Thursday, May 23, 2013

Benefits of Genetic Engineering

Every human being inherits approximately 30000 genes at birth. These determine his or her physical and emotional attributes. Some of these genes might have mutated or become otherwise defective making the carrier predisposed to certain genetic diseases. These diseases may strike the person during his lifetime or alternatively may not do so at all. Nonetheless the person is a carrier and passes on these defective genes to his progeny. At some point, perhaps generations later when conditions are conducive, the disease will manifest itself.

One of the primary objectives in genetic engineering is to identify and isolate such genes with a view to repairing them or eradicating them so that their harmful effects are negated. An alternate strategy employed is to introduce a gene that has the effect of countering or combating the defective gene.

Another goal of genetic engineering is to find remedies and therapies to treat other non-genetic diseases. With preliminary data available long before the project was completed new protocols were developed to treat auto-immune and cardiac ailments.

The field of human reproduction, pharmaceuticals and medicine has gained significantly from genetic engineering. More sophisticated and effective medicines have been developed; bio-engineered insulin and human growth hormone being two such examples. With the new techniques available, at the fetus stage genetic diseases are being identified and successfully treated before birth.

Genetic engineering has thrown fresh insight into evolution and the origin and relationship man had with his primate ancestors 25 million years ago. This has enabled scientists to take a fresh look at some of the genetic diseases that might have descended through a process of evolution.

Pauline Go is an online leading expert in the medical industry. She also offers top quality articles like :

Human Chromosomes,
Mitochondrial DNA

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Pauline_Go
http://EzineArticles.com/?Benefits-of-Genetic-Engineering&id=2242705

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