Martin Seligman, an American psychologist, educator, and author of self-help books states in one of his novels that Major Depression is the no.1 disabling psychological disorder in the western world, and at its current rate of increase, will be the 2nd most disabling health condition in the entire world by 2020. Good morning/afternoon, my name is Suzannah Bugden and it is a pleasure to be here at the 2015 Anthology of Science Fiction Short Stories by Australian Authors. My story is called ‘The Death Collectors’, which is about the social issues in concern to genetic modification of human beings attributable to rising epidemic illnesses such as Clinical Depression. ‘The Death Collectors’ explores the repercussions genetic modification would…show more content… Chromosomes have and approximately 50,000 to 100,000 genes each, all inherited entirely from our parents. Genes determine all of our biological traits and even certain diseases we may develop during our lives. The issue with genes is that according to this source, ‘A variation as small as one nucleotide (Which is very, very tiny) in the DNA sequence can disrupt a gene severely; these deleterious alterations in DNA sequences are called genetic mutations. Genetic conditions such as Huntington Disease or Cystic Fibrosis are caused by mutations in single genes.’ According to in a Chinese group from Sun Yat-Sen University reported that they had taken “human triponuclear embryos” and successfully cut out the mutant DNA that causes the lethal human disease β-thalassemia, and eliminated the disease entirely from the embryo. Using this same method in ‘The Death Collectors’, the genetic mutation believed to cause Clinical Depression was located in the chromosome and terminated completely. Whilst scientists have not yet determined a specific gene that causes genetic Major Depression, over 60% (cite) of Clinical Depression cases are believed to be instigated by an inheritable DNA. It is entirely possible that in the future, scientists will have the technology capable of finding such inconspicuous
