-Kris Trinidad

A possible ethical consideration is: should we digitize our DNA and obtain the ATGC ( adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine) base? Would it be ok to edit genes? 

When considering an essential ethical debate like this, the first thing that should be done is to write the risk to reward. Some positives for tampering with the gene pool and digitizing DNA are it can lead to further medical research on curing diseases and changing genes to better humanity. Some cons that you may want to consider is how society will react to this. Editing DNA sounds wonderful but most beautiful things are expensive. An act like this could widen the gap between the wealth classes. Think from an employer standpoint, a DNA submission might soon be required during interviews. Why wouldn’t an employer want the best person for his or her company? That would cause early discrimination of genes/ DNA. Better yet, If we were to edit all of these newborns’ DNA, what’s to say they don’t assume they are better than regular people? That is a lot to consider but it isn’t even the worst of it all. If we push past the cons or find solutions, what steps will we take to make sure this data is protected? The risk of this data getting out is detrimental. We’re talking about big-time cloning, crime scene tampering, framing, data being sold on the dark web, and even hacking humans. I feel as if we can find a solution to these problems then we should go ahead with the process. But if the risk outruns the reward then maybe we should turn around and reconsider.