Genetic Engineering yay or nay?

Genetic engineering has been something on my mind a lot lately. It seems that people have very different perceptions of what genetic engineering really is. This photo is one of the common misconceptions of what people think genetic engineering is trying to accomplish.


This photo is a picture of "genetic engineering" that is attempting to turn animals into humans to create a master race without malice. This is not something that is really happening in studies today. This is just one of many different things people come up with when finding reasons to not support genetic engineering. My only request of you as my reader is to either take informed action against people posting things like this or ignore them completely. There is no validity to these claims.

Why don't we get all of the facts in a row now.
Lets start at the beginning, what IS genetic engineering?
Genetic engineering is defined on Wikipedia as " The direct manipulation of an organisms genome using biotechnology."

What does this mean to the average american? It means that scientists are working to take your genes from inside your cells and changing them. This could be used to fix many different problems that we as humans have.

For example, genetic engineering could eradicate downs syndrome from the human population, or fix mutations that cause breast cancer. Also, genetic engineering in bacteria has lead to the production of bacteria with the ability to create human insulin!

Though this engineering can obviously have positive affects on humans, there are valid reasons to fear this power in the wrong persons hands. This power in the wrong persons hands could lead to cloning or the unnecessary destruction of embryos. 
Sources! Source 2! Source 3

Obesity, What's the real cause?

As the number of people in America that are obese continues to increase, many people are beginning to question what is causing this epidemic. There are a few theories that have been tossed around the scientific community for the cause of this rapid obesity epidemic. One of the theories is that the body cannot readily break down high fructose corn syrup which is a cheap alternative to table sugar and is found in many of the foods the average American eats daily. Another reason that is believed by many scientists is that people are on average living a more sedentary lifestyle than Americans ever have in the past.

When looking into the high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)  theory, there are some facts that are hard to ignore. HFCS is structurally similar to table sugar, the difference is the amount of fructose found in HFCS. The higher percentage causes a change in the bodies ability to break it down effectively.

In looking at the lifestyle changes of Americans, it is clear that Americans have become more sedentary over the last 20 years or so as jobs have moved more into the white collar world where people are moving less during the day. This added to the fast food frenzy that has begun to save time both lead to Americans gaining weight and losing overall health.

It seems that studies have not gone far enough into this subject yet to find the exact cause but as a scientific onlooker, it seems that these causes together may have caused the obesity problem together rather than as two separate entities. 




http://www.epinions.com/content_4312834180?sb=1

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/05/obesity-in-america-by-the-numbers-1.html

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-fructose-corn-syrup/AN01588