the inspiration for Jurassic Park protagonist Dr. Alan Grant is spearheading genetic research that could engineer dinosaurs back into existence within the next five to 10 years, he says.

While Dr. Jack Horner, who has consulted on all four Jurassic films, initially believed the key to recreating the prehistoric creatures lied in working with ancient DNA strands, further study about DNA degradation over time has since ruled out that possibility.

Instead, a group of scientists at Harvard and Yale have turned their eye to – wait for it – the modern-day chicken. “Of course, birds are dinosaurs,” . “So we just need to fix them so they look a little more like a dinosaur.”

Related: 

In an attempt to reverse evolution, the team has already made significant strides in mutating chickens back to the very creatures from which they descended. If that wasn’t enough genetic splicing and dicing, Harvard scientists by inserting the genes of a woolly mammoth into elephants in order to recreate the extinct beasts. Whoa baby.

If the four major differences between dinosaurs and birds are their tails, arms, hands and mouths, Horner and team have already flipped certain genetic switches in chicken embryos to reverse-engineer a bird’s beak into a dinosaur-like snout.

“Actually, the wings and hands are not as difficult,” Horner said, adding that a ‘Chickensoraus’ – as he calls the creation – is well on its way to becoming reality. “The tail is the biggest project. But on the other hand, we have been able to do some things recently that have given us hope that it won’t take too long.”

Check out Horner discussing the endeavor, among other topics, in the video below:

To start with, phenotype is defined as the visible characteristics of an organism resulting from the interaction between its genetic makeup and the environment(Encarta 2008). Phenotypic methodology has many advantages and disadvantages and this essay talks about the dis advantages . The fact that most laboratories can do an automatic DNA makes genotyping testing more available than phenotyping. First and foremost the test is not usually readily available and accessible making the time for the outcome of the result to be prolonged and inevitably long.

Phenotypic methods for most drugs does not have clinically significant cut off to differentiate sensitive and resistant isolates and this has not been delineated for most of the drugs. From the first principle, genotyping is less complex, faster, and less expensive than phenotyping. Another disadvantage is that certain changes in resistance mutation detected by genotyping are not sometimes detected by phenotyping. Such changes might be the prime step in the path to high-level resistance, and detection of these mutations might stimulate a change in therapy in a patient with detectable plasma viremia.

Therefore phenotypic methodologies may not be able to determine a minute shifts in the susceptibility that follows the existence of only one or more mutation which may lead to decreased drug effect. A good example is the 74V and 90M mutation in the sequinavir and didanosine respectively. Phenotypic method is applied to differentiate isolates based on the phenotypic appearances which are a corollary of genetic composition.

The method has a low discriminating range within same species and therefore has been applied only within same variety of organisms. Numerous phenotypic methodologies have been suggested for use in discriminating among various groups of bacteria. These include biochemical tests (Olsen etal 1992)), phage susceptibility (Zierdlt etal 1980)), outer membrane protein profiles (Barekam etal 1981), antibody reactivity (Valsalovic etal 1994), fimbriation (Latham and Stamm 1984), bacteriocin production and susceptibility, and other methods.

However, these systems have serious disadvantages, including unstable phenotypes, low sensitivity at the intraspecies level, and limited specificity. However, a few phenotypic methods have been used successfully as bacterial source tracking (BST) methodologies. Phenotyping that is dependent on the biochemical properties could be expensive and waste a lot of time . In this method the basal metabolic rate of the organism is greatly affected by the growth parameters and conditions.

Some variables used in the biochemical approach can also give rise to false discrimination. A good example is the L monocytogen which did not provide a coherent and reliable outcome making the use of antimicrobial susceptibility not to be encouraged while dealing with these bacteria. Phenotypic characteristics are not usually reproducible as they are manifestation of genetic expression and this is affected largely by the prevailing growth parameters.

Phenotypic methodology despite advantages is not without its own limitation and setbacks as it is difficult under this method to determine and establish clinically remarkable value for the prediction of the virology response. It also has a notable problem of handling making it limited. It solely depends on the specific specimen storage, conveyance method and preparation. When specimen are improperly handled this may lead to false positive and negative data interpretation results.

The DNA from virus while using the method can be desecrated from unprofessional handling in the laboratory. It must be noted that both the genotypic and phenotypic approaches study and examine the most important viral quasispecies. Another disadvantage of phenotypic methodology is that in case of a virus that the proof of its resistance to drug has been established and that has been selected by previous treatments with drugs or has been acquired by initial transmission ,if another resistant strain of such virus develop again, it may not be detected by this method.

Furthermore, when dealing with the Human immunodeficiency virus for example, any collected sample with copy of the virus less than 500 RNA more often than not will not generate results. In other words, the method is not sensitive to a minor variant case. The phenotype method also relies on the replication of the amplified gene sequences using the polymerase chain reaction and as such the possibility of cross contamination is highly plausible and this may occur with or without appropriate technique and carefulness.

It is therefore advised for this reason that an outcome that does not tally with the present clinical state or previous treatment of patient is an indication for repeating the resistance test. In conclusion, phenotypic method has several disadvantages in that it is highly variable, due to environmental factors that lead to variation in gene expression, it has poor reproducibility and the discriminatory power is unsatisfactory. It may also falsely associate unrelated isolates and conversely when only a tiny and narrow framework of biochemical tests are used.

Gonzalez, AureaMarch 6, 2013Question #1 For many years biological anthropologists have been trying to identify race through genetics but race is not determined biologically. The closest aspect to a biological feature in grouping people is cline; geography making people of the same area in the world similar. Human variation, however, is classification of skin color, eye color; characteristics that are genetic and unchanging genes. Genetic traits have nothing to do with race; it influences the idea of it. Mutations cause variation. An example of this would be with how sunlight affects skin tone because of dark and light melanin.

Race cannot be naturally divided into groups because it is an arbitrary, modern idea; a social construct based on ethnicity, social reform, and culture, otherwise known as The Great Chain of Being. Constant change in the world, such as migration and reproduction, brings diversity upon us. Jim Brown, in The Power of Illusion, specifically says, “Race has changed as a definition in this country. ” The world is always changing; people will continuously try to identify race through genetics, but it never will be proven biologically because it’s merely a cultural classification.

Also, in the film, a group of students try to find out who they might be closely related to, based on mitochondrial DNA. A black girl believes she is more closely related to another black boy in the class. When they matched the MTDNA, they found out they were wrong. Some had the same number and pattern of MTDNA that others across the country had. This proved race had nothing to do with genetics. Scientists have tried to see differences in athletic ability according to race. However, there is no biological explanation for why someone of one race might be more athletic than someone of another.

If a white person ran in the mountains with high altitude, he would have greater lung capacity than someone who ran an average racetrack. Nutrition and adaptation affect genetics, bringing about variety of human beings. If a black person grew up with great nutrition, he was likely to be taller and healthier than someone who might not have access to nutrition. Therefore, race cannot determine specific differences between one another because access to food affects variation. It’s important to remember the difference between race and human variation because everyone should be treated equal.

Although there is internal variation within the human species, that doesn’t define race, yet human variation. [400 words] Gonzalez, AureaMarch 6, 2013Question #2 The origin of walking on two feet goes back between 10-3 MYA. There are numerous ways to diagnose bipedalism with skeletal remains. The foramen magnum is where the spinal cord meets the skull and passes on to the brain. It is able to determine whether or not a skeleton was bipedal because if the spinal cord is located directly beneath the skull, rather than its back, such as the chimpanzee, it is proven to have walked on two legs.

Also, you can infer that the skeleton was bipedal because thoracic kyphosis, the slight backward curve of the vertebrae to which the ribs attach, do not develop until one begins to walk upright. Lumbar lordosis, the forward curve of the lower portion of the back, is more robust in females than in males for ability to balance to support a baby during pregnancy. Angle of the femur is another way to prove bipedalism. If the angle is increasingly wide, the skeleton was bipedal because it allows more balance with the broaden hips, versus a chimp with a straighter angle of a femur, causing the wobble when walking on two feet.

Increase in leg length is another way to prove bipedalism. Apes had longer arms than legs, proving knuckle-walking, and spending more time swinging in trees walking on the ground. The fossil Lucy was the first bipedal skeleton found in Kenya which dates back to 3. 6 MYA. She’s considered the first bipedal skeleton because hips down, she had the body of a human, however hip up, using her brain size, she was considered ape. Salem, aka Lucy’s baby, had a preserved skull, milk teeth, tiny fingers, a torso, a foot, and an extremely tiny kneecap which helped archeologists say she was about three years old when she died.

Salem differed from Lucy, having a face, while Lucy’s head was barely found, and had ape-like shoulders, telling us tree climbing was still a part of its nature, supporting the theory of A. afarensis. Bipedalism was a positive adaptation in human evolution because of survival. Keeping cool from changing landscapes and climates was an important factor in endurance running. With the shedding of hair on our bodies from evolution, sweating was our new found air conditioner, allowing the human species to run in the day and keep cool at the same time, making it easier to hunt protein, meat, the greatest source of nutrition. 400 words] Gonzalez, AureaMarch 6, 2013Question #3 Several methods were used for the excavation of the African Burial Ground in 1991. After using large machinery and shovels to get through the first few feet of dirt, dental tools and brushes were used to find the remains of skeletons carefully. Soil marks in the dirt from decayed wood where a coffin once was were visible to determine where to locate the heads and bodies of the skeletons. Photos were taken to preserve the history before excavating, for excavation is destructive, destroying information due to damaged remains.

Archeologists were able to infer a lot about some of the bodies found such as age, sex, and culture. Two thirds of the adults were identified male, one third being female, and forty-five percent of the excavated bodies, children under twelve years old. Sex was able to be determined through pelvis shape. The wider the angle of the pelvis, it was determined to be female, the thinner the angle, it was male. Another way to identify sex with the pelvis is the pubic arch’s shape. If the arch seems like a circle, it is female, if it seems heart-shaped, it is male.

Teeth give indication of age, but aging can also be caused by environmental stress. Teeth also played a cultural aspect in these people’s lives. Shape of the teeth told archeologists whether or not they were born in Africa or kept practicing their culture while they were alive. Filing of the teeth into hourglass and peg shapes showed tribal affiliations in West Africa. Thus, historical data and these observations tell us the bodies were indeed African. Dr. Blake, in African Burial Ground, An American Discovery, suggests a man in his thirties had the vertebrate of an eighty year old man.

Vertebral Lipping can be caused by standing all day, adding pressure to your spine, but carrying heavy loads can crush your spine at a quicker age. This showed us that this man was very hard working. Also, some bodies were buried with shroud, which indicated that they were extremely poor, while a woman was found buried with a lace of beads that were a waist decoration indicating she wasn’t as poor as the others. In October of 1992, more than four hundred skeletons were removed. The discovery of the African Burial Ground reminds us today of enslaved relatives that were almost forgotten due to the building of our city. [398 words]

This report is studying about conventional cytogenetic, and we will focus on a technique called ‘karyotyping’. This repot is going to introduce about the definition, the history and the improvements of karyotyping made before, what is the process and the working principle of this technique and also how if can be applied in our daily life. Karyotyping is a test to examine chromosomes in a sample of cells, which can help identify genetic problems as the cause of a disorder or disease. The term ‘karyotyping’ is come from ‘karyotype’, which is the characteristic chromosome complement of a eukaryote species.

The preparation and study of karyotypes is part of cytogenetics. In the middle and late 18th century, scientists were aware of the presence of chromosomes but had difficulty studying them because of their extremely small size. Chromosomes were first observed in plant cells by a scientist called Karl Wilhelm von Nageli in 1842, but since the samples they took had small chromosomes. After the development of genetics in the early 20th century, when it was appreciated that the set of chromosomes, the karyotype was the carrier of the genes.

Another scientist Levitsky seems to have been the first to define the karyotype as the phenotypic appearance of the somatic chromosomes, in contrast to their genic contents. It took until the middle 1950s until it became generally accepted that the karyotype of humans included only 46 chromosomes. Rather interestingly, the great apes have 48 chromosomes. Human chromosome 2 was formed by a merger of ancestral chromosomes, which reducing the number. Investigation into the human karyotype took many years to settle by two famous scientists: Hans von Winiwarter and Theophilus Shickel Painter.

Hans von Winiwarter examined normal human diploid cells to try and define the number of chromosomes that humans have. In his time, guesses ranged from 16 to 36. He used the most powerful microscopes available in his day in one of the first accurate karyotyping attempts, and counted specifically between 46 and 49 chromosomes in his samples in 1912. He concluded that females had two X chromosomes and males had only one X chromosome and no Y chromosome. Theophilus Shickel Painter in 1922 was not certain whether the diploid number of humans was 46 or 48, at first favouring 46.

He revised his opinion later from 46 to 48, and he correctly insisted on humans having an XX/XY system. And there are two advanced skills in karyotyping. The first one is Single-Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP), this method is going to investigate the use of virtual karyotypes for diagnostically challenging renal epithelial tumors. First is to evaluate 25 archived renal neoplasms where sub-classification could not be rendered based on morphology and other ancillary studies. Then it will generate virtual karyotypes with the Affymetrix 10 K 2. 0 mapping array platform and identify the presence of genomic lesions across all 22 autosomes.

The second one is Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH), it is going to scan the entire genome for variations in DNA copy number. Total genomic DNA is isolated from test and reference cell populations, differentially labeled and hybridized to metaphase chromosomes or DNA microarrays. The relative hybridization intensity of the test and reference signals at a given location is then proportional to relative copy number of those sequences in the test and reference genomes. The increases and decreases in the intensity ratio directly indicate DNA copy-number variation in the genome of the test cells.

Rubinstein- Taybi Syndrome: A Physical and Educational Perspective Rubinstein- Taybi Syndrome: A Physical and Educational Perspective When speaking of terms of diseases of a rare nature, Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome is a definite mention. According to Joseph G. Morelli, MD, Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome is characterized as, “a genetic disease that involves broad thumbs and toes, short stature, distinctive facial features, and varying degrees of intellectual disability” (2007). The condition itself is so rare that is occurs only about 1 in 125, 000 newborn babies (Rubinstein, 2012).

The cause of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome can be attributed to a defect in the CREBBP and EP300 genes. The CREBBP gene provides instructions for making a protein that helps control the activity of many other genes. This protein, called CREB, plays an important role in regulating cell growth and division and is essential for normal fetal development. If just one copy of the CREBBP gene is deleted or changed, cells make only half of the normal amount of CREB binding protein (Rubinstein, 2012). The EP300 gene, unlike the CREBBP gene, controls protein development before and after the birth.

In many of the cases of Rubenstein-Taybi Syndrome, no mutation is detected in either the CREBBP or the EP300 gene. In these cases, the case is unknown, but it is suspected that another unknown gene is responsible. Diagnosis of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome can create a serious disadvantage for a student in the classroom, for which a teacher must be willing to accommodate. Immediately after birth, the symptoms of Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome can be present. Some of the more recognizable symptoms at birth include broadening of the thumbs and big toes.

Although these are a few of the symptoms, the symptoms appear on a large spectrum, ranging from constipation to an absent kidney. Over 80% of children with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome have some type of eye abnormality including crossed eyes, cataracts, and tear duct obstruction. Glaucoma may be present at birth or in early life, which can result in blindness if left undetected (Rubinstein, 2012). Later throughout more developmental stages, parents may begin to notice short stature. Once the child begins schooling, the symptoms become slightly more obvious, demonstrating slow development of cognitive skills.

Once a child begins to perform tasks such as drawing, coloring, and using scissors, teachers and parents will begin to notice slow development of motor skills accompanied by low muscle tone (Morelli, 2012). These symptoms are also a bit more noticeable because due to RTS, the thumbs and toes on an affected child will broaden beyond normal size, complicating everyday tasks. This will severely limit to what extent a child suffering from RTS will be able to perform in the classroom. Rubenstein-Taybi Syndrome is not inherited by the parents or caused by anything the parents did or did not do while pregnant.

Most cases are caused by a single mutation in one gene. Rubenstein-Taybi Syndrome almost always occurs in cases where there is no family history of Rubenstein-Taybi Syndrome showing that family history and heredity is not a factor in contracting Rubenstein-Taybi syndrome. Most cases are sporadic and likely due to a new genetic defect that occurs while the baby grows in the womb, which was not passed on by either parent (Morelli, 2012). Consequently, parents with a child with a new mutation generally do not have an increased risk of having another child with the disorder.

However, the new genetic mutation will be hereditary and an adult with this mutation risks passing on the mutated gene to his/her children. However, it is unusual for people with the syndrome to become parents. There is no specific treatment for RTS that has been discovered as of yet. Because the disease is genetic, it is impossible for doctors to pinpoint just one area of the body to treat, especially because the disease comes with so many other symptoms. This however, does not mean that modern medical science cannot ease the way of life for a person with RTS.

Surgery to repair the bones in the thumbs or toes can sometimes improve grasp or relieve discomfort (Morelli, 2012). With all being said, it is incredible to imagine the difficulty that a student suffering with RTS may face in the classroom. A 1977 case study by Goots and Liemohn compared three children (aged seven to ten) with the syndrome to 15 counterparts with mixed mental retardation (Galera & Taupiac, 2009). In the study, it was found that children with RTS were friendly and more readily social. In addition, the students with RTS were more emotional and excitable.

Nightmares were seen more frequently, and the students were more likely to pout. Demonstrating lack of focus in the classroom, the students affected by RTS had short attention ps. Important in development at these ages, the students with RTS faced more difficulties in planning motor acts (Galera & Taupiac, 2009). Speech problems are present in a large percentage of students. Most individuals have speech delay, but others also have articulation problems. It is not unusual as well, to discover that some students with RTS use sign language as their primary form of communication.

Unfortunately for students with RTS, they often times confused with autistic students. References Galera, C. , & Taupiac,, E. (2009). Socio-Behavioral Characteristics of Children with Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome [Abstract]. Journal of Autism & Developmental Disorders, 39(9), 1252-1260. doi: 10. 1007/s10803-009-0733-4 Morelli, J. G. (2007). Disorders of the Nails. In Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics (18th ed. , p. Chap 662). Phildelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier. Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome. (2012, February 27). Genetics Home Reference. Retrieved March 6, 2012, from http://ghr. nlm. nih. gov/condition/rubinstein-taybi-syndrome

Genetically modified organisms- a step ahead or a step in the wrong direction? Paulina Langowska Genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO, are such organisms whose genetic material has been artificially changed using genetic engineering. Genetic engineering, to put it simply, is altering the DNA technology, using DNA molecules from various organisms and using this molecules to create a brand new set of genes. Then the set of genes is added to an organism’s genome. Below is shown an exchange of genes in corn, which is supposed to protect it from various insects.

Genetic engineering can also change the color of the plant, make it resistant to difficult weather conditions, insects and viruses. The beginnings of genetic engineering take us back to the year 1973, when the first recombinant bacteria- a bacteria that has been genetically modified- was created. It was Escherichia coli, which from that point on became a popular lab rat used in genetic engineering. This creation led to discussions whether genetic modifications are safe and needed. The first conference when potential health risks were discussed took place in 1975.

In late 1980’s in USA and Canada began an experimental usage of genetic engineered plants in a small scale. In 1990’s, after the approval for a larger scale, genetic engineering was more widely spread across the countries. From that point on, the interest in genetically modified organisms grew year by year. However, even though genetically modified organisms have gained population, the benefits of it and its harmlessness is disputable. Researches on lab pets show many harmful consequences.

Some scientists decided to try and feed rats with genetic engineered potatoes. It was supposed to make them produce their own natural insecticide. But the results weren’t exactly as they were expected. Rats’ cells developed in a proliferative way and potentially cancerous cells. Also, the development of their brain and liver was inhibited and they suffered from an immune system damage. Also, another research was done in Russian Academy of Sciences. This time, female rats were fed genetically modified soy before and during pregnancy and also hile feeding their offspring. This time, the results included: * About 55% of offspring died during 3 weeks after the birth (compared to 9% of mortality among those fed with non-genetically modified soy) * Offspring was significantly smaller compared to other as well as their organs (heart, liver, kidneys, etc. ) * Both mothers and their children were very aggressive and anxious * When male and female (both form genetically modified soy fed mother) were paired, they were unable to conceive children.

Although the results of this experiments are to be taken with a grain of salt, they are still alarming and disturbing due to the wide discrepancies between the GM soy fed rats and the control ones. The health damages found in rats fed with genetically modified potatoes is just as much worrying. The reason rats are used for such experiments is that their morphology and biochemical structures are very similar to the human ones. That is why those experiments, as well as similar ones, provoke an essential question- is genetically modified food harmful to people.

The answer to this question is very disputable. Some scientists claim that genetically modified foods are completely safe and otherwise they wouldn’t be approved. But there are numerous articles about possible harmful effects of genetically modified foods and they can’t be ignored. The main concern is allergies. Main aim of getting a new set of gene to an organism’s genome is to create a new protein and every protein is potentially triggering to allergic reactions. The problem with GM foods is that its protein are completely new and we can’t be sure about its effect.

Truth be told, people (mainly in USA, where genetic engineered food is the most common) often consume GM products without being aware of it- if you live in the USA and ate cheddar cheese in the past few years it is more than likely that you ate a genetically manipulated food, since genetic engineering is currently the most successful in cheddar cheese. Some say that genetically modified products they unwillingly consumed are to stand accused for their new allergies. Other concerns involve immunity system damage and stunted organ growth, however they are mostly seen in lab pets and are yet to be proved to occur.

Another reason why genetic engineering receives so many criticism from the ethical point of view. Because if we can change genes in cheese or potatoes, what’s stopping us from changing genes in people? Scientists and psychologists are afraid that genetic engineering will become so developed that designing unborn children will happen on a daily basis. Parents will choose gender, height, hair color etc. From this point there’s not much to go to create an artificial world, ruled by genetic engineering, looking like taken out of Huxley’s book.

Futhermore, genetically modified organisms have a huge impact on our environment. One of the problems is gene flow. Gene flow is a natural occurring phenomenon that results in getting one organism’s DNA and transporting it to another one, be it from the same species or not. Some people are afraid that the engineered genes may spread and push out other, not modificated, plants. Yet another drawback is that they can be harmful to other organisms. Genetic engineering in plants such as crop is mostly focused on creating a defensive system against insects.

But often, the newly created insecticide can be harmful to other, non-target organisms. Some sources agree that the existence of genetically engineered maize most commonly found in corn had a negavite impact on population of monarch butterflies living near the field, because they fed with plants dusted by the pollen from the corn maize. Both these phenomena’s can led to destroying natural biodiversity. So this leads us to a question: if genetic engineering has so much disadvantages, why is it still done and money is spent for researches?

The truth is that even if it has many drawbacks, it still have many advantages that for some people are worth all the effort. Negative poster about GM foods One of them is that it is said to help us create food that is much more nutritious. It can be done by inserting a specific genes that are supposed to produce vitamins etc. to various crops. A well known case is inserting the gene making the vitamin A levels in rice much higher. Rice feeds currently more than 50% of the world population, but is not high in vitamins and other nutrients.

Modifying it in such a way that It contains more vitamin A could help reduce deficiency resulting in blindness. If it was to be done successfully with other food products it would probably really help with fighting the malnutrition in third world or developing countries. Moreover, genetic engineering can decrease crop failure. Crop failure is a very big issue and it is said to increase due to climate changes. Because of them, price of food gets higher, some countries need to ban all the export of some products (for example Russia banning wheat export in 2010) and ometimes it even gets so bad country really suffers from famine, especially when we consider developing countries. That’s why GMOs are so tempting to scientist. They hold potential for making plants more resistant to various insects and plant diseases. Some corn produce very much food but don’t defend themselves again insects while other that are able to repel insects cannot produce this much food. Therefore, scientists hope that they can combine these to and create a corn and then other plants that repel insects while producing big amounts of food.

This also results in using o plants much less chemicals in order to reduce insect and disease damage. These chemicals seriously hurt our environment. Thanks to adoption of genetically engineered of corn, cotton and soybeans during years 1997 and 1998 farmers used 8. 2 million fewer pounds of chemicals. Furthermore, genetically modified organisms are also more resistant to getting overrun or choked up by weeds and other plants fighting for the same nutrients. This results in weeds dying out, leaving room for crop.

This and making plants more resistant to insects and diseases makes GMO very profitable. According to some economists, in 2007 farmers made additional $10 billion due to introducing gnetic . Yet another advantage of genetic engineering is the fact that it can help us produce new, far more effective vaccines and medicines. Also they can create another form of them- edible vaccines. The idea is to put medication into some plant’s genes and distribute it around the world so that people eat it and get what they need.

Scientists have already developed a transgenic potato, that prevented rats from getting rotavirus and E. coli. Hopefully, this idea will get developed and adopted in life, because this could help serious health problems, for example in countries of the third world. To conclude, genetic engineering is a very controversial subject and it surely needs more research. But it holds great potential for fixing many issues, many of them considering developing countries and people dying of starvation. Probably, as more and more investigation is done, health problems are going to be solved.

Bibliography Pictures (in order of appearance): 1. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/helixes3. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown 2. ‘Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 3. http://www. news. cornell. edu/chronicle/99/5. 20. 99/caterpillars. JPEG; date: 8. 05. 2011; Kent Loeffler 4. http://www. anunews. net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/aa-frankenfood-cartoon-good-one1. jpg; date: 8. 05. 2011; author unknown Books and webpages: 1. Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods’; Jeffrey M. Smith; publisher: Chelsea Green, 2007 2. ‘Seeds of deception: Exposing industry and government lies about the safety of the genetically engineered foods you’re eating’; Jeffrey M. Smith, publisher: Yes! Books, 2003 3. http://www. sciencedaily. com/releases/2010/10/101007092817. htm; reprinted from materials provided by Univeristy of Leeds, 7. 10. 2010 (date of publishing) 4. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670; Andy Luttrel; 28. 3. 2010 (date of publishing) 5. http://www. ehow. com/list_6019041_advantages-benefits-gmo. html; Gregory Hamel; 8. 05. 2011 (date of using) 6. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism; Yobot; 6. 05. 2011 ——————————————– [ 1 ]. http://www. ces. ncsu. edu/resources/crops/ag546-1/ [ 2 ]. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism#History [ 3 ]. http://www. seedsofdeception. com/documentFiles/120. pdf [ 4 ]. http://www. suite101. com/content/the-benefits-of-genetically-modified-food-crops-a218670