Rebecca Cupp
Biotechnology
Mr. Fantz
September 3, 2013
To
provide a functional definition of natural reproduction, one must first define reproduction
itself. For centuries, reproduction was inherently natural, but today, the culmination
of human cloning, in vitro fertilization, and the Human Genome Project have successfully
created safe alternatives for many “natural” processes.
Reproduction
is defined by Brooker as “the generation of offspring by sexual or asexual
means”; however, this definition must be more distinct to apply to today’s
technologies.[1]
Asexual reproduction, essentially cloning, is the only reproductive means for
many species of bacteria, fungi, and protists, yet unnatural in animals. The
only exception to the rule is a bacterial plasmid. Plasmids exist outside of
the nucleoid, in a membranous sac containing circular genetic material. What
makes plasmids special is their ability to create genetic diversity between asexual
bacteria, by attaching onto another bacterium via protein complex, extending a
pilus, and transferring the plasmid’s genetic material.[2]
Plasmids, therefore, could be considered a natural sexual reproduction in an
asexual being, which must be separated from an unnatural asexual reproduction
in a sexual being. Plasmids are
responsible for most of the evolution of bacteria, much like the new
reproduction paths may be for humans.
These
exceptions have separated reproduction into categories: natural and unnatural.
An appropriate definition of natural reproduction could be “the production of
genetically similar offspring by sexual or asexual means, without the
intervention of human invention”.
This definition
serves to evaluate modern reproductive techniques as natural or unnatural;
however, it should not serve to discern the political differences between each
approach. Unnatural conceptions, developments, or births yield the same
healthy, happy babies as natural reproductions, and as such, access to
unnatural methods should be upheld by law. Unnatural reproduction methods are
available to aid struggling families with the gift of a lifetime: a child.
Regardless of how that child was born, they should not be angered, afraid, or
ashamed by the story of their birth. Unnatural birth should not be a secret, only
a blessing.
Works
Cited
Brooker,
Robert J., Eric P. Widmaier, Linda E. Graham, and Peter D. Stiling. Biology.
3 ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2013.
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