DNA is the basis of genetics. It can be used for many things such as discovering what diseases run in our own genomes. Biologist Jonathan Alder and his recent observations of DNA, he has discovered that telomeres can tell us about the lifespan. The telomere is a great predictor of lifespan based on the size of the telomere. The shorter that the telomere was, the shorter the lifespan that person was going to have. This also indicates that the person has a greater chance of developing a disease. Within the last thirty years, they have tried mutating the telomeres to provide further research. Each and every time the cell divides the telomeres get smaller and get shorter as we age. When the telomeres are no longer present it can lead to disease.
This article is interesting because DNA can tell everything we need to know about the future. If we are able to predict how long we are able to live it might be possible to predict what else could happen to us. Considering the telomere is such a tiny part of DNA it is amazing that we can deduce so much information. It could help us better understand if the onset of a disease could be predicted. This research is important because as we progress into the future we may be able to prevent a short lifespan for the individuals with short telomeres.
Telling how long a person is able to live from DNA testing may help to prevent diseases and keep them living longer, but it could lead to other social issues. For example, a person with a genetic predisposition on their DNA, like a short telomere which indicates a shorter lifespan, may be unable to get health insurance or a job if this information was present on their medical records.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above comment. This could have negative social effects. Even so, this still would pave the way to help prevent disease so that people can live longer. Having this information could almost be like playing god, but can be vital information for people to lengthen their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis is a cool article because it brings up both ethical and social issues. As mentioned above, being able to predict how long you will live can create chaos. Along with jobs security and health insurance, determining how long your telomere is can be expensive and possibly invasive. These two factors alone may keep most of the population away from discovering their telomere length. I mean, who really wants to know how long they have one Earth?
ReplyDeleteI do have to agree with you all on the negative side effects that could possibly come up due to this research. It is important but also at the same time it could also be unfair to the person who has a short telomere. There are both sides to the case and all depends on what you find a justifiable way of dealing with the information given by the telomeres.
ReplyDeleteI personally would not want to know if i was going to live a shorter life or not, but i do understand the medical implications this has with being able to see the risk of getting a disease, but i agree with the above comments that is does have negative side affects and ethical effects.
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