The understanding of the makeup of human physiology has come great distances from prior times when it was once thought that leeches could cure sickness and people drilled holes in their skulls thinking it would releave the pressure of a headache by allowing the demons to escape. The closure of the second millenium of the modern human era has allowed for many discoveries of what make us human and how all these interrelated systems work cooperatively together. The Human Genome Project itself marks a definative milestone in the history of humanity. We now know who and what we are, and about the tiny componets, our genes, as well as the virtually limitless combinations of what make us each a different person. The implications of such knowledge are far reaching. Having this information is like having an owners manual to a human being, and represents a milestone comparable to humans walking on the moon and the integrated circuit.

Every cell that makes up a human being contains billions of strands of DNA molecules, the complex arrangement of amino acids and component protiens into many varied chemical bonds along a lattice/double-helix pattern. These virtually infinite arrangments constitute a part of a greater assemblage to build a cell, and from cells tissues are constructed, tissues form organs, and collectively the organs cooperate to create a living organism like a jellyfish, a tree, a clam, a lizard, a tiger, and a human being. This immutable fact of nature is the underlying result of millions of years of evolution as supported by palentological evidence and fossil remains.

Once thought of as only Science Fiction, scientists have achieved the ability to clone, or copy in duplicate an individual lifeform. For a brief period of time Dolly the cloned sheep became recognized worldwide as being a unique example of this achievement. Those fears of cloning Hitler are still unfounded and farfetched, but cloning has brought about a compelling ethical debate. Some perceive this as a form of manipulating or tampering with nature, while others see it as a possible source of beneficial advantages to society like cloning organs for transplantation or even restoring endangered or extinct species. Jurrasic Park played upon the notion of cloning gone wrong, but so far this has yet to happen, and probably never will. Now geneticists are cloning some of Dolly's barnyard pals, and this has become yesterday's news, but this technology has still brought about many ethical concerns.

Some have pointed out that we shouldn't tamper with nature, and the potential of such a comprehensive understanding of human biology falling into the hands of groups with more sinister objectives. We've seen science become a double-edged sword before with discoveries like gun powder, the internal combustion engine, flight, and nuclear power. In many ways these have been exploited to do both harm as well as good. So too in the modern era, has genetic engineering come under scrutiny. In many ways this science has favorable implications for humanity in the enhancement of greater agriculture yield, more resilient crops, and improved livestock vitality, as well as the potential for allieviating genetic disorder and disease. Conversely, it opens the door for potentially genocidal biological weapons and manufactured viruses designed to target a specific gene and render an "enemy" population incapacitated, or even worse race specific genome pathogens. The way I see it, we've lived under this looming threat in other forms for some time with nuclear and biological weapons being in the arsenals of many of the world's nations so this is nothing new. The genie is out of the bottle, and I don't think anyone can put it back in now, might as well accept it.

I've even seen it mentioned in religious groups that by tampering with the natural order of things we are committing some kind of sin against their primary diety, the alleged one true God. In this I often ponder, when donning the cloak of religious piety, if God created humans with flaws, and we correct those flaws though genetic engineering, how is that morally wrong? In this too, one of faith in their religious beliefs must question the tenets of those beliefs when someday, humans will be able to create life from component elements, and correct a supposedly perfect creator's errors.

Someday, perhaps as soon as a few decades from now, a mother and father will sit down before planning pregnancy, in front of a collection of images of people and children, and like picking out a new pair of slacks or a hair style from a book, parents will design the kind of children they want to have, perhaps even paying extra to have that "smart" gene, or "beautiful" gene installed into their embryo to give that child an added bonus in life. What parent wouldn't resist the opportunity to create a better life for their child. Many more afluent parents spend many thousands of dollars on their children ensuring they have the best education, the best appearance, and athletic ability. Furthermore, unwanted genes, like Male Pattern Baldness, propensity toward Alcoholism, Nearsightedness, Attention Deficit Disorder, Heart Disease, Cancer, etc., will be replaced with a healthy constructive gene. It's a strong likelihood that genetic engeneering will result in what parents will believe as "perfect children"

Projecting a century or two into the future I forsee that humans will continue to strive toward perfection, eventually alleviating all diseases (as we know them). Genetic Engineering in conjunction with advances in cybernetics and nanotechnology will likely afford humans the ability to live for hundreds even thousands of years as we proliferate across the Milky Way Galaxy for the next few thousand years. There may come a division in society where those who cling to the natural way of living will break away from the elitists and potentially form a new Earth. The potential consequences of genetic engineering and gene resequencing are associated with the class distinction that occurs when such a thing is done. For instance, it's very likely that the first of such individuals born of this procedure will be from afluent families able to capitalize on such advantages. There will be people who just can't afford to have their kids constructed and designed, they will continue to fashion them the time honored old-fashioned way and hope for the best. Children that eventually become adults that are products of this technology will undoubtedly be superior in many respects to the "ordinary" people, with hightened mental clarity and capability, better than normal vision and hearing, and a perfect physique. Such individuals would essentially be at a great advange over those less fortunate. This being the case, what would such individuals think of the lesser crowd? Would the class distinction be too great? Another potential consequence of this technology will be genetic profiling, whereby a potential employee would be scanned to ascertain their genetic propensity toward various traits and those who register with a higher genetic score would get the job over someone who basically, doesn't measure up.

This path of perfection is inevidable, but how future generations employ genetic engineering will determine the fate of a great majority of people. There may come a time, when technology allows for limitless resources, and the monitary system will dissolve, thus absolving the preclusion that only the rich will have designer babies. This will take many sweeping changes in society, that are likely centuries away, if at all. Many ignorant humans since the inception of civilization have engauged in petty struggles over areas of land, resources in those lands, and the control of underling peoples. It almost seems it's in human nature to be socially self-destructive, but possibly, there will come a day when there will be no more people dying of starvation, no more wars over parcels of planet Earth. Although I have to admit this almost seems a bit of a pollyanna viewpoint, but the way I see it, if people have full bellies and just about everything they could want, they usually aren't inclined to pick up a gun and blow away their neighbor because his religion is different or they want his land. When people are unhappy, poor, and ignorant, is when trouble often starts. If they don't have anything to do or aspire for they start getting into other folks business and complaining about petty differences. Genetic engineering will likely be used to enhance higher brain function, so it's a good bet that logical resoning skills will also be more readily used when disputes arise.

I know, if I had the chance to remove the crappy genes from my genetic code, I would leap at the opportunity if I could afford it. I even plan to leave a message with my children if I have them, and when they grow up I will advise them to replace such and such crappy gene from my family's gene pool. This whole thing reminds me of lasik surgery, where people that have had to wear glasses or contact their whole lives can be instantly taken to 20/20 vision or better in a matter of seconds, at a price of course.

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