Tuesday, July 01, 2008

Welcome To BioTrek!!!


Welcome to everybody in Winnipeg and Calgary. Happy Canada Day! It's great that Calgary got all of its equipment.


Here's the question for today:


Do you think that genetically modified foods should be labeled? Why?
If you could know all of your genetic make-up (including your genetic flaws), would you want to?

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would not want to know my genetic makeup, because you would have to limit your life and your thoughts would always be focused on the sicknesses you could possibly get. I'd rather live my life not knowing, and living it as best as I could and not limit myself.

Anonymous said...

I would only want to know about my genetics if I previously knew I could be a carrier or affected by a disease. For example, if my mother was a carrier for a disease or had a disease (e.g. Huntingtons) then I would want to know if I was predisposed to this disease as well. If one of my parents was not a carrier or affected by any genetic disease (that I know of) I would not want to know because this way I would be scared I have every genetic disease known to man (and the ones we don't know about).

Basically, what you don't know can't hurt you. And if it can, well, that just sucks.
- Brittany

Anonymous said...

I would not want to know my genetic flaws because I think I would focus too much on my flaws instead of focusing on what I have going for me. I don't think that knowing my genetic flaws would benefit me too much, I think I would be too paranoid.

Anonymous said...

I think that you should be able to view your genetic code because then you will be able to improve the living conditions of yourself and your kids. For yourself, you could see potential problems with your body and could take steps to evade those problems using nutrition and excersise. Also, if you knew of your potential diseases you could learn specifiacally about those signs and realize them when they show, then you could go straight to the doctor and not let the problem get to out of hand. Also if the disease had no presymptoms and just hit you, the doctors would be able to pull up your genetics and would be able to diagnose you on the spot. For your kids, you could take steps like PGD (if needed to eliminate a destructive gene) to help your kid live his life without worrying about early death or body malfunctions.

Anonymous said...

No, I would not want to know my genetic makeup. I would prefer to live my life day by day and not living in fear of diseases.

Anonymous said...

I would not want to know my genetic make up as i would probably end up worring over my flaws, and possible death. It's a scary thought to even think of knowing how and whenI die before the time comes. I also think knowing these types of things, poses huge ethical questions, such as would genetic screening eventually happen, and what conditions would become unexcepptable and wiped from human existace. Over all I would say before genetic screening became aviable to the majority of people, ethical guidelines should be drawn out so people refrain from altering life, to an extent that is unaccepatble.

Anonymous said...

you wouldn't really need to worry yourself to death over the potential diseases. All i would want was to know what they were and what they were capable of. Then I would take steps to make sure they don't manifest in me and i would also be able to learn the early signs of them if they did happen to me.

Anonymous said...

I would want to know what genetic diseases I am a carrier of, but not what I could potentially suffer from. I think I'd like to know this just for the sake of my (potetial) children. I would only want the best for them.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if i would want to know my genetic make-up.... I think I would want to know if I thought that it would some how benefit me in the long run. It would be good to know if I had a genetic disease or something that was deleterious that would affect the way i live. That would be something that I would want to know. A disease like PKU, would be something that would want to know. But on the other hand, I think that if i knew about my chances of having a disease, I might only focus on that "flaw" and not on enjoying or living my life to the fullest of my potential. I am the type of person, that when I know about something, its the only thing i can focus on. I would have a hard time concentrating on anything else. So I'm not sure if I would want to know because I'm not sure how I would react to knowing that kind of information...

Anonymous said...

well if your doctor knew all of your potential diseases or the ones you are carriers of then when you get ill they would be able to diagnose you and if your kid was born with a life-threatening situation, if it was genetic, they would know what it is.

Anonymous said...

I think that I would want to know my genetic makeup, and I think that the movie "Gattaca" can help illustrate why I feel this way.

In the movie, Vincent (Ethan Hawke) is depicted in a swimming race against Anton (Loren Dean). This race is symbolic because the swimming is a metaphor for life. Following this device, it appears that Anton is more successful than Vincent. However one time, VIncent beats Anton because he lacks the will to go on.

I think that human will is a prominent theme in the movie. Vincent is depicted as possensing a very strong will numerous times in the movie, such as when performing curls or through his commitment to assuming the identity of Eugene (Jude Law).

On the other hand, Anton is depicted as just "being along for the ride",because he lacks the will to proceed. Because he lwas engineered at birth, he has never been forced to exert himself the way Vincent does. I think that if I knew my flaws as Vincent does, I would know my weaknesses, and therefore what to strive for, and what to try to improve about myself.

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I think genetically modified foods should be labeled, because it's the same thing like labeling ingredients. Often, ingredients are labeled because some people are allergic and it would be dangerous for them to eat that product. But what if someone is allergic to fish and there's a fish gene in tomatoes? Shouldn't they know that? Besides, what's the argument for NOT labeling food? It wouldn't cost a whole lot, and people have a right to know what's in their food, so they can choose what they eat or not. Labels won't hurt anyone but it will help some.

Anonymous said...

if i was at risk of having a certain condition or there was a known family history of a certain condition, i would for sure want to be tested to find out the probobility of me being diagnosed for that disorder.

Anonymous said...

i think genetically modified foods should be labeled. even so people know about what their eating, i know i would want to know what im eatting expecially if its been modified, how would you know if it has beem, and if your allergic to whatever they put into the food? if people knew what they were eating they can change what they eat to help them not eat what they cant or dont want to.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Spencer and anonymous (the one talking about Gattaca). I would want to know if I'm predisposed to having a disease, not so I can worry and spend the rest of my life being paranoid, but just to keep it in mind. Some people are often in denial when they see different signs and they say "oh this can't happen to me" so they don't go to the doctor until it's too late. However, if cancer for example, is caught in the early stages, it's MUCH better treated than if it's caught in late stages. So if I know I have an x% chance of getting something, there's a greater chance I'll go check it out in its early phases.
Also, determination and human will have so often showed through, despite the odds. Doctors gave some people only weeks to live, and they lived for years. Vincent (in the movie GATTACA) "knew" he was going to live until he was 30, and had a 99% chance of dying of heart disease. Did this stop him? No. It can be argued that this only made him stronger. So just because you're told what's in your genes doesn't mean you can't have the courage to defy them.
~Daria

Anonymous said...

I think it should be labled and that Three's Company is the best show on T.V.

Anonymous said...

I Agree with Anonymous @ 10:54am

Anonymous said...

bionerd,

I think that geneticaly modified foods should be labeled because I would want to know if the food I am eating is organically grown or not. The food that is not organically grown could contain some genes that could be harmful to certain individuals and anyways who wants to eat fishy tomatoes(I know it sounds kinda gross).the gene that could be in these modified products could also have some sort of mutation that is not visible like a frameshift mutation and this could affect us without us even knowing. Another important aspect about farming genetically modified foods is that they would cause damage to their counterparts in the ecosysytem. You would never find these biotechcompanies posting the environmental effects of these foods on the labels.Also if you have problems after eating this food you would go and get it checked out from your doctor and this could mean finding out something else that is wronbg with you and I qould rather not know all the diseases that I have .

i love bio
its sooooo cool

Anonymous said...

i agree with brittany, i would really not want to know my genetic makeup because if we found out what we have or going to have people would stress out and cause panic towards other people. sure, if its all about the diseases, im all for it becuase in the long run they can be treated in time, but if its for other reasons then people can live without that sort of technology. even if we knew our diseases, sure people can get treated, but why would someone want to waste their time freaking out about what they will get when they can live their lives and possibly not have it other than looking at it, and going oh my gosh what am i going to do? i would just want to live my life day by day =)

Anonymous said...

I think genetically modified foods should be labeled. As consumers, we have the right to know what has been done with the food we are buying. Just as there are ingredients and nutrition facts labeled on the foods we buy, we should be able to know if our foods have been genetically modified in any way, whether this impacts our choices in any way.
This isn't saying that foods being genetically modified is bad, it can even be beneficial, however, society should be aware 100% of what they are paying for and consuming.

If I could know my genetic make-up, I think I probably would. I'd rather live my life knowing information that could potentially be harmful, than figure it out the hard way. I agree with everyone saying they wouldn't want limitations from this knowledge, but knowing what genetic diseases I possibly carry would allow me to take measures as to not harm my potential children in the future. I know that even with the knowledge of my genetic make-up, I could live my life to the fullest.

Anonymous said...

to anonymous at 11:54
no way threes a company is pretty much the worst show on tv

Anonymous said...

Genetically modified foods should not necessary be labelled to a certain extent. This extent would be bordered at the point where any food product is made from a 50% or more difference when in comparison to the original materials such as gene structures.
I.E. If a tomato had one of its genes modified with an arctic fish gene, that would comprimise less than 50% of its gene structure in general, then it should not be labelled. If it did, then why dont we label the non-geneticly modified foods? Do you even know what genes comprise them? Suddenly when something "modified" comes in, it becomes a concern.


- Ray K.