Writing About Genetic Engineering

Genetic engineering, being one of the main lines of scientific and technological progress, actively contributes to speeding up the solution of many problems concerning food, agriculture, energy, and environment. It’s no wonder that essays and research papers on genetic engineering are so frequently assigned in schools and universities. And if you want to make your paper stand out among other students’ work, read this article to find out the best writing tips and ideas.

What is genetic engineering?

Genetic engineering is an area of ​​molecular biology and genetics. It is aimed at creating genetic structures according to the previously prescribed plan as well as the formation of organisms with a new genetic program. Modern research makes a unique contribution to the study of the structural and functional organization of the genomes of various organisms. The methodology of genetic engineering is constantly being improved. More and more people use it in solving the most diverse problems of biology.

Genetic engineering essay topics

Struggling with the topic choice? Here is our top pick for your review:

• The concept of human genetic engineering essay
• Genetic engineering problems essay
• Essay on genetic engineering in food production
• Human cloning and genetic engineering argumentative essay
• Human genetic engineering essay
• Cloning essay
• Genetic engineering definition essay
• The benefit of genetic engineering essay
• Genetic engineering history essay
• Genetic engineering in agriculture essay

Genetic engineering persuasive essay topics

• Persuasive essay against genetic engineering: ethical considerations
• Should genetic engineering be legal persuasive essay
• Genetic engineering should be banned essay
• The dangers of genetic engineering
• Essay on why genetic engineering is bad
• Bioethics and genetic engineering 
• Are genetically engineered foods good or bad for us?
• Should parents be allowed to change the genome of their children?

Genetic engineering argumentative essay topics

• Argumentative essay on genetic engineering: should people be allowed to experiment under no supervision?
• Is genetic engineering ethical?
• Is genetic engineering harmful to agriculture?
• Should genetic engineering be permitted?
• Advantages and disadvantages of genetic engineering essay
• Essay on genetic engineering pros and cons
• Arguments against human genetic engineering essay
• Should it be a crime to clone people?

How to write an essay on genetic engineering?

It is not a secret that essay writing on genetic engineering is a challenging process. Despite the increasing popularity of such assignments, students do not know how to write it successfully. Let’s consider the main tips on how to write this type of work so that you will feel confident during the writing process:

• Mind the size of your paper. An essay usually ranges from one to seven pages. The most important thing in this case is not to make it too long and boring.
• Narrow your focus. Due to the small size of the paper, it is impossible to analyze many aspects of the phenomenon under consideration. So, focus your attention on one central thesis, which can be supported by secondary statements.
• State your own opinion. In fact, the whole essay is built on the views and ideas of the author. So make sure that apart from referring to ideas of experts in the field, you speak your mind and back up your claims using credible sources.

• Be careful with the style. Writing an essay, you do not need to use complex language. While you will have to use terminology, provide definitions to terms that are not widely known by people of your age. At the same

Genetic engineering essay outline

Making an outline is an important stage of any paper writing process. It helps you to organize your ideas and get a general understanding of what you are going to write about in each section of your work. Therefore, even if you are writing a short essay on genetic engineering, be sure to stick to the following outline:

• Genetic engineering essay introduction. Roughly speaking, this section consists of three parts: the sentence that is designed to catch the reader’s attention (which is called a genetic engineering essay hook), background info part, and a genetic engineering essay thesis statement. The main goal of your intro is to give a general overview of the issue you are going to consider in your paper.
• Main part. Here, you need to discuss all the ideas you have concerning your topic. Remember that each genetic engineering essay argument has to be reinforced by strong examples and evidence. Usually, a regular body of the essay consists of 3-5 paragraphs (depending on the length of your paper, with each paragraph covering one of the points you have made in a thesis.
• Genetic engineering essay conclusion. The final part of your essay comprises of three main parts: restated thesis, brief overview of the arguments made in the body of the paper, and some insightful sentence that ends your paper. Make sure that you restate your thesis by paraphrasing it instead of copying it from the intro. As for the final sentence, it is a good idea to put a rhetorical question or write some ideas that will give your readers some food for thought.

You may also review any genetic engineering sample essay to better understand how to outline yours. While a lot will depend on the chosen topic and the length of the paper, a sample will give you an idea of how your arguments can be presented in the text or how to section the paper.

Genetic engineering essay questions

Sometimes it only takes one question to write a brilliant text on some topic. As there are a lot of questions that people have today concerning genetic engineering, we have prepared the best ones for your consideration:

• Will genetic engineering change our society forever?
• Will there be genetic consequences in the future?
• Are the scientists just seeking to create an ideal human being?
• Is genetic engineering ethical?
• Does genetic engineering serve a higher purpose?
• What are the dangers of genetic engineering?

You can either use some of these as a topic for your paper or as a “food for thought” part in your conclusion.

How to come up with a creative title for a genetic engineering essay?

Interesting genetic engineering essay titles are 50% of the success of your paper. Despite the fact that the title consists of only a few words, students often encounter difficulties when trying to come up with any. What title will be good for the essay? Experienced specialists say that those are the ones that leave the readers wanting to learn more.

Here are some criteria for a catchy title:

• Intrigue the reader! Let him or her stop the glance at the title and feel the need to get acquainted with all the information.
• Target the right people. The correct title is always focused on a specific target audience. It makes it clear to the reader that the material is created for him or her and will be useful.

Make sure the title is informative. After reading titles, people immediately decide whether the information is valuable for them and whether it is worth spending time on it. Interesting headlines prompt us to open the website and find answers to important questions. The same rule applies to academic papers. Your readers should feel that they will find out something  useful after going through your work.

Genetic engineering research paper topics

Before moving to tips on writing research papers, it is crucial that you choose the topic that you are going to cover:

• Possibilities of genetic engineering research paper
• Genetics and its impact on human diseases
• Genetics and Parkinson’s disease
• GMO health risks
• Agriculture and land use policies in the United States
• The current goals of biotechnology
• Eugenics in the US
• Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
• Ethical issues in genetic engineering and transgenics
• The persistence of genetically modified organisms in the environment
• The role of genetic engineering in the eradication of global hunger

How to write a research paper on genetic engineering

The main goal of such an assignment is to demonstrate a student’s academic knowledge of a subject. In this case, a student has to find and analyze a big number of credible sources in order to support his or her ideas with factual data from recent studies. In order to cope with a task successfully, it is also important to:

• Set goals for your research. Before starting the writing process, you need to understand the direction of the research and develop some research questions. Only then you can move to the literature review step.
• Make an outline. It’s an important aspect of any paper-writing process. A well-detailed outline helps to keep your ideas organized and your writing focused.
• Research carefully. Genetics is an exact science, and writing about it requires referring to accurate and credible sources. Moreover, as this field is constantly changes, the more recent the sources you use are, the better.
• Cite all the sources properly. Make sure that all the sources you use are referred to in the paper and put in the reference list in the end. Every genetic engineering research paper written by students is checked for plagiarism, and proper citations and paraphrasing techniques will allow you to avoid any potential issues with the originality of your work.
• Proofread your paper. It’s a good idea to proofread any piece of writing in general. Going through your research paper a few times after you finish it will help you understand .

Outline for a research paper on genetic engineering

• Introduction. You have two tasks here: to put forward a hypothesis and develop a strong thesis statement that briefly describes what you are going to research. Before that, introduce the reader to the topic and provide some background info on it.

• Body. The body of your paper will be divided in a few sections such as methodology, literature review, results/findings section, and a discussion section. Basically, you will have to show how you have obtained factual information, what you have found, and what you can conclude based on those findings.

• Conclusion. The main goal here is to restate a thesis, explaining whether you have proved it in your paper or not. Additionally, it is necessary to make a quick overview of the body paragraphs and state your contribution to the research on the topic.

If it is hard for you to visualize the outline, try checking research paper examples on genetic engineering and the way information is presented there. As you will likely see, sections vary depending on the focus of the research, methods used, and quite a few other factors, which is why it is always best to have a rubric to follow.

Interesting ideas for a research papers and essays on genetic engineering

Genetic engineering has always been quite controversial and burning topic. There are various ideas in this field worth of your attention, but we have decided to present to you the most interesting ones. Perhaps, one of them will become your essay or research paper basis.

Animal cloning

• Cloning, in the most general sense, means accurate reproduction of an object any number of times.
• The creation of animals and plants with specific qualities, such as resistance to diseases and unpleasant climatic conditions, has always been a very tempting idea. As such specifies would be able to produce a huge amount of meat, milk, fruits, vegetables, and other products, it could become a solution to food crisis in a lot of regions.
• In combination with transgenesis, cloning of animals opens up additional opportunities for the production of valuable biologically active proteins for the treatment of various animal and human diseases.
• Scientists developed several methods for cloning animals:

1. The method of parthenogenesis, in which the division and growth of an unfertilized ovum is induced. This method has certain limitations since it allows the cloning of only female individuals.
2. The so-called ‘embryo splitting’ technology, which, according to scientists, can’t be identical to the ‘parent’ body.
3. The most successful and promising method is ‘nuclear transfer’ or, as it is also called, a surgical method. It is based on replacing the haploid nucleus of the ovum with a diploid nucleus taken from the cells of the embryos. These cells are not yet differentiated, so their nuclei easily replace the function of the diploid nucleus of a newly fertilized cell.

• In 1928, the German embryologist Hans Spemann (1869-1941) cloned the salamander for the first time with the help of a nuclear transplant from one cell to another.
• Later successful experiments on the transplantation of the nuclei of the body cells into an ovum were carried out in 1952 by American scientists Robert Briggs and T.J. King. They received a genetic copy of the frog.
• A similar result was achieved in 1960 by John Gurdon in Great Britain. In 1983, geneticists managed to create clones of adult amphibians.

Human cloning

• 200 years ago, human cloning was an unattainable fantastic idea. Science is constantly progressing and, perhaps, in a few centuries, cloning will become as common as the so-called test-tube babies now.

• In the second half of the last century, genetic experiments were conducted quite regularly. In 1978, the first test-tube baby was born in England. Thanks to such experiments, people who have problems with getting pregnant can also have children.
• On January 4, 1985, another female child from a test tube was born in London to the world’s first surrogate mother. Since then, it became clear that the child can be carried and given birth to not only by the biological mother.
• In December 1998, the world was shocked by the news about the creation of the first human clone of a resident of South Korea. The shocking experiment was interrupted at the prenatal stage.
• Experiments in human cloning began to take place in many countries of the world since then. In 1998, the Chicago scientist, Richard Seed, said that he intended to create a whole laboratory for human cloning. According to his opinion, in the future, there will be many people wanting to have their own clone.
• It’s worth writing that in 1999, the US issued a law banning such experiments. A little later, most European countries signed the Paris Convention on the prohibition of genetic cloning of humans.
• At the end of February 2000, scientists began to view the clone as an identical twin of a certain person whose birth was delayed in time. Preliminary legislative acts were considered, according to which clones should officially have the same legal rights and responsibilities as any other human being.
• In the end of February 2000, a group of Canadian scientists began to conduct experiments on growing organs of the human body.
• In March 2000, the press reported that Russian scientists illegally started secret experiments to create clones of people. At that time, the whole world officially refused to try to clone humans. Despite this, underground research is still conducted.
• In April 2000, the British government canceled the ban on cloning embryos. According to scientists, this should help to create perfectly healthy human organs necessary for transplantation. The benefits are obvious, and the probability of rejection of such organs is minimal.

• In early 2002, scientists of PPL Therapeutics reported that they were able to create several clones of pigs, whose organs were ideally suited for transplantation to humans.
• In January 2003, the birth of another cloned child was announced. This time the experiment was conducted by Dr. Severino Antinori.
• At present, cloning of human embryos is prohibited in many countries of the world.

Background information for a genetic engineering essay or research paper

The basis of genetic engineering methods is the ability of restriction enzymes to divide DNA into nucleotide sequences. They can be incorporated into the genes of bacterial cells in order to obtain hybrid or chimera forms. These hybrid forms consist of their own DNA and additionally embedded fragments of DNA that is not characteristic of them.

Genetic engineering is divided into gene, genome, and chromosome types. The essence of the first (gene) type is the purposeful rearrangements of the natural genome to change the genetic characteristics of viruses and cells. For example, cellular genes that confer the properties of oncogenicity on viruses can be moved to the viral genomes.

The essence of genome engineering lies in a purposeful reorganization of the genome of prokaryotes for the creation of new species. With the help of genome engineering, a large amount of additional genetic information may be introduced, and a hybrid organism, which differs from the original one in many ways, may be created.

Chromosome engineering is focused on the chromosomes of cells of higher and lower microorganisms (prokaryotes, eukaryotes). It became one of the reasons why the treatment of hereditary diseases, as well as breading of animals and various plant species is currently possible.