FREE ESSAY ON GENETICS

GENETICS

Evolution and Genetic Engineering
Activity 1:
Why is AIDS so difficult to cure? How does the AIDS virus attack the body?
a In 1979, the first reported AIDS case occurred in New York, and by mid-June 1981,
unusual immune system failure among gay men was surfacing in the United States. The
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) initially name the disease GRID, or gay-related immune
deficiency, because it was prominently found among homosexuals. It appeared to be a
lifestyle-associated illness, linked to excessive stress to the immune system.
Researchers believed that a highly infectious agent, which depleted T cells and could be
transmitted through intercourse, blood, or blood products from mother to fetus, caused
GRID. In July of 1982, the disease was renamed AIDS, or Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome. Since then, the disease's origins, the factors affecting it, the causes behind
it, the symptoms arising from it, the groups at risk from it, and the practices leading
to it have been widely and comprehensively researched. Despite painstaking efforts and
billions of dollars spent on research, despite the numerous drugs created to control and
relieve its various symptoms, there is still no cure for it. We ask the question,
"Why?".
AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. HIV's coat of protein fits
the receptors in certain types of white blood cells (T cells) in the human immune system.
When the virus is taken into these cells, it reproduces and destroys the immune system
cell in the process. It attacks the body by attacking the immune system, making the
person susceptible to and defenseless against many infections that he or she would
normally be able to fight off easily. In many cases, HIV infection leads to AIDS, which
ultimately leads to death.
HIV is a retrovirus that is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids -- usually
through sexual acts and the sharing of drug needles, mother to infant transmission, and
sometimes by the contamination of blood used in transfusions. A retrovirus is a type of
virus that contains RNA and produces a DNA analog (or counterpart) of its RNA by using a
highly error-prone enzyme known as reverse transcriptase. The virus is a complex one,
with two coats of protein. The outer coating fits with the receptors of T cells and the
inner coating contains strands of RNA along with a few different types of enzymes. Once
the virus is taken into the cell, an enzyme makes reverse transcription take place, which
turns the virus' RNA into a corresponding set of DNA, which contains nine genes. A second
set of enzymes insert the genes into the cell's DNA, making the cell produce protein and
RNA needed to make more viruses (we can see how the virus uses the human cell for
reproduce), and the third set of enzymes makes these raw materials into new viruses and
moves them out of the cell membrane. These then go on to infect other cells, and the
process is repeated again and again, infecting the human body.
The reason why AIDS is difficult to cure is because, as mentioned above, the copying
process is error-prone, or sloppy. Usually, when DNA is replicated in a cell, there is
constant proofreading and repair to ensure that the correct type of DNA is being made. In
the case of the AIDS virus, in the process of reverse transcription, there is no
proofreading mechanism. This makes DNA made from the viral RNA very different from what
is coded therein. As a result, every virus that is produced is slightly (but
significantly!) different from the one that produced it. This makes it hard for scientist
to find a cure because the virus continuously mutates, making drugs that fit onto one
kind of HIV ineffective against the others. However, there is hope for AIDS victims in
the sense that scientists in the future will be able to make several drugs, which will be
taken in combination. These drugs will then act upon the virus by blocking its life cycle
at various points, making the disease manageable, at the least. 
Since it began, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of 21.8 million people, and,
up to date, has its grasp on 36.1 million people. This is a very large amount, and
considering the fact that there exist many more unreported and undiagnosed cases, AIDS
has definitely wreaked havoc on human beings. It is anticipated that with the advancement
of technology, increased awareness, and the advent of better and wider information
dissipation, many ways to prevent the disease from spreading, lower the risks of
contracting it, reduce the symptoms of victims even better, protect people from it and
ultimately, eradicate the disease, will be found. At present, such hopes of a cure for
AIDS are being bolstered by the discovery of new drugs that inhibit the virus' effects.
Hopefully, the near future holds a cure for the sufferers of this disease. 
Activity 2:
Investigate the concept of social Darwinism. What was this doctrine? When was it in
fashion? What policies did it encourage?
Social Darwinism is a belief that societies and human beings develop in a manner
consistent with the principles of evolution proposed by Charles Darwin, i.e., that the
survival of the fittest enables only superior people to gain wealth and power. Social
Darwinism has been used to justify Imperialism, and an extreme example of it was Hitler
and his Nazis. Although popular in the late 19th century, it has been widely attacked in
modern times. 
Charles Darwin (1809-82) wrote Origin of the Species, which was published in 1859. In it,
he identified a simple mechanism for evolving complex multicellular life forms from
single-celled life. He built his entire theory around one central concept - that of
natural selection. His theory proposes that the way to get the "best" of everything is
through a process of selection, which depends on two basic facts for its operation: 1)
Every population has genetic diversity, and 2) Many more individuals are born than can
possibly survive. This means that member of a population contain different
characteristics, and those that survived, and consequently, reproduced, will pass on the
characteristics that made their survival more likely to future generations. Nature
"selects" those characteristics that will be propagated in any given species. This is
Darwinism. 
From this rose Social Darwinism. Its doctrine was that the principles of biological
evolution should be applied to human society. It has been noted that while Darwinism is a
valid scientific theory, Social Darwinism is an ideology. 
It was popular in the late 19th century, or the late Victorian era, when some
intellectuals cited Darwin in their defense of an economically and socially stratified
society. It was most popular in England and America. It encouraged that the strongest or
fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be
allowed to die. The theory was chiefly expounded by Herbert Spencer, whose ethical
philosophies held an elitist view and received a boost from the application of Darwinian
ideas such as adaptation and natural selection. 
Herbert Spencer, who was a popular Social Darwinist who lived in the 19th century
(1820-1903) was the first to use the phrase "survival of the fittest", spoke of the
Universal Law of Nature - a law that a creature not energetic enough to maintain itself
must die. In The Man Versus the State (1884) he argued that London's good-for-nothings
ought not to be kept alive by charity but left to perish, for this was the universal law
of nature. 
He is considered the father of Social Darwinism. Even before Darwin published his theory,
Spencer was already thinking in terms of elitist, might makes right sorts of views.
However, Spencer quickly adapted Darwinian ideas to his own ethical theories. The concept
of adaptation allowed him to claim that the rich and powerful were better adapted to the
social and economic climate of the time, and the concept of natural selection allowed him
to argue that it was natural, normal, and proper for the strong to thrive at the expense
of the weak. After all, he claimed, that is exactly what goes on in nature every day. 
However, Spencer did not just present his theories as placing humans on a parallel with
nature. Not only was survival of the fittest natural, it was also morally correct.
Indeed, some extreme Social Darwinists argued that it was morally incorrect to assist
those weaker than oneself, since that would be promoting the survival and possible
reproduction of someone who was fundamentally unfit.
Social Darwinism has been used to justify numerous exploits, which we classify as of
dubious moral value today - Colonialism, military action, and even brutal colonial
governments who used oppressive tactics against their subjects.
Social Darwinism was also applied to a social context. It provided a justification for
the exploitative forms of capitalism (laissez-faire capitalism), and in its most extreme
forms, it has been used to justify eugenics programs aimed at weeding undesirable genes
from the population. The Nazi party in Germany to justify their eugenics programs also
applied social Darwinist ideas. 
It seems that Social Darwinism's effects were all bad, but we must also take into
consideration its good effects, which include the move to provide resources for those
genuinely needing of support, and the call for hard work and to strive to make the
quality of life better, and the need to "move" ourselves and not just depend on handouts.
This ideology can be considered good, if not taken to an extreme, and if taken with the
prevailing idea that every human being has a right to live, regardless of "fitness",
race, color, religion. It is just up to that individual to make his or her life a fitting
one to live.
Bibliography
www.encyclopedia.com; Search - Social Darwinism
Trefil and Hazen; The Sciences
Dickens, Peter; Social Darwinism: Linking Evolutionary Thought to Social Theory (Concepts
in the Social Sciences)
Ibid
Wilkins, John; Does Evolution Make Might Right? www.talkorigins.org