Zhang Rushan, Class 9, Senior 2, Shenzhen Foreign Languages School

Instructed by Li Furong

深圳外国语学校 高二9班 张如山

指导教师: 李芙蓉

Recently, the birth of the world’s first genetically modified babies shocked the world. This has aroused heated debates, of which one question is, is it responsible of researchers to do genetic experiments on human beings?

The answer is NO! Although conducting genetic experiments on human beings has already been forbidden in the U.S. and the U.K., Chinese authorities have never set laws to ban such kind of experiments.

Notwithstanding, this doesn’t mean that it is okay to do so, for from my point of view, being responsible not only means being obligated, which tends to be a legal concept, but also means being ethically right. Therefore, no matter how “innovative” or “well-intentioned” the experiment may be, it is neither ethical to determine these babies’ gene before they are born, nor moral to all the other human beings to create such “improved” human beings.

The link between responsibility and ethics can also be seen in other cases. And the well-known “Jiangge Case” is one of them. So how will we know whether or not our behavior is ethical? How can we learn to be responsible? The key is to think further about the consequence of your behavior. If you thought further about the horrible memory that one may carry life-long, would you still turn a blind eye to sexual assault? If you thought further about the life that may be lost due to your indifference, would you still hesitate to help an injured old man lying on the pavement? If you thought further about the eco-bill that may take centuries to pay, would you still be using plastic bags recklessly?

In sum, in order to become more responsible persons, not only should we obey the laws, we are also supposed to be ethically right. Were more people aware of the importance of being responsible and therefore thought further about the consequences of their behavior, there would be fewer tragedies and regrets in the world. I am sure of that.