Gene Therapy

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Recommended: The ethics of gene therapy: balancing the risks

Gene Therapy

Imagine yourself being a parent of a young child suffering from a horrible disease in which you now know to be genetically inherited. This disease is caused from the genes that you and your partner passed on to your child. Now lets say, you can treat this disease or may even be able to cure your child of this disease by altering, modifying, or replacing the genes that cause this disease through a process called gene therapy. Would you do it? I think most of us would answer yes.

The option of being able to help our child several years ago may not have seemed possible. Genetic research has made giant leaps over the past decade and now the idea of gene therapy is reality. Through gene therapy it is possible to treat and elevate genetic diseases and mutations. We now have the knowledge and the technology to treat ourselves , our children, and the future generations.

In order to make an educated decision, one must be aware of gene therapy itself. When making such a decision of whether to use gene therapy or not it would be beneficial to understand the technical aspects of gene therapy. It is also important to understand how gene therapy treats an individual, what it can be used to treat, and the previous trials and successes of the use of gene therapy. Or a person may find it worthwhile to know how the public perceives gene therapy and the overall consensus on its usage. After obtaining all of this knowledge, the decision of whether or not to use gene therapy should be able to be made confidently.

Gene Therapy and the Technical Aspects

Gene therapy is a means of treating diseases based on modifying the expression of a person's genes towards the therapeutic goal. Gene therapy could be used in treating letha...

... middle of paper ...

... and thus will make the difference in life and death of our loved ones and ourselves.

References

Biotech Applied. Gene Therapy- An Overview. Biotechnology Industry Organization, 1990. Obtained from the WWW 9/3/98: http://www.gene. com/AE/AB/IWT/Gene_Therapy_Overview.html

Bruce, Donald M.. Moral and Ethical Issues in Gene Therapy. Society, Religion and Technology Project(Church of Scotland), 1996. Obtained from the WWW 9/18/98: http://webzone1.co.uk/w ww/srtproject/genthpy1.htm

Grace, Eric S.. Better Health Through Gene Therapy. The Futurist Jan- Feb 1998, v32, n1, p39(4). Obtained through Pals.

Rifkin, Jeremy. The Ultimate Therapy. Tikkun May-June 1998, v1, n3, p33(7) Obtained from WebPals on 10/6/98.

Wilson, Jim. Institute for Human Gene Therapy. Last modified: 10/20/97.Obtained form the WWW 9/3/98:http://www.med.upenn.edu /ihgt/info/whatisgt.html

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