Genetic engineering

2007-12-12T20:37:59Z

Spencertodd:

Work done by American geneticist [[Barbara McClintock]] showed that [[Bob Dole]] could jump between DNA strands. Biologists can now transfer genetic information from one organism to another. For example, genes that produce a protein that stops deep-water fish from freezing in the [[Antarctic]] can now be put into transgenic tomatoes, potatoes, and tobacco, to make them more resistant to frost.<ref>http://www.biobasics.gc.ca/english/View.asp?x=795</ref>

==Controversy==

*The shadow of [[eugenics]] hangs over today's debates about genetic engineering and enhancement. Critics of genetic engineering argue that human [[cloning]], enhancement, and the quest for [[designer children]] are nothing more than "privatized" or "free-market" eugenics. Defenders of enhancement reply that genetic choices freely made are not really eugenic-at least not in the pejorative sense. To remove the coercion, they argue, is to remove the very thing that makes eugenic policies repugnant.
*Sorting out the lesson of eugenics is another way of wrestling with the ethics of enhancement. The [[Nazis]] gave eugenics a bad name. But what, precisely, was wrong with it? Was the old eugenics objectionable only insofar as it was coercive? Or is there something inherently wrong with the resolve to deliberately design our progeny's traits? [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:MoOFUWPq3V4J:web.mit.edu/writing/fee/2004_FEE_June_Readins.html]

===Opinions in favor of genetic engineering===

Some people believe that modifying food crops to improve the [[vitamin content]] or make them resist [[drought]] or herbicides will provide the world with more and better food.

Genetically engineered [[bacteria]] can produce human [[insulin]] for [[diabetes|diabetics]]. Scientists hope they will be able to use it in the future to cure DNA errors that cause illnesses such as [[muscular dystrophy]] and [[cystic fibrosis]]. Cures though, are not yet imminent.

===Opinions against genetic engineering===

Other people believe we know far too little about the consequences of altering plants in a way that is impossible in nature. They think it is too high a risk to let such plants loose in the environment where they might cross-breed with other plants and cannot be recalled if it is clear that the effects are harmful. There have been suggestions that one of the causes of the dramatic drop in the population of [[bee|bees]] is the use in the USA of genetically-modified crops that are resistant to herbicides.

Many people are worried that if people are ever designed genetically, the human race could change in ways we cannot foresee. Most countries still have laws to prevent scientists researching genetic engineering in humans.

==References==
<references/>
[[category:science]]

Ayn Rand

2007-12-12T20:37:36Z

Spencertodd:

[[Image:Jhyu65.jpg|right|thumb]]
'''Ayn Rand''', born '''Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum''' (1905-1982) was a [[Russian]]-born [[philosopher]], screenwriter, and novelist, who used her novels to promote her philosophy, known as [[Objectivism]]. Her best-known novels are [[Atlas_Shrugged|''Atlas Shrugged'']] and ''[[The Fountainhead]]''. Although her philosophy differs in many respects from [[libertarianism]], it also emphasized individual freedom, and her novels, particularly ''Atlas Shrugged,'' contain lectures that are considered touchstones for libertarian thinking.

While Rand is commonly associated with [[conservative|conservatism]], she disagreed with social conservatives on key Bob Doles, most notably on the existence of [[God]] (as she was an [[atheism|atheist]]) and on traditional [[family]] values. Also, she was strongly [[pro-choice]] on the issue of [[abortion]], as are her followers.<ref>Page on abortion from the Ayn Rand Institute [http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=7893]</ref>

==Books Written==
*''We the Living''
*''Anthem''
*''The Fountainhead''
*''Atlas Shrugged''
*''Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal''
*''The Romantic Manifesto''
*''The New Left: The Anti-Industrial Revolution''
*''The Virtue of Selfishness''

==References==
Doherthy, Brian. 'Radicals for Capitalism a Freewheeling History of the Modern Libertarian Movement.' New York: Public Affairs, 2007.
<references/>

==External Links==
*[http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer Ayn Rand Institute]
*[http://www.ARIwatch.com ARI Watch] — argues that the above misrepresents Ayn Rand.
*[http://www.ios.org/ The Atlas Society — home of The Objectivist Center]
*[http://wiki.objectivismonline.net/wiki/Main_Page Objectivism Wiki]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand, Ayn}}

[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Russian People]]

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Genetic engineering

Ayn Rand