Response to Genetic Engineering in Athletics

I agree with Omair, in Group 2, about genetic engineering in athletes. Since this procedure is still fairly new it will cost lots of money to perform. This will allow those with money to design their children to be better than those who work for it. It will given them an edge in athletics just because they have the money to engineer themselves to be better than average. It would be unethical to give the rich a better chance than any other social class. Furthermore, even if the procedure was offered to everyone equally it will create higher standards for athletes. Also, it may even eliminate games and competitions since everyone would be able to perform at the same level. Omair makes this clear with his quote “If everyone did what I am doing, would this undermine my own ability to do the same thing?” Obviously, if everyone becomes genetically engineered to be a good athlete, no one will have an advantage over anyone else.

There does need to be a public policy created outlawing such a procedure. If we do not act now, it will not be very long until this procedure is used for other personal reasons. Parents could start select exactly what genes they want in their children. They could engineer Einstein’s or Mozart’s. Or society could start engineering the "perfect" human and reinstitute the ideas of eugenics. There is no telling what aspects genetic engineering will affect, and how far people will take it. It could even lead us into creating clones. We need to act now to stop this procedure from being used unethically.