The implications related to genetic engineering such as cloning and gene editing is briefly described.

1. SOCIALAND ETHICAL ISSUES
OF GENETIC ENGINEERING
PRESENTED BY:
SMALLY SINHA
MT/BT/10005/18
IPR, BIOSAFETY AND BIOETHICS

2. GENETIC ENGINEERING
• Genetic engineering, the artificial manipulation, modification, and
recombination of DNA or other nucleic acid molecules in order to
modify an organism or population of organisms.
• The possibility for recombinant DNA technology emerged with the
discovery of restriction enzymes in 1968 by Swiss
microbiologist Werner Arber.
• Steps in genetic engineering:
i. Isolation
ii. Insertion
iii. Growth

4. APPLICATIONS
1. GENETICALLY
MODIFIED CROPS
• Genetic modification of plants
involves adding a specific
stretch of DNA into the plant’s
genome, giving it new or
different characteristics.
• Why do? To improve crop
protection, lower price.

5. 2. CLONING
• Gene cloning is the process in
which a gene of interest is
located and copied (cloned)
out of DNA extracted from an
organism.
• Why done? Renew activity of
damaged cells, Act as Organ
donors, Infertile parents.
3. GENE EDITING
Gene editing, based on a
technology known as CRISPR-
Cas9, allows researchers to
customize a living organism’s
genetic sequence by making
very specific changes to its
DNA.
APPLICATIONS

6. ETHICAL ISSUES ON GMOs
• Effects on environment:
1. Herbicide use and resistance: Use of herbicide increased,
unintended weeds can grow resistant.
2. Effect on untargeted species: Bt corn, produces its own toxin.
Effects the Monarch butterfly.
• Effect on human health
1. Allergies: ‘Nut allergy’ from soya bean.
2. Long term effects
3. New proteins: Proteins which have never been ingested before
by humans are now part of the foods that people consume every
day.

7. ETHICAL ISSUES ON CLONING
• Closed future : cloning will cause children to not have an open future
as they will become exactly like the person they are a clone of or the
opposite.
• Unnatural way: as cloning needs a considerably bigger level of
participation and meddling with animals’ reproductive performance
than traditional production methods.
• Risk of abuse: People fear that someone would form armies of
military or even create huge amounts of human resources. Human
cloning can bring serious jeopardy of abuses to human self-esteem
and misuse by corrupt people.
• Not exactly same: The cloned animal would look identical and bring
pet lovers happy memories but it is not the same animal that they are
looking at. Only the DNA is the same.
• Two classes of people: here will be two classes of humans if most of
the people are cloned, the one who’s gene is enhanced and the one
who is produced naturally.