As researchers explore the human genome, they are facing many ethical issues that does not allow them to do further approach in their findings. Since we all know, the genetic information are all built and saved in DNA and are replicated constantly through our lifetime. Studies done on DNA have enabled to discover a scientific miracle called cloning, which is in simple term the rebuild of organs using the DNA templates in human genome. Although cloning is not fully developed and it is still in its basic stages, it may have lots of implications that can improve health and survival many people who have health conditions resulting from organs failure or damage. It also can be a very good substitute for organ transplantation which is very risky since the patience who receives the transplant can reject the organ or develop major challenges to accept the new organ. Since cloning uses the genomes of the same person to develop the new organ or limb it will reduce the risk factors to a large extent. Although cloning has many benefits but there are many researches and studies needs to be done in order to imply cloning as an alternative cure for many patients. At this stage scientists have to be extremely cautious since they are dealing with human and since performing experiments on human can lead to death, so ethic is a major barrier to increase the paste of the studies in this field. However, in many cases where the patient has no other alternative, I think even experimental cloning may give him or her a chance to recover his or her health again, What do you think? Should organ cloning be offered as an alternate in curing the diseases considering its health factors?
Is it ethical to allow cloning in human?
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Is the lack of moral values the major cause for high divorce rate?
The rate of divorce is increasing dramatically since the beginning of the 21st century, but what is the real cause. Some people blame it on hardships in providing the basis for the life. They work extra hard and get too obsessed with responsibilities that they forget the needs of their loved ones. But if we step back and look at our expectations we realize that our standards of living is way higher compared to the past. Mostly people seek nice cars and houses but they may not be aware that how much time they should devote to their work in order to satisfy those needs. If on the other hand, people don’t set their standards for life too high and be able to be satisfied with what they have, they will have way more time for themselves and their partner and can invest that time in building a more solid relationship, or in the case of families, invest that time to educate their children. Certainly media plays a significant role in people expectations for life, but people have to try to see that and not be affected by external factors.
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Feel less depressed but be more likely to die
Life is not always kind. People lose their jobs, experience the death of family members, break up with lovers and friends, and become victim to other losses. At some point in life, people are bound to get their share of remorse and sorrow and they may end up down in the dumps because of it. To go through such times, it may be tempting to rely on prescription drugs to alleviate emotional pain; however, antidepressants may be a double-edged sword. Although antidepressants do interfere with the nervous system to uplift people’s moods, according to some studies, some or all known antidepressants may increase the rate of suicidal thoughts.
A number of studies show a strong link between antidepressant use and subsequent suicidal behaviour. In one experiment in 2007, young patients aged 10 to 18 with mood disorders were either treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the most common class of antidepressants for children, or given a placebo. Afterwards, the experimenters found that, as a group, the patients who took the SSRIs had about twice the number of self-reported suicidal thoughts than the control group which had the placebo.
However, the relationship between suicide risk and antidepressant use is not concrete. There are some studies which found no correlation between the two in other studies with depressed children and young adults. For adults, antidepressants do not seem to increase suicide rate. Moreover, the reasons for why antidepressant use increases suicidal behaviour is unknown.
The dangers antidepressants pose to adolescents is an issue that needs to be brought to public attention. Antidepressants have increased in use since the 1990s and the public may be getting the wrong impression that antidepressants do not pose any more danger than other common prescribed medicine such as antibiotics. More research is needed to determine why antidepressants seem to increase the risk of suicide and assess other possible side-effects the drugs may have.
Arsenic – Venomous or Vital for Life?
Arsenic. Just the thought of the compound sickens many due it its infamous toxic properties. Who would’ve thought that a compound this hazardous to most organisms could be one of the building blocks of life for another?
A recent discovery of microorganisms in Mono Lake, California shocked geneticists and scientists all over the world. This past December, NASA proclaimed that they had discovered the first known organism on Earth that utilizes arsenic as one of its chemical means of life and survival. Though some bacteria are known to obtain their energy by oxidizing arsenic as a fuel, Prior to this discovery, every known organism on Earth had used carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous, oxygen, sulphur, and hydrogen as the six fundamental elements of life. This organism discovered has been found to replace the phosphorous in the classic combination, with arsenic – using it as a staple backbone in its hereditary units and as an energy-carrying molecule.
Some researchers believe that due to the harsh conditions within Mono Lake, (high levels of saline, alkanes, and arsenic – fun fact, the lake actually has a layer of dead flies floating around the circumference of its surface) the organism may have evolved to adapt to the depleting levels of nutrients and utilize other chemicals present – a process that could have taken who knows how long.
It’s mind-boggling to believe that the discovery of one miniscule, seemingly insignificant organism has completely changed the way scientists viewed the way life has survived. This ‘seventh’ core element can only lead those to wonder what other microorganisms are waiting to be discovered that could potentially utilize fluorine as a main structural component, or harness radio waves as energy.
What about life beyond the planet Earth? Could this discovery just prove that complex species may be thriving in the inhuman conditions of the other planets?
Are we headed towards extinction?
Is it true? Although it is highly debated, our current understanding of science shows that we are facing the next mass extinction event of the Earth. Many palaeontologists agree that the dinosaurs went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period 65 million years ago. This mass extinction event called the Cretaceous-Tertiary (KT) Extinction wiped out more than 50% of all species on the planet.
The KT Extinction was caused by a giant asteroid of diameter greater than 10km that hit the Yuccatan Peninsula of Mexico 65 million years ago, leaving the Chicxulub Impact Crator of more than 180 km in diameter! Initially, this impact vaporized everything close to its vicinity instantaneously, and created an enormous tsunami. A dense cloud formed of debris from the impact created a series of long term effects. One of which was a global acidic rain phenomenon killing many plants on the surface of the land and causing over 80% of the marine species.
The KT Extinction was the last mass extinction the Earth has had, but there had been four others beforehand: Late Ordovician, Late Denovian, Late Permian, and Late Triassic. It has been suggested that we are heading towards the 6th mass extinction with our current rate of species going extinct (for example, the Dodo bird, and the Marsupial wolf). Extinction of different types of species on our planet suggest that a smaller variance of creatures will have the ability to survive the next type of mass extinction event whether it be a flood, giant meteor or global climate change.
Marsupial Wolf
Dodo Birds From Ice Age!
In 1984, D. Raup and J. J. Sepkoski analyzed the number of asteroid extinctions during the history of Earth and concluded that there was a mass extinction event every 25 million years. This landmark paper has been cited in over 400 scholarly sources and has led the start of many theories of possible mass extinction scenarios.
So if Raup and Sepkoski’s prediction is true, and our human race faces the next mass extinction event, will we be able to survive?
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Tagged Climate Change, Dinosaurs, Extinction, Meteors
