We have accepted cancer. We have accepted cancer and so many other diseases to take the lives of our loved one.. We have disregarded the single most powerful tool against these terrible problems. Problems that we believe are out of our reach or behind lock doors. We have a new powerful tool that is emerging from what once was science fiction. This is genetic modification and it may just fix problems such as cancer

Now its important to stress here that genetic modification is not like in Scifi movies. Its not mad scientists in a lab where we can snakes have wings or creating making us like to be  Superman, Wonderwomen or, some far handsome Captain underpants. It doesn’t have the power to create any wild ravaging beast that will end our world tomorrow nor new superheroes that can shoot lazars or underpants from their hands. You see Genetic modification is selecting specific sequences of code in our genome and modifying them, just slightly, so our cells have new and better characteristics. We haven’t created new code but rather rearranged what we already have into something better. You will still be you. Want to eliminate cancer, Want to fix climate change, Genetic modification. Want to create better political leaders in our absolutely flawless society, genetic modification. We finally have the technology to fix some of the biggest problems in our imperfect reality. So where does one start? Let’s go back to that thing called cancer. 

Cancer kills 7.6 million people a year. The cause of it is unknown. We are no closer to finding a cure than we are to finding out than how life got here in the first place. Our current most well-known and effective way to try and treat cancer is chemotherapy. Listen. Do you want to know what the survival rates of people who go through chemotherapy are? Its just shy of 50%., our most effective method at fighting this beast that kills millions of people a year is just 50%.  Who here would bet to their life on a coin flip. Who here would bet their mother’s life on a coin flip. The sad thing is nobody should have to go through something as horrific as this. We have a number of solutions at our fingertips thanks to the use of genetic modification. Cancer is caused by critical random mutations throughout our genome so it makes logical sense if we stop it from its root cause rather than battle it with other harsh drugs that kill our body as much as it does cancer. We could increase our genetic redundancy to Cancer, we could import a selected few genes from blue whales that make them cancer resistance or give our white blood cells better systems to detect and kill the tumour are just a few methods we can start with.

So why aren’t we using it?

Its because in recent years a few narrowminded, ninwittited, double thinkers have exploited the media and painted a criminal image of GMO’s. 

There main augment was over an experiment many years ago when scientists were modifying the genome of apple trees in an effort to make them have natural pesticides so we don’t have to use sprays. Unfourtuanlly it didn’t work and all trees with the gene therapy died. But some people took this one experiment as a failure for all future events and tried to argue only the negative impacts it could have. Imagine if we said the same thing about penicillin back in the day and only looked at negatives about it like it kills the vital bacteria in your gut and that it was incredibly hard to manufacture. Yet now we use it and it saves untold amounts of lives. 

We don’t have to be the loudmouth minority. They say its tearing the human genome apart only to create a that is only not human. But isn’t the mere act of denying such a tool that could save the lives of millions is in itself, is not human. I ask please consider your humanity

But this by no means applies for only cancer.

Who here would like to think that one day they would like kids. The majority. Well, imagine that you’ve going through the effort (emotional and physical) into having a child. You are holding your first child in your arms. Its a boy! You stare at him in a state of euphoria thinking of the many years that are to come with him. In this moment you have never felt more alive, more present. A doctor walks through the door and says 4 words which you will never forget: “He has Cystic fibrous.” Average life expectancy, 37 years. Chances of going to school, low. Can he have children? No. Suddenly, doors shut and the world fades. This doesn’t have to be you or any other parent and child out there.

We could end, cystic fibrosis and literary every other genetic disease and disorder that exists. We can give every child who is born on planet earth an equal start in their adventure that is life. They will not be limited by their genes like so many people are today. 

But why not go further and open more doors.

For example, Who agrees that Climate change and our destruction to the environment is becoming exponentially worse within recent years. (raise hand). And raise your hand if you think we could all be doing better to save our planet. (raise hand) . x can you give me an example of what we have done to the planet. Yes, we have flattened forests, poured toxic chemicals in the skies and rivers, we have created islands of plastics and glass with a surface area of 1.6 million km. But for the 1st time in history, we can finally take the affirmative action and clean up the decimation we have caused to our planet, rather than just sitting back and saying its what a shame is. We can use Genetic modification to engineer trees that grow faster a have a higher yield of wood so we can stop cutting down more forest. We can engineer plants that literary breath in these dangerous chemicals and more CO2 and let them use it for their own fertiliser. We can engineer types of bacteria and fungi that work together as an ecosystem that break down the plastics in the ocean. We can fix what the previous generation couldn’t accept. Your children will not be the last generation that walks the beaches of earth, nor their children or the children after that. They will have a home called earth that will greet them with open arms.

We shouldn’t fear the unknown. We shouldn’t be scared of what lays behind those unopened doors. What does as humanity stand to gain by refusing new ideas and closing the curtains? In our world, In our universe, there is only one certainty. Change is the only constant.

What we do now will ultimately choose the very doors we go through and equip us with the very tools to the many challenges that await. We must work together and unify as one collective. We must take what is given for our pursuit.

We don’t have to become death, the destroyer of worlds, but rather we can become the author’s of our changing world and beyond. Genetic modification may just be one of the many keys.