Gene Editing
Should controversial research be encouraged or banned?
Science is always making amazing advances. But sometimes there is a conflict between advances and what many consider ethics. This week a Chinese scientist claimed to have engineered the world’s first genetically edited babies.
A researcher with Southern University of Science and Technology of China said he helped alter the DNA of twin girls born in early November to make them more resistant to HIV infection.
Now, we only have his word that this actually happened—or that, if it did, the alteration had any preventative effect. But that didn’t stop the immediate uproar.
Both the science community and the public had serious doubts about the ethics of altering DNA, even if the intentions are good. They worry about unintentional consequences as more and more such experiments are carried out. Some want more oversight while others call for a complete ban— something the U.S. already has.
Others say the practice is inevitable and while better oversight is needed, it can’t be stopped now that the genie is out of the box. They also point out that should such gene editing be successful it could lead to better health and longer lifespans.
We want to know what you think. Is gene editing something that is worthy of further research? Or should it be banned outright?
Send your response (50 words maximum) to opinion@texarkanagazette.com by Wednesday, Dec. 5. You can also mail your response to the Texarkana Gazette Friday Poll, at P.O. Box 621, Texarkana, TX 75504 or drop it off at our office, 101 E. Broad St., Texarkana, Ark. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. We will print as many responses as we can in next Friday’s paper.
Last Week: Hard Line?
Last week’s question was about President Donald Trump reaction to the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Should the U.S. take a hard line against the prince and Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing? Or is it more important to maintain our relationship with the Saudis?
No hard stance against the prince of Saudi Arabia. Khashoggi was not an American. If Saudi Arabia killed an America there would be hell to pay. Saudi Arabia is not America—they deal with issues in a different way. Khashoggi must have had some ides of the consequences when he was critical of the country. We cannot dictate to other countries, especially the Middle East. This was barbaric to be sure. Perhaps we should remeber suspicious deaths attributed to some of our own government officials in the past. — P.A. Texarkana, Texas
From www.facebook.com/texarkanagazette
Cut off OPEC open up American gas reserves hit the house of Saud where it hurts their pocket book.
We also need to aggressively look into the alternative fuels
We have our own National problems to deal with!
When the U.S. government prosecutes and punishes Hillary and Bill Clinton, Soros and gets back to looking out for America then they can worry about when American citizens go into a foreign country for a job or whatever and meddles in their government issues as to how they handle it.
That’s not our country or government. We need to fix our own issues first.
Well the real question goes unanswered … over or under, I prefer under incase a spider is hiding on your toilet paper, you will have a better chance of escape!
1.99 gas.
Why no outrage over 30+ reporters in Mexico over the last year or so?
30 pieces of silver dropped into Trump’s coffers. Money before morals. Oh well, he was just a journalist slamming Trump and family.
Khashoggi was no journalist. He was a spy in a plot to murder the crown prince. He was and still is good friends of the bin Ladens. He was a major arms dealer and Muslim brotherhood. This is all about the fake news Russia narrative going down in flames and needing a new fake news narrative.
He was a Saudi national not an American citizen. None of our business.
He was not an American citizen, and was associated with a terrorist organization.. His religion has certain rules on how to deal with their people. They were just practicing their religion, and he knew what to expect for betrayal. It’s none of our business.