Genetics Research Project

By: Alex Li and Eoghan McGee

Mrs.Martinez

Period 8

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Basic Principles of Genetics

• Traits that are controlled by dominant alleles always show up when the allele is present.

• Traits controlled by recessive alleles are masked when the dominant allele is present.

• When two traits are co-dominant, neither trait is dominant or recessive. As a result, both traits are visible.

• When two parents create an offspring, the offspring gets one allele for each trait from both parents. The passing of traits from parents to offspring is called heredity.

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• The Human Genome Project started in 1990 and the project’s main objective was to find DNA sequence of every gene in the human body

• Ethical implications: They (Christians) say the embryos, which must be destroyed to harvest ESCs, have the same moral status as adult humans and must not be used in research to which they, obviously, cannot consent.

• Legal implications: The senate, house of reps, president, and court has to approve it and that takes a long time based on opinions. It would cost even more for funding.

• Social implications: People might treat people differently so the people will have to keep it to there selves so they will be accepted.

• On May 21st, President Bush signed into law the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), which prohibits U.S. insurance companies and employers from discriminating on the basis of information derived from genetic tests.

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Genetic Disorders1. Genetic Disorders:

• Single gene disorder- Caused by the alteration of a single gene in a persons DNA and they often run in families.

Examples- Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle-Cell Disease• Chromosome abnormalities- Usually results when an error occurs in the development of an egg or sperm cell. The cell will have either too many or too little chromosomes resulting in an embryo with chromosome abnormalities.

Examples- Down Syndrome• Multi-factorial disorders- Caused by many factors such as the effects of multiple genes, lifestyle, and environmental conditions.

Examples- Diabetes, Heart Disease

2. Genetic Counseling- Genetic counseling provides support and information for people who have, or are at risk of having, a genetic disease. Genetic counselors use karyotypes, pedigree charts, and Punnett squares to help them in their work. They calculate the data to give couples a percent chance of their child having a genetic disease. This can make parents think deeply about whether they wish to have children or not. They may not want to pass their disease onto their children so they may not have any.

3. Karyotypes- Karyotypes are pictures of homologous chromosomes lined up during Metaphase 1 of Meiosis. Geneticists can use karyotypes to predict genetic disorders by studying them and seeing if a person has an abnormal amount of chromosomes, missing parts of chromosomes, or mixed up pieces of chromosomes.

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Cloning A clone is an organism that is genetically the same as the organism its was cloned of.

Scientists now can clone plants and animals. They can also produce organisms with desired traits in a process called genetic engineering. In the past, humans have manipulated genomes indirectly through selective breeding. In genetic engineering, scientists are directly manipulating one or more genes. Often, genes from another species will be added to change the appearance of the organism.

One controversial issue right now is whether reproductive cloning should be allowed or not. Some say that it isn’t right for humans to be manufactured but others say that reproductive cloning is a way for sterile couples to have children. Another issue is therapeutic cloning. In this case, scientists are only harvesting stem cells from human embryos. On both accounts, you have people for them, and against them.

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Harvesting Stem CellsPro 1 - Cures

Stem cells are cells that can become or change into various types of cells. Stem cells can be used to provide cures for many diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's and many more. Currently, 18.8 million people in the US are diagnosed with diabetes and around 1.5 million people have Parkinson’s disease. The continuation of stem cell research and harvesting stem cells can lead to finding a cure for them.

Diabetes is on the rise in the US.

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Embryonic stem cells are the most common type of stem cell used and they are found in a developing embryo. However, to harvest them means destroying the embryo, a human life. This raises the question, “What is the youngest of human life? Is it person or property?” asks Senator Sam Brownback. According to him, if you start out a human, you end up a human. If you start out an inanimate object, you end up one. Therefore, isn’t extracting stem cells from a human embryo on the same plane as murder.

Harvesting Stem CellsCon 1 – Sacrificing Humans

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Pro 2

Even though harvesting stem cells require destroying an embryo, that doesn’t mean having to kill someone’s child. Right now, there are about 400,000 frozen embryos at in vitro fertilization clinics. Around 10,000 of these are discarded every year. Instead of throwing them out, scientists can gather stem cells from them.

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Con 2

• There eventually won’t be any more spare embryos left for stem cell research. It might happen by accident or equipment malfunction, but there will come a time when the surplus of embryos are gone. Then there will no longer be embryos to extract stem cells from.

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Can’t we make more?

• Can’t scientists create more embryonic stem cells?

• No, it is illegal in any government funded laboratory in the US.

Over all Alex Li and Eoghan McGee are against Harvesting Stem Cells. This is simply based on the fact that you are killing another human being. Kill one to save another. Harvesting stem cells is murder. How would you feel, if you were saved from death by stem cells. Relieved at first. Then you should realize, that to preserve your life and keep you running, another one was never given the chance to start.

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• Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues --Genome Research." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/elsi.shtml>.

•  • "The CQ Researcher Online." CQ Press Electronic Library. Web. 21 Mar. 2011.

<http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/search.php?PHPSESSID=ji6gl8r1cpb6evtl0qdc257mr4&fulltext=harvesting stem cells&action=newsearch&sort=custom:sorthitsrank,d>.

• "The CQ Researcher Online." CQ Press Electronic Library. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/search.php?PHPSESSID=9u3qdov3o79g8q7h2qf9b94us3&fulltext=Harvesting stem cells&action=newsearch&sort=custom:sorthitsrank,d>.

• "The CQ Researcher Online." CQ Press Electronic Library. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre2006090100&type=hitlist&num=0>.

• Sweet Search. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://www.sweetsearch.com/>.

• "Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues --Genome Research." Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Web. 23 Mar. 2011. <http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/elsi.shtml

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