Ariella Herangale
Does anyone know any negatives of genetics that have nothing to do with morals?
Negatives of genetics? You mean genetic testing/manipulation?
Uh. Something could go wrong and whatever it was could suffer for it?
Uh.. If too much genetic manipulation is done (if you look at husbandry as primitive genetic manipulation, for example, as an aim to get the perfect cow, horse, sheep, etc for your uses), you can erradicate variances in genetic code in a group/species/whatever and cause them not to be, as a group/species/whatever, as resistant to certain illnesses, environmental conditions, which can lead to their demise/extinction.
Part of the side effect of there being variance in a species' genetic code is when there are unfavorable conditions to that species, that those with genetic mutations may have the better opportunity/ability to survive those conditions: whether be a new resiliance to a disease or drastic change in environment. Genetic variance and mutation is what allows a species to survive, aka adapt, and therefore evolve.
By genetically manipulation, it is theoretically possible to erradicate the very differences in a species that will allow them to survive a drastic, or less than favorable change in their surroundings.
For instance, in the days of settling in America, the cows that people saw usually were red and small, but strong and suited to travelling. Now all we see are the black and white ones. The red cows are rare because they don't produce as much meat or milk as mass industry wants.
While I have not looked into this very much, I admit, I think it is safe to assume that the now common black and white cows were not used for settling the country with because they were not as rugged an animal as the red cows.
If a terrible disease came up and struck those black and white cows, then what? There has been so much animal husbandry that one prime bull will father hundreds or more cows. If that one bull is suseptible to a disease or weak against a less than ideal condition, he has passed that genetic weakness on to entire herds all over the country, as whatever prime bulls are produced from him, will also be used to father hundreds of cows. Natural mating is eradiated, thereby lessening the variety that protects a species from extinction.
*shrug* All I can think of, anyway.
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