• Engelsk
  • Utdanning: Vg2
  • Karakter: 5
  • Ord: 1903

Innledning
Through millions of years, humans have developed to an incredibly advanced breed. Random genetic mutations and adaptability has shaped who we are today and gifted us with abilities making us the most developed form of life currently known in the universe.

Nobody knows exactly how we are going to develop, all we know is that we will keep on evolving. But what if we could engineer our development in a way that quickly steers our evolution into what we believe is “the right path”, instead of letting the natural process sort out the next steps for our breed?

To a certain degree we already can. New CRISPR technology has made genetic engineering possible in a way that never has been achievable before.

With CRISPR we can edit the human genome by cutting out genes we don´t want from our DNA and insert new genes with other abilities.

But is the human nature really something we should take control of? There is certainly a huge risk factor.

What if we make an irreversible mistake for instance? My thesis question states as followed: Should human genome editing be continued and developed, or should we keep our hands off the table and let mother nature do its wonders?

In this essay I will explain how genetic engineering works, I will refer to some experiments that’s already been done, and I will reflect around some of the possible positive and negative consequences of it.

Utdrag
Personally, I am not very worried about the error factor or the ethical doubts in genetic engineering. What I am the most worried about are the social consequences.

When I think about the social consequences, I think of something Elon Musk refers to as “the Hitler problem”.

In an interview with Tim Urban for the web page Wait But Why, Urban asked Elon Musk if "genetic reprogramming" was something he'd ever turn his attention towards.

Elon Musk answered that it was more of a “moral battle” than a “technical battle”. "You know, I call it the Hitler Problem.

Hitler was all about creating the Übermensch and genetic purity, and it's like— how do you avoid the Hitler Problem?

I don't know," he told Urban. To understand what Musk means, it is important to know that genome editing is not something the average person is going to be able to afford for a long while.