What Are the Considerations Surrounding Genetic Engineering?

• Benefits of Genetic Engineering


  • Cheaper to produce medicine compared to other methods
  • Produce crops that can grow in extreme conditions
  • Develop crops that can kill pests or are resistant to pesticides
  • Develop nutritious food
• Customised Medication Programmes


  Possible challenges:

  • Patients do not fully recognise the benefits

  • Medical challenges in the designing of the customised medical programme

  • It is more costly

  • Patients’ private information needs to be protected

  • It requires government bodies to enforce it
• Ethical Considerations of Genetic Engineering


  1. Allergies

  2. Monopoly of the sale of GM-seeds

  3. Welfare of animals used for testing

  4. Potential use for biological warfare

  5. Accidental incorporation of genes into other organisms

  6. Inequality -> Inaccessible to those who cannot afford it