Added: 01/16/2007 |
A Biologist Looks at Genetic ReproductionLong before the writer of the following article studied molecular biology and genetics, she read books with scenarios about a possible future. In some of those books, there were predictions about the pervasive role of genetic reproduction. Some futurists saw a time when all babies would be made outside of the mother's womb. The author does not hope for such a future, but she also appreciates the value of genetic research.
For other people, the term “genetic reproduction” represents a second way of promoting the use of bioengineering. Such people usually refuse to eat foods that are created through bioengineering. They fear that the ingestion of such foods could cause future medical problems.
Yet genetic reproduction does not have to involve a manipulation of genes in parts of the food supply. Genetic reproduction does not need to force on society intolerance for people who do not have perfect genes. The benefits of genetic research have led to the creation of investigative centers, such as the Reproductive Genetics Institute.
When biologists first began experimenting with recombinant DNA, no one would have dared to predict the creation of a Reproductive Genetic Institute. At that time, a number of essays counseled against widespread use of the recombinant technology. Fortunately, not all biologists paid attention to those essays.
Some biologists saw in the tools that paved the way for genetic reproduction a possible way to create beneficial, maybe life-saving, drugs. After much research and hard work, scientists found a way to mass produce the healing chemicals that biochemists had painstakingly extracted from animal species.
One of the first drugs made with recombinant technology was insulin. The gene that codes for insulin was inserted into the genes of an organism that multiplies quickly, such as bacteria or yeast. Their rapid multiplication led to the production of lots of insulin. Biochemists would then extract that insulin from the soup of chemicals produced by the rapidly-growing organism.
While insulin plays no part in reproduction, the making of insulin has demonstrated the ability to make any hormone, using recombinant technology. Today such technology makes it possible to produce hormones such as progesterone and estrogen. Since those hormones play a role in reproduction, their manufacture underscores one of the benefits of genetic reproduction.
The manipulation of genes has led to production on a mass scale of hormones that can help women who might otherwise remain infertile. Those same hormones are also used by women who want to replace the estrogen lost during menopause.
The effect of one or more of those hormones has come under scrutiny. By the same token, research on those same hormones now benefits greatly from the ease with which researchers can obtain such hormones. Researchers look constantly for ways to derive the greatest benefits and the least risk from the medicines produced through the manipulation of genetic material.
Educated researchers proceed with caution in the field of genetic reproduction.
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