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ISSUE69 "Government should place few, if any, restrictions on scientific research and development" Over the last decade, scientific research and development was advanced so significantly that prominent breakthrough in cutting-edge researches like stem-cell research is often overshadowed by controversies surrounding it. These controversies mainly came from two basic concerns of our well-being: security and morality, which necessitates a constitutionally circumscribed governmental restriction. It is a frequent worry that our striding scientific research and development and its potential application is not paralleled or matched by the advancement in humanity. For a sense of security, government, as a protector of its people, should restrict scientific research and development from being abused or devoted to evil purposes. Bearing the destructive power of some scientific research and development in mind, a government could not be too careful in detecting evil-oriented scientific research and taking measures accordingly, and it applied to both domestically and internationally. Read history one can find almost in every major war there is a role played by a invented destructive weapon from a scientific development. In World War II, for example, Nuclear weapon, which was a symbolic advancement in physics, destroyed populous cities from Europe to Japan and still threatens us today. Countries attempting to produce their own nuclear weapon like Iran and North Korea run nuclear tests in the disguise of the so-called scientific research and development. These notorious and dangerous scientific research and development put our security at great risks and should be sanctioned by the international community through the operation of the International Government "United Nations". Domestically, we are familiar with the possible devastating consequences from scientific research and development from headline story to fictional scene. We all shiver if we are informed that our neighbor is a mad scientist who is obsessed with various chemical reactions. We all experience hard times when we imagine how Dr.Frankenstein created his monster. As individuals who trade part of our freedom to have a sense of security, we have a notion that we would not be able to tackle with all potential threat brought by scientific research and development against us and that is why it is a responsibility of our government, whether national or international. Some might accuse me of overlooking the vast potential positive function that scientific research and development could serve. Admittedly, I am well aware of the various diseases could potentially be alleviated even cured with the development of bioengineering. These breakthroughs, however, come at the risk of devaluing moral standards we have been held for hundreds and years. In recent years, stem-cell research and other genetic engineering reported major breakthroughs which generated heated debates. Stem-cell research, which requires destruction of human embryo, challenges the long-established definition of "human life". Out of this controversy, government takes upon itself the task to keep the scientific research and development in morality's check. Though rescinded in the restricting in government funds in stem-cell research, the Obama administration set up strict standard to approve the research through the National Institute of Health. While preservation and promotion of moral standards are most voluntary and spontaneous among the community shared them, it is government's responsibility to prevent serious violation of moral responsibility through regulatory and legislative restriction.
While I do not suggest government impose stringent sanctions against scientific research and development because the role government plays in scientific research and development is limited to constitution, concerns out of security and morality rationalize the granted responsibility as well as capacity to minimize the negative consequences that could disturb the vast benefits we gained through scientific research and development.
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