Genetic Engineering :: Genetic Engineering Essays

At the Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland, Dr. Keith Campbell, director of embryology at PPL therapeutics in Roslin, and his colleague Dr. Ian Wilmut worked together on a project to clone a sheep, Dolly, from adult cells. On February 22, 1997, they finally succeeded. Dolly was the only lamb born from 277 fusions of oocytes with udder cells. Wilmut says there were so many failures because it is difficult to ensure that the empty oocytes and the donor cell are at the same stage of the cell division cycle.To clone Dolly, basically scientists took an unfertilized egg cell, removed the nucleus, replaced it with cells taken from the organism to be cloned, put it into an empty egg cell which begins to develop as an embryo, and implanted this embryo into a mother, from which the clone was born.The fact that only 1 out of 277 attempts succeeded is a little scary when applied to human beings. If an attempt to clone a human led to that high of a death toll, then there would not be many supporters. According to Rifkin, in an extensive survey of all 106 clinical trials of experimental gene therapies conducted over the past five years involving more than 597 patients, a panel of experts convened by the NIG reported that "Clinical efficacy has not been definitively demonstrated at this time in any gene therapy protocol, despite anecdotal claims of successful therapy." (545). These results are also happening with people who are trying to get gene therapy. With these facts on the table, it would not be ideal to try to clone humans if cloning an animal took several hundred attempts and human gene therapy has had hundreds of failures as well.Humans are going way beyond their limits in the field of biotechnology in the world today. Until recently, these ideas were unheard of. Now with new technology, scientists are capable of changing an organism's genetic make-up. We are very eager to learn new things, however, this eagerness gets in the way of common sense all too often. As stated in Starr and Taggart's article, "we do not have the wisdom to bring about beneficial changes without causing great harm to ourselves or to the environment." (514). However, the naà ¯ve public may want to jump right into things, and scientists will not disagree.Scientists are messing with things that they should not be messing with.

Renaissance Medicine and Medical Practices Essay

In the beginning of the Elizabethan Era medicine was the beginning of advancements. During the Renaissance, disease was a big problem. Medicine was not as advanced as it is today, but being discovered from witchcraft and superstitions, to cures for the sick. Medicine was not advanced then so the citizens looked for cure from the â€Å"witches† and their beliefs just led them to their deaths. Religious citizens prayed, or consumed blood from someone else as they believed to contain the soul of the deceased. â€Å"†¦. octors sought for explanations [for illnesses] in the stars rather than in the blood stream and preferred magical to clinical experiment. † (Netzley 70). They believed the illness or sickness was spiritual rather than from the body. Superstitions were a big thing in this era. â€Å"Black Death† a plague that spread in Florence in 1348 was believed to be punishment from God. As medicine was being discovered the new knowledge was slowly being accepted by the citizens. Medicine discovered by the Europeans was not as accurate though. As time passed, medicine was then based on Aristotle ideas; on four humors in the body. They are blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile; which determine the imbalance and were thought to be related to their personality. Leonardo Da Vinci had sketched accurate anatomies at which influenced medicine studies. â€Å"that his ideas were familiar to the scientific environment in which he found himself,†¦ the likelihood is that Leonardo’s thoughts was important landmark in the development of scientific ideas,† (Walker 94). Eventually the Hippocrates studies were discovered, they had lived in B. C. era. Their studies were used for comparison at which proved their discoveries and solutions wrong and the Hippocrates were very accurate as they had sketched the structures and their thoughts on how the human body functioned which led them to new discoveries. There were many medical practices that were believed to cure the person and in contrary some made them more sick or led them to death, Bloodletting was a popular practice done at which they would cut the patients artery on their arm or sometimes both arms, and were bled until they felt drowsy which was consider to be when the felt â€Å"better†. This practice sometimes was done too often the patient would simply die of lack of blood supply. The medical practice of the four humors determined imbalance in patients. In order to diagnose the doctors would check patient’s pulse and urine; looking as color and smell. The remedy or are used where herbs and spices. Spices were believed to balance the humors rated on a scale from hotness, coldness and wetness. â€Å"Renaissance doctors . . . . . followed the traditional herbal medicine practiced throughout the Middle Ages† (Walker 96). Most common used herb was the theriac for medicinal recipes, an antidote for poison. Cinnamon and pepper were two spices commonly used and were rated hottest. Surgeries were not very popular and were rarely ever done, in small towns the barbers will be the surgeon as they couldn’t afford to pay a qualified doctor. Medicine advanced through the years till today, but the Renaissance era seemed to be the discovery of new medicine that help cure the sick. Never less did they learn more about the human and animal body but discovered diseases and several cures for them.

The War Of The Vietnam War - 1204 Words

As Nicholas Lemann once said, â€Å"Everything is pretty much the same on the surface. Underneath, everything is different. We have no center. Our parents did†¦ People like me assumed the American enterprise was noble, rebelled against it for a time, and then joined it, not out of sincere belief of our parents but there was no choice. That’s why today, although we’re better educated than they were we vote less. It’s why†¦ we feel no loyalty to our employers. Its why marriage and children scare us†¦ When that is the way you are, how do you conduct your life?† The Vietnam War killed over fifty eight thousand Americans and over 61% of the men killed were 21 years or younger. Most Americans are conflicted with the fact whether the Anti War Movement†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"The anti war movement, neither lost the war, nor caused the subsequent bloodbath in Southeast Asia† (p.345) â€Å"None of these sources of American defeat was set in motion or significantly worsened either by antiwar activism.† (p.346) It is clear that the anti war movement did not contribute to the loss in Vietnam. In terms of the reasons for America to join the fight in Vietnam the movement was â€Å"right but for the wrong reasons.† (p.346) â€Å"The war’s sources had nothing to do with the sinister face of corporate capitalism, but the war was a mistake.† They had been a constant argument that â€Å"...the anti war movement saved American lives but did not sacrifice Asians because the war was unwinnable.† (p.346) And that whatever was going to happen would have taken place regardless. Although American participation in the war created more chaos in Cambodia but it couldn t have made anything better. While others continue to blame the loss of the war on the anti war movement and other related maladies on the home front. â€Å"Even if we discount the impact of the movement, it is still no simple matter to determine how much of what happened in Southeast Asia after 1975 was the faultShow MoreRelatedThe War Of Vietnam And The Vietnam War1525 Words   |  7 PagesThe war in Vietnam is The United States and other capitalist bloc countries supported South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) against the support by the Soviet Union and other socialist bloc countries of North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and the Vietcong of war. Which occurred during the Cold War of Vietnam (main battlefield), Laos, and Cambodia. This is the biggest and longtime war in American history during the 1960s (Best 2008). 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