Interview: Julie Legakis

Julie Legakis is a seasoned biology professor here at Madonna University. She holds a Ph.D. in biotechnology and has worked in laboratories at Wayne State and University of Michigan, studying genetics among other topics. With her extensive knowledge on the subject, one cannot deny that she knows a lot about the specifics on genetic engineering, which has thus allowed her to formulate her own ideas about it. Julie claims that she is against "manipulating the genome"(J. Legakis, personal communication, February 16, 2015). However, she is supportive of using it for other improvements in humans, besides the extension of life.
Julie began our interview by explaining the basics of genetic engineering, and how it could involve anything from changing the human genome to exchanging old, malfunctioning organs for new designed organs. She believes that genetic engineering in humans is very conquerable, and referred back to a lab we had previously done in BIO 1040 with strawberries and polyploidy, which means having multiple sets of chromosomes. Julie absolutely thinks that it is possible to genetically alter humans, but is wary about using it to extend human lives. She thinks that it should only be used for disease control, not eternal life. She claims that issues of overpopulation and too many mouths to feed without enough resources would be detrimental to our society.