Genetics Hoemowrk

So far no problems. I actually think it is relatively easy. Most issues I had were resolved with another look at the lecture. The only thing I did not like was the problem related to sex linked inheritance.

Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering is the future. Someday this may be perfectly normal, but at the present it is rare.  There are certainly ethical concerns with this technology that may result in unwanted population booms and severe changes to gender ratios. These concerns are in addition to the classist’s nature that almost all technological advances face initially when they are very expensive.

There are many parents who would use this technology to determine if my child had a particular disease, especially couples who either have or are potentially carriers of genetic diseases.  This may lead to increases in population as more couples maybe inclined to have children; it may almost lower the infant mortality rate in countries where the procedure is available. 

A Chinese classroom where boys outnumber girls 

Using genetic advances to determine sex, eye color, or other arbitrary traits may come into vogue. If it does there is a strong chance that gender ratios in countries where the procedure is available will be affected. Already without this technology countries such as China have seen booms in the male population as female fetus are aborted in a culture that values male above female heirs. With this technology the effects would be even greater. Changes in eye color would change the statistic on that; however, that is not a particularly important point for discrimination in most societies.

What really worries me is the idea of superiority that will likely be conferred upon these children. Will societies come to define some genetic perfection against which all individuals will be judged? Can there be healthy competition when some participant where breed and born to compete in certain athletic events? These are the concerns I have. If genetic engineering becomes social, as opposed to medical, the social structure of those nations and countries employing the technology will change.  Society could become like the movie Gattaca, were genetic discrimination can determine everything from employment to social treatment. But maybe if the world is very lucky, and uncharacteristically fair, then society might not change at all. Genetic engineering would be nothing more than an apolitical choice made by people's parents that in no way reflects the value of the child.

Whatever this technology is or becomes it will undoubtedly be a very complex matter. There are a number of ethics questions attached to it and numerous technical challenges currently. Perhaps in time these will fade away. Regardless though genetic engineering will, when it finally gets around to being solid reality, change how babies are made and viewed.

Deforestation and Its Effects

This is a picture of a coniferous forest. This forest does not only not emit greenhouse gas, but actually processes them, thereby removing them from the atmosphere. This makes these forest very valuable "carbon sinks". Not only are these forests beautiful, they play an important part in helping to protect Earth's climate and environmental health. Yet these forests are continually threatened. These forest are uprooted, the trees turned into timber, and the land developed for other purposes. This modern deforestation is considered part of the climate change problem by global climate researchers. In the southern hemisphere areas of the Amazon Forest have been deforested to make way for the development of agriculture land. This has resulted in not only poor soil quality, but also been very harsh on the whole ecosystem and environment. While North America was largely deforested in the Industrial Revolution, there are still forests within America that can be preserved.

     Deforestation effects not just the atmosphere. The mass removal of trees means that groundwater that normally would have been drawn up by trees and released into the atmosphere remains buried. This means dry climates with less water easily accessible. The soil in the area also erodes more quickly as it has no protection from wind or water. This means that the top soil of an area may vanish completely (such as in deforested areas of the Amazon Basin). Ecologically it is a disaster as creatures that lived in a ecosystem intertwined with trees may not survive past the removal of forest and loss of their habitat.