Halo 3: Is it Possible?
by Connor
So I play Halo 3 which is a game about a genetically enhanced super soldier (Spartan) who fights aliens to protect the earth. Now genetic enhancement is something we have talked about before in biology and I always wondered how much scientists know about it. So I did some research and found some pretty interesting facts. In the books, the Spartans begin there long and painful genetic enhancement project at the age of 12. Their senses are heightened and they are injected with growth hormones. They are also injected with a protein complex to make their muscles enlarge. To read more about these enhancements just look at this link.
Well, we won’t be having any real superhuman alterations by tomorrow, but there is work being done with disease and such. According to an article from the National Human Genome Research Institute, a study has been done on a group of mice where they were injected with a gene that causes muscles to grow, leading to increased muscle growth. Scientists are trying to learn how to apply this to patients with muscular dystrophy and in the future it would be a possible alternative to steroids for athletes.
This same institute has done research on a gene that slows down the aging process because it grows muscle mass to keep old people able to live without the aid of a nursing home longer. To read more about this go here.
Halo is a fictional story with fictional characters. However, the human genetics part could someday become reality in the future. Someday we could even produce children exactly the way we want them; what sex they are, how smart they are, how tall they will be, etc. We could even make animals with a human level of intelligence! There are more examples on this website here. We as humans have limited knowledge about the world around us. However, the fact that we could somehow create living things the way we want them instead of the way they were meant to be, scares me. I like the way I am, and if this technology was ever available I would turn it down. What about you?
Do you think using this technology is right? If so why? If you could pick any trait(s) for your child what would it be? Would a different animal operating on our level of intelligence be bad for the ecosystem where it lives? Would it be bad for ours?
February 9th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Wow Connor, that’s really interesting. It’s amazing how much we can do now.
Do I think using this technology is right? Yes and no: I think this is could really help for people who do have problems like muscular dystrophy. However, I think that giving this to athletes is not. To me, it’s practically the same as steroids, only healthier.
I don’t think giving our level of intelligence to other species would be a good idea. If they did, they would hate us for using them to simply test, not caring about their actual selves. Hatred leads humans to do terrible things. It might lead them to it, too.
In areas that are practically untouched by humans, all the animals live happily in their ecosystem, changing that ecosystem would throw everything into confusion, none of the other animals would be prepared for such a change. This new intelligence in a population would lead that population to grow rapidly; this would lead to a quick decrease in the other populations in the area.
Also if these animals with the new intelligence knew enough to change species as well, before long, we could end up their pets instead of the other way around.
With everything in science, there is responsibility. Science itself is neither good nor bad, but how we use it can be either.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
It does scare me. Just like steroids I’m scared that technology like this would be used wrongly and could be worse to us and the Earth than better. Every person is different in their own way and that what makes people so amazing, what characteristics my child receives from God will be unique and wonderful not just a generic ideal child. To answer your last question I think human intelligence for an animal would be good for them maybe ,but it would not be good for us when animals learn how to push us back out of their environments. This is an amazing article that questions morals, possibilities, and our future. I say that this article is the best one of the year. Way to go Connor.
February 10th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
This is a very touchy subject for many people, because manipulating life to fit Human standards this is a very moral issue. Just because God gave us the intelligence does not mean that we should freely do what we want with it.
Personally I think this gene manipulating nonsense should not even be a problem because it is just plain wrong. Things should happen naturally, especially the life of everything in general. How smart or how tall a child is should be up to God and not us. I found an article that talks about the controversy of human cloning.
“The recent news of the successful cloning of an adult sheep-in
which the sheep’s DNA was inserted into an unfertilized sheep egg to
produce a lamb with identical DNA-has generated an outpouring of
ethical concerns. These concerns are not about Dolly, the now famous
sheep, nor even about the considerable impact cloning may have on the
animal breeding industry, but rather about the possibility of cloning
humans. For the most part, however, the ethical concerns being raised
are exaggerated and misplaced, because they are based on erroneous
views about what genes are and what they can do. The danger,
therefore, lies not in the power of the technology, but in the
misunderstanding of its significance.”
http://www.studyworld.com/newsite/ReportEssay/SocialIssues/Religion%5CThe_Issue_of_Human_Cloning-137.htm
February 10th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
I think that the prospect of having technology such as this is very frightening. Nobody knows for sure what could be done if it comes into the hands of the wrong people and they use it for a bad cause. I personally do not think it is right to use technology to choose how our children come out. I think that is just an attempt by people to “be” God, which is wrong. I also think that it could be good. As you said there could be enhancements made that would help with aging and allow some older people to be more self-sufficient. As Katie O. said, I think it would be a bad idea to give our level of intelligence to an animal. No one could ever be sure what they would do if they had a greater realization of what we do to them sometimes. I also don’t think these possible enhancements should be for athletes. If someone has a muscle problem that they need taken care of then that is fine. However, if an athelete just wants to use them to try to get an edge on the competition then I think that it is cheating and should not be allowed. I really liked this article Connor. Great job!
February 11th, 2008 at 11:38 am
If youve ever seen the movie, “time machine” there are enhanced creatures that attack a weaker species. This happened because they spent a long time underground breeding stronger males and females, to make the ultimate species. I believe this could happen because when the child receives the dominant genes from the adults, it receives the strongest combination of genes (in most cases).
But is it right to modify the human body?
Signed,
Flying Onion Boy
February 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
This is a really good post Connor.
I think to a certain extent like Katie said, yes and no. It could help with certain health defects but using it for muscle growth I don’t think is useful. I know steroids though are also used for other purposes and not just muscle growth. For example, a while ago I had poison ivy ad took these steroid pills for like a week to make the poison ivy go away and the swelling go down. It is funny you brought this up though becasue just recently, there has been a new case with a handful of baseball players that have been turned in by some trainers that actually injected them with steroids. It is pretty interesting how many people use steroids, it almost makes the sport seem a little fake. What do you guys think?
Honestly, I think it would be very hard to chose traits for your child. I would obviously make it all healthy and nothing wrong but looks wise, I’ not too sure.
I think it could really cause a problem if there was another animal on earth with our intelligence level. We have the ability to make decisions and we have our will and personalities about us. Personally, I think having one species like that can cause enough trouble. If we had two species with the ability to chose and think and feel, I think we could get into a bit of a mess.
I also like how Danielle brought up the cloning issue. I think that falls under the same general subject. Its hard because we haven’t done this before so I think many people are resistant to it because it is obviously out of the normal. But who knows, maybe decades from now they will be cloning all the time. That would be pretty interesting.
Great post Connor!
February 18th, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Yeah, well, ummm.. Yes. So, Katie, your comment is pretty dead on. Understanding how science works and public ignorance is nothing new. I can remember in 5th grade, talking about whether we thought stem cell research was right or wrong, and as 5th graders, just having to respond to such a controversial topic, but with the mind of a 11 or 12 year-old, I remember there being real black and white answers to the question. This was actually because we had no clue about the real science behind any of it. We just thought it was scientists sitting in a lab with people like Osama Bin Ladin and trying to make clones of him for a evil terrorist army. And if you’ve watched t.v. recently, not alot of people make it past being smarter than a 5th grader. Next to that, why the heck were we talking about this in Language Arts, and not science? Just like the article was talking about, the public, or average person might not even have the desire to know the science behind such a scientificly complex topic. Though I agree with them on some things, such as how creating a animal with a human mind, intelligence and emotions, or creating a “catman” is wrong, people shouldn’t be funding this. It’s not science, because it’s bias, and science is neither conservative or liberal. So, things like the”catman” are wrong, and I’m not saying I THINK it’s wrong, it’s just wrong. Though like the articles were saying, some of these things are advantageous, like if someone has muscular dystrophy, using certain protiens or steroids are good. Also, with the artificial fertilization, it would be alright if someone was sterile, and couldn’t have babies, I guess, but for you to sit down and choose for who your babie should look like, how do you think your baby will feel when they get grown?They’ll feel like,” okay, so instead of being my own individual, you tried to create almost like a doll of me, your own little science experiment. I don’t look like Bryant, I look like Tom Cruise”. As for my mom, she’s had 6 strong, healthy, morally aware children, and she believes that she’s had that, because she’s prayed for other people’s children, and being a nurse in the NICU, she’s always working with premature babies, that are like the size of my palm, and babies that are too sick to make it for even a few days when they are born. She sees babies die everyday. True enough, the fact that she’s just in that environment there makes her more thankful than others who aren’t reminded of their chances of this possibly happening to them, but do unto others as you’d have them do unto you. It’s quite unfortunate for the families with children with disabilities, and they should have full access to the enhancements, but to breed your own child before they’re born is none of your business. How would you feel to be some experiment of your parent’s?
Also, everything happens for a reason. Maybe it’s supposed to happen that your child has some sort of disability, so that you become more aware of what you’re doing in your life, but if this technology becomes selectively available, then you’ll have some grace, and grace is always good. Also, hats off to people like Walgreens and CVS pharmacies, who actually hire people with some disabilities. This article that talks alot about deformed babies and the social disadvantages. This is just one I looked at, and it gives you alot to chew on.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/1998/98nov11/health.htm
Another thought here. There should be an international guild of scientists that puts out reports on major science projects, and puts out reports in some sort of simple format, like a newspaper, instead of a sciency journal, so that the average guy can understand it with that guy doing as little research as possible to understand it. This makes it a little easier for the average person to understand what’s going on in science, making them even more responsible for what they say about these scientific findings and research. If this was possible, then we could just look at the facts and research, and then everyone would have the opportunity to sit down with like, the most recent, or weekly science paper, and create their own views based off the science, instead of what they hear from their blabbering co-worker, or buddy. And then, it could be from like, one of the most respected scientists in the world. So, when someone goes to pick up the AJC from their driveway, they also pick up the science based newspaper. That’d fix alot of things, though that whole idea is a little out there, perhaps.
BRyant