StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Genetics and Society - Book Report/Review Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Role of Genetics in the Cure of Cancer The Emperor of All Maladies: An Autobiography of Cancer Mutation Instructor Date Over the years, there have been significant advances in the field of genetics. Ideally, this has brought the human race closer to developing lasting solutions for the age old cancer dilemma…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER96.6% of users find it useful
Genetics and Society
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Genetics and Society"

Download file to see previous pages

It is perhaps on this premise that Mukherjee, an oncologist wrote his self-titled “The Emperor of All Maladies: An Autobiography of Cancer”. By considering it an autobiography, Mukherjee allowed that the once controversial and less spoken of cancer could finally receive a voice. According to the book, cancer is a disease that takes the lives of many people all over the world (Mukherjee 8). However, the topic is and has never been spoken of largely because of the void of information on it etiology and prognosis.

The book thus presents information on the history of cancer with excerpts of the earliest time in history at which it was discovered to the various advances that have been made on the subject over time. Initially, there was no cure that was documented for one of the first forms of cancer to have been discovered. Breast cancer was one of the earliest form of cancers to have been discovered by Egyptian physicians according to information obtained from a papyrus dated 1600BC (Mukherjee). Due to lack of appropriate terminology and understanding of the disease at the time, the condition is merely described as a “bulge with no treatment”.

And the situation is so acute such that no information is presented in any medical literature about the condition for periods dating 2000 years from this initial discovery (18). Advances in genetics in the early 19th century can be used to explain the increased understanding of the disease. With the dynamic discovery and understanding of the body's smallest units referred to as “cells”, it became apparent that the disease could be managed (29). These advances had positive effects on society because those suffering from the disease could have some measure of hope.

This hope was initially that of mere understanding that quickly had ethical implications. This is because it was mere understanding of the condition at the time but with little information or knowledge of how to manage the condition. In the book, it is depicted that patients were brought into the hospital for medical attention only to be discussed elaborately then sent home for lack of any medical assistances (41). One cannot, however, blame them at the time for taking such actions, however, ; it can be argued that their actions were unethical.

The mere presence of information presented false hope to patients with the condition when measures for management were not available. The social sciences can be used to develop a procedural explanation of the events that were encountered on the journey towards the realization of a cure of cancer. People were growing weary and desperate for a cure for the disease. And with fewer funds and attention being given towards war and other social disasters, there were more funds available for research into cancer (53).

It was obvious at the time that little was known about the disease that warranted the government decision to provide funds for research. Social motivation by money warranted unethical actions by scientists and researchers at the time. Fuelled by the desperation of patients with cancer to find a cure, researchers undertook a plethora of experiments on individuals with little consideration for their social well-being (64). This period realized various research centers set up all over the country that were on the form of cells purposed to confine subjects who were undergoing various treatments.

Various fundamental freedoms were either curtailed or abused

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Genetics and Society Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Genetics and Society Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/biology/1488400-genetics-and-society
(Genetics and Society Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
Genetics and Society Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words. https://studentshare.org/biology/1488400-genetics-and-society.
“Genetics and Society Book Report/Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/biology/1488400-genetics-and-society.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Genetics and Society

Significance of the SNP Mapping

hellip; The paper attempts to understand the significance of SNP mapping, and its potential benefit to individuals and human society.... A powerful and emerging genetic tool, the SNP - Single Nucleotide Polymorphism - is expected to revolutionize the field of biomedicine as well as in population studies tracing human history....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Implications for Genetic Counseling and Improved Patient Care

The elucidation of DNA structure (Watson and Crick, 1953), the central dogma of molecular biology (Kornberg and Baker, 2005), and the human genome sequence (Collins et al, 2003) provided the major boost for advances in the fields of genetics, genomics and molecular biology.... The… enefits to the human race are seen mostly in the medical field where the identification of important gene sequences have led to a plethora of genetic tests that are meant to detect the presence and understand the pathology of disease, its mechanisms, prevention and cure....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Legalization of the Genetically Chosen Feature of the Child

Human genetics has always raised fundamental questions across a wide range or variety of disciplines.... There has been a heated debate concerning this issue and various scholars have come up with their views concerning it.... Among the scholars are doctors who have based their… Psychologists have also shown up basing their explanations on the fact that genetic intervention affects the reasoning and the rationality of the individuals Human rights advocates have also stepped in saying that it is unlawful for the initial genetic structure and composition of a child to be altered or interfered with in any way....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Sex Determination and Development

The development and determination of sex in mammals occurs precisely during Sex Determination and Development Summary Genetics and Society 12-8 Sali Aljehani   Sex Determination and Development Sex determination and development starts from the smallest building organism which is known as the cells.... (Doren, 2009)The production of new plant-line is also determined by the produced monoploids through genetics that result from favorable genotypes....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Human Genetic Enhancement

he philosophers, the economists, sociologists and people from the different arena of our society are expressing their views on the issue.... The article “Human Genetic Enhancement” is an attempt to critically investigate the issue of genetic enhancement of human beings....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Hemophilia as a Genetically Inherited Bleeding Disorder

This work called "Hemophilia A" focuses on the various types of mutations that lead to alterations in the normal human genome.... The author outlines Hemophilia A as an X-linked recessive disease which is characteristically a bleeding disorder due to deficiency of the coagulation factor VIII....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Sex Determination and Development

This work called "Sex Determination and Development" describes the body materials and cells.... The author outlines sex determination in mammals, chromosome number, chromosome number, primary sex differentiation, genital development.... nbsp;… The body materials that are hereditary are also found in the human body cells and can duplicate themselves....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Genetically Modified Foods

This paper "Genetically Modified Foods" focuses on the fact that some experts who believe that genetically modified foods are safe, there are others who believe that in the absence of authentic safety studies, genetically modified foods are a risky thing.... hellip; Bringing in genetically modified foods to the market place in the name of faulty scientific reasoning is a wrong thing to do....
7 Pages (1750 words) Literature review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us