xtremely helpful in the alteration of bacterial genes. "Transforming bacterial cells is easierthan transforming the cells of complex organisms" (Stableford 34). Two reasons are evident forthis ease of manipulation: DNA enters, and functions easily in bacteria, and the transformedbacteria cells can be easily selected out from the untransformed ones. Bacterial bioengineeringhas many uses in our society, it can produce synthetic insulins, a growth hormone for thetreatment of dwarfism and interferons for treatment of cancers and viral diseases (Stableford34).Throughout the centuries disease has plagued the world, forcing everyone to take part in avirtual "lottery with the agents of death" (Stableford 59). Whether viral or bacterial in nature,such disease are currently combated with the application of vaccines and antibiotics. Thesetreatments, however, contain many unsolved problems. The difficulty with applying antibioticsto destroy bacteria is that natural selection allows for the mutation of bacteria cells, sometimesresulting in mutant bacterium which is resistant to a particular antibiotic. This nowindestructible bacterial pestilence wages havoc on the human body. Genetic engineering isconquering this medical dilemma by utilizing diseases that target bacterial organisms. thesediseases are viruses, named bacteriophages, "which can be produced to attack specific disease-causing bacteria" (Stableford 61). Much success has already been obtained by treating animalswith a "phage" designed to attack the E. coli bacteria (Stableford 60).Diseases caused by viruses are much more difficult to control than those caused bybacteria. Viruses are not whole organisms, as bacteria are, and reproduce by hijacking themechanisms of other cells. Therefore, any treatment designed to stop the virus itself, will alsostop the functioning of its host cell. A virus invades a host cell by piercing it at a site called a"receptor". Upon attachment, the virus injects i...
