The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the Essay

The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic 'blueprint' of the human body. Consider the social, - Essay Example Ethical issues include balancing individual interests against the interests of others, and such considerations as potentially racist applications and unforeseen consequences of information which gene-related activities can produce. Some of the most critical issues such as privacy and the desire not to know are highlighted. Financial implications for society at large, private companies and for individuals are explored. Finally there is assessment of the extent to which the Frankenstein metaphor applies to this project. The paper concludes that the Human Genome Project is an extremely powerful resource which can be used for good or evil purposes, and that we have resolved some, but by no means all, of the major ethical issues that it brings. The Human Genome Project promises a revolutionary insight to the genetic â€Å"blueprint† of the human body. Consider the social, ethical, and economic implications of this project for society, and the potential for applications of this rese arch. Genetic engineering is a relatively new science, which rests on the pioneering work of Gregor Mendel on the garden pea, leading to the formulation of Mendel’s laws in 1866. (Thomas, 2003 pp. 1-3). ... They were motivated by scientific curiosity and, as in so many laboratories, the focus was on the pure science, theories and explanations of what was going on at the tiniest possible levels of genes and chromosomes within the human body. At this stage there was very little concern for the ethical and moral implications of these new discoveries. The field of genetics made further progress with the invention of effective gene sequencing techniques in the mid 1970’s. At first only tiny viruses and bacteria were studied, but with advances in computing and automation, more complex organisms could be studied. Throughout the 1980s techniques improved so considerably that attention turned to the human genome. The Huntingdon’s disease gene was mapped to chromosome 4 in 1983 (Collins and McKusick: 2001, p. 541) but this was only a first step towards accurately locating the disease to its specific position there. There was no systematic way of sequencing all of the genes, and the scale of the task, encompassing some 3 billion base pairs, defeated even the best technology of the time. More resources were needed to tackle such a huge task. In 1989 both private and publicly funded organisations began to map the whole human genome. An international consortium was set up in 1990 and named the Human Genome Project. At this stage, finally, some of the more serious implications of the project were realised, and a portion the funding amounting to between 3% and 5% was set aside for exploration of the moral and ethical issues attached to the research. (Collins and McKusick, 2001, p. 540) Over a period of 13 years, the Human Genome Project was carried out in various locations,