Your opinion about human genome project?

Question

advantage and disadventage

Answer 1

The Human Genome Project: Advantages :

improving our knowledge of gene expression,

elucidating the function of the large proportion of DNA we know little about

discovering possible means of diagnosis for some genetic diseases,

discovering possible treatments for currently untreatable genetic diseases

discovering new tools and techniques for genetic research,

generating the ability to go directly from a trait to a gene,

identifying genetically validated therapeutic targets which would increase the cost-benefit ratio in pharmaceutical discovery,

investigating the development of drug resistance in bacteria,

investigating antigenic variation and host-parasite interaction at both the host and parasite level.

In addition there are other spin-offs such as:

producing a better understanding of biology (procaryotic and eucaryotic),

allowing the rapid development of new crops,

increasing the productivity of livestock,

breeding pest-resistant plants and animals,

documenting commercially useful micro-organisms,

improving the quality control of our food and environment, and

increasing our taxonomic understanding

The Human Genome Project:disadvantages

the cost – the money could be spent elsewhere,

the anguish resulting from knowing that a person has an untreatable genetic disease,

the use or misuse of genetic information by such organisations as insurance companies and employers,

the ownership of genetic test results,

the patenting of human genes and DNA,

the increasing gap between rich and poor countries in the quality of life and the level of health and disease treatment,

the exploitation of isolated populations in the search for disease genes,

the ethics of accumulating genotypic profiles of people - are they able to be used for anything that the researcher wants,

decisions about the ownership of data by 'affected' or donor individuals,

the ethics of germline gene therapy,

the ethics of somatic gene therapy,

the costs of genetic treatment versus benefit to the community.

try these sites:

www.science.org.au/nova/006/006print.h...

www.biology-online.org/2/13_genetic_en...

www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/97527.htm...

Answer 2

disadvantages?

it might be the one thing that saves us

yes i love the idea of transhumanism  :)

oh yaa. but possibly messing up Darwin's take on things in a way i guess

.. survival of the fittest etc

Answer 3

Advantage