This page has been created to inform you on the positives and negatives of genetic engineering and the ethical problems that it presents.

At this time, research is conducted mainly on smaller organisms including the fruit fly and the house mouse but is continuously being extended to include larger animals. The fruit fly is known to be the most common object for genetic research due to its short generation time. Humans are rarely used for research, but in some cases have been used for testing. Types of genetic research include genetic databanks as well as genetic testing and gene therapy. Gene therapy is the actual switching of the genes in an organism. Today, genetic research tests are only being performed on volunteers and clinical studies are being applied on areas ranging from Down syndrome to brain disorders to different types of cancers. Although these studies are not usually able to be directly tested on humans they still provide hints of where the genes for a certain disease can be located on the genome.