Risks and benefits of Genetics

Nowadays, scientists are investigating and developing new ways of genetic modification. Great advances have been made through the years. Some examples are the production of insuline or animal cloning (like Dolly the sheep). Nevertheless, the science community doesn’t always have in mind that playing with life can carry some consequences. The study of these consequences is called bioethics.

In scientific language, bioethics is the study of the ethical aspects and the risks of life sciences (medicine and biology, mainly), as well as the relations of man with other living beings. Bioethics suggests that not all alterations or genetic operations carried out by human beings are correct. An example is the prenatal genetic alteration, cloning or chosen mutation.

These studies are related to all kind of science, but to resume we are going to focus just in the most important aspects of genetics that can have beneficial or harmful consequences which should be taken into account. The main points are: medicine, agriculture and food, environment and human genetics.

Regarding medicine, we can observe many benefits thanks to genetic alterations. For example, the prevention of genetic diseases, the production of medicines, different uses in forensic medicine and paternity tests or gene therapy. However, there are also some consequences, such as side effects from the consumption of genetically modified products or the creation of new diseases.

In relation to food and agriculture, genetics can increase the production amount and the nutritional value of food and at the same time increase the strength and duration of harvests, food and animals. But having in mind other points of view, that would mean a total control of the food market by multinationals in biotechnology.

Then it is the environment. On the one hand, modifications in genetic structure can produce biodegradable plastics or bacteria which feed in pollution. On the other hand, if the modified species are not controlled, there could be a displacement of natural species and genetic pollution could occur. It consists of uncontrolled transfusion of genetic alterations.

From my point of view, human genetics is the most questionable part of bioethics. I agree that this kind of development is important, and it is good to have knowledge of the full human genome, but the creation of human clones or altered people may be really dangerous. It should have some limits. Using it to avoid human genetic diseases is right, but if we start using it to create our own personalized children just to make them perfect...well, you just have to watch GATACCA.

Magic Places in the Province of Soria

One day in our last Easter holidays I decided to take a trip with my family. We decided to make a route along some interesting places from the province of Soria.

In the morning, we went to a small medieval village called Calatañazor. We walked through the streets of the village during approximately one hour and a half. We saw interesting things like the monument dedicated to Almanzor, a muslim warrior that was defeated in a battle that occurred in the village during the Reconquista; the medieval streets of the village, with the cone-shaped chimneys, very common in the zone; the architecture of the houses, and the shops selling typical souvenirs from the area.

In the highest part of the village, we visited the Major square, where is located the “Rollo” (during the Middle Ages, this was a place of punishment where the thieves were exposed for several days).

A few meters from the square, we visited the castle and we enjoyed the view of the area form the viewpoint located at the top of the main tower.

Then, we looked for a restaurant to eat.

In the afternoon, we travelled to a very popular natural place called “La Fuentona”. During the car trip, we saw the pine trees and the sabine trees, which are very common in the place. When we arrived to Muriel de la Fuente, the nearest village to La Fuentona, we left the car and we started to walk. Firstly, we wanted to visit the waterfall that carries the same water that drops in La Fuentona. During the walk, we enjoyed the sun, the green colour of the trees and the plants, and the crystalline water. Sometimes, the water was so clear that it looked green or blue. When we arrived at the waterfall, the landscape was magical. The waterfall only contains water after periods of abundant rainfall.

Then, we walked a few kilometers more until we arrived at La Fuentona. The river Abion is born in this natural lake. Under the water, there is a set of natural galleries. Some of them are under the water and others are above the water. There are some legends that say that the Laguna Negra and la Fuentona are connected through this set of natural galleries. It is not known whether these legends are true or not because the underwater galleries have only been explored 100 meters under the floor, the rest is unknown.

After enjoying in La Fuentona for a while, we returned to the car, with a little stop at a pub to have a drink. Then, we visited “La casa del Parque”, an ancient nobleman palace that is nowadays a museum about La Fuentona and the nature of the area.

After that, we returned to Soria but during the returning trip we visited “el sabinar de Calatañazor”, a natural place with hundres of sabine trees, that are very common in the region.

I enjoyed this trip a lot and I would like to repeat it a soon as possible.