Genetics Debate

On March 4th, 2010 we had a genetics deabte in science class. The class was split into two groups, a cloning group and a s tem cell research group. Each group was split further into con and pro sides of the debate. This debate was not a very formal one, as we used a "fish-bowl" discussion, rather than a formal debate (a fish-bowl dicussion is simply a debate, but no first negative, first positive... and no turns, meaning i can talk when i feel necessary, but I still cannot make personal attacks and such.)

The pro side for stem cell reasearch consisted of Abigail, Hana, Aidan, Emma and Severyn, the con side consisted of Holly, Ines, Jacob and Arnie. The pro side won, ut te con side did show many ethical and moral dileamas shown in the debate. I'll show a bulleted list of negatives and positives of the debate below:

Positives:

• Treatment of Cancer such as lymphoma and leukemia
• In the near future it might be able to cure Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, muscle damage.
• Cures heart damage
• Cures baldness, missing teeth
• Might be able to cure deafness and blindness and vision impairment

Negatives (most, if not all are ethical in nature):

• The extraction of stem cells, results in destorying the embryo (except this is no longerr valid, because researchers have showne that you can take stem cells without damaging the embryo).
• The organs grown from stem cells could contribute to the organ "black market" and provide it place to grow.

The pro side for human cloning consisted of Joe, German, Daniel, Luke and Cornelia; whereas the con side consisted of Alex, Kamil, Davide, and Gregor. The con side won, according to majority vote. I will state the positives and negatives mentioned in this list:

Positives

• It may someday be possible to stunt the aging process
• May be able to clone good heart tissue for people with damaged hearts after heartattcks and other heart problems
• Infertility; if a woman wanted to have a baby, but was infertile would have a much bigger chance of gaining a baby through the cloning process.
• You could theoreticly in the clone, give them perfect genes, meaning get rid of all the defective genes in people.
• If an area is underpopulated here is a solution.

Negatives

• According to ethical groups it will lower the standard of human life.
• It will probably cost a lot, making tax payers pay more.
• If allowed unchecked could evolve into "slave labor"
• Discrimination
• Black market would rise and humans would become a comodity as would organs

Next scribe is German