Use of Genomics

By: G. Cardenas
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​In a scientific and technology driven society of many impacting advancements, new technologies and techniques like genomics that are greatly controversial must be and are thoroughly discussed and criticised. The topic of genomics impacts every single country in the world and discussing its regulation is primordial to be able to develop this technology safely and respectfully. Understanding the ethical and moral issues in this topic is a big step to consequently reach a consensus to enable future advancements in this kind of research in a humane and respectful manner.

A big concern for such research are the ethical reasons, one big example being religion. Countries like the UAE, Iran, Saudi Arabia, like many others, have their main religion being Islam and although some of these government aren’t religious, they have to respect the belief that Allah’s creation of humanity is holy and should not be infringed upon. This is how Allah created humans and animals, and so the natural course of humanity should follow Allah’s will without any intervention. Other religions like Orthodox Christians and Orthodox Judaism also have the same concerns, but I have taken Islam as the main example because it is the larger portion of people that represents this disapproval of such techniques.

However, even though this kind of research challenges moral and ethical problems due to tradition and the different beliefs in different cultures, its good aspects must be seen and understood as it is a technological advance that may help humanity in a myriad of aspects. Firstly, the medical and health aspect as it opens doors to many medical discoveries that can be linked to the human genome. Many serious conditions and diseases can be better understood and treated with the research obtained by genomics, especially those linked to genetic inheritance like cardiovascular diseases or even cancer. It also has a tremendous amount of commercial potential and success. A project of the human genome research carried out in the USA generated $800 billion dollars employing 4 million people in such a short period of time.

The Genome research is a very important matter that must be discussed internationally in committees like the UN as for the only way to proceed with its development in a respectful manner is by coming up with correct regulations that will ensure the utmost satisfaction for its correct use.