In April 2000 two babies were born with severe combined immunodeficiency disorder, which causes them to live inside protective “sterile” bubbles. Seeing this French researches removed stem cells from the infants’ marrows and put in genetically altered viruses. Two years later, the children are still healthy (Trefil). Gene therapy is where a single defective gene is replaced with a good one to treat a disease. Adding genes that cause the right proteins to be made is also the use of gene therapy. There are two types of gene therapies: somatic and germ-line. In somatic therapies, viruses are used as a vector to put in genetic material into the cells of the body. In germ-line therapies, sperm or egg cells are used (Association). Gene therapy is not just used in medicine, but also used in improving foods and crops too, such as, “the introduction of gene-spliced, pest-resistant cotton varieties in China has reduced pesticide poisonings by nearly 80 percent” (Miller). Gene therapy should be widely available for all because of its high success in treating diseases and of its great social and economic benefits.
Gene therapy has shown much success in treating diseases such as severe combined immunodeficiency disorder and blindness, so it should be available for all to use. Gene therapy can be used to treat so many diseases and there should not be any issues that stop scientists from using it to treat cancer or blindness. Gene therapy was used in clinical trials to see how it would help treat cancer, “but Gromeier’s team tamed by inserting a small piece of genetic material from a cold virus into the poliovirus genome, effectively rendering it ‘completely unable’ to cause polio… they injected the hybrid virus into mice with malignant gliomas...
... middle of paper ...
...Michael. "Gene Therapy Will Revolutionize the Practice of Medicine." BioEvolution. San Francisco: Encounter, 2003. N. pag. Print.
Miller, Henry I., and Gregory Conko. "Genetic Engineering Benefits Society." Genetic Engineering. By Miller and Conko. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2005. N. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Rifkin, Jeremy. "Gene Therapy Is Dangerous to Health." Genetic Engineering. By Rifkin. Ed. Lisa Yount. San Diego: Greenhaven, 2002. N. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
- - -. "Gene Therapy May Not Be Beneficial to Society." Genetic Engineering. By Rifkin. Ed. Sylvia Engdahl. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2006. N. pag. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Trefil, James. 101 Things You Don't Know about Science and No One Else Does Either. N.p.: Houghton, 1996. eLibrary. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
... fight the disease. It is crucial that regulation be a necessary component of gene therapy research and applications. In hopes that the government can regulate and can receive this treatment, not restricting it to people that has serious genetic diseases. Gene therapy will change the field of medicine from what it is today. As scientist discovers more genes and their functions, the potential of this treatment is limitless. Though gene therapy is an auspicious treatment choice for numerous diseases (including inherited disorders, some types of cancer, and certain viral infections), the procedure remains precarious and is still under study to make sure that it will be safe and effective. Thus government regulators and scientist must take a lead role in adopting a practical approach to address these issues and determining the correct procedures for dealing with them.
Kevles, Daniel J. and Leroy Hood. "Will the Human Genome Project Lead to Abuses In Genetic Engineering?" Taking Sides. Ed. Thomas A. Easton. Guilford, Connecticut: Dushkin Publishing Group Inc., 1995. 342-357.
...ne starts life with an equal chance of health and success. Yet, gene therapy can also be thought of as a straight route towards a dark outlook, where perfection is the first priority, genes are seen as the ultimate puppeteer, and personal freedom to thrive based on one’s self isn’t believed to exist. With the emergence of each new technological discovery comes the emergence of each new ethical debate, and one day, each viewpoint on this momentous issue may be able to find a bit of truth in the other. Eventually, our society may reach a compromise on gene therapy.
A molecular biologist by the name of James Watson once said, “we used to think that the fate was in our stars, but now we know that, in large measure, our fate is in our genes.” The Oxford Dictionary defines gene therapy as the transplantation of normal genes into cells in place of missing or defective ones in order to correct genetic disorders. Gene therapy has the ability to prevent, treat, and even cure diseases by replacing a faulty gene with a stable, healthy one (American Medical Association). Aldous Huxley’s, Brave New World relates to gene therapy because they program each embryo with how they should live. This essay will first talk about why gene therapy is done and how it works. It will then inform the reader of the effects it will
Gene therapy is a technique which has developed in the wake of recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology. It is a process which results in the correction of a genetic disorder by the addition of a piece or fragment of DNA into the genetic material of a living, functioning cell. A mere thirty years ago this concept belonged to the realm of the human imagination made manifest in the works of science fiction. Today it belongs to the realm of the human imagination made manifest in the works of science, period. It is mind boggling to try to comprehend the far reaching effects of gene therapy. How is it affecting society? Who will benefit from its use? Should it be used at all? Should research continue? How do we answer all of these questions? The answers are not readily available, nor are they black and white, but an attempt at finding some solutions must be made. Before exploring this line of thought further, a basic understanding of the technical aspects of gene therapy is essential.
Sade R.M.,and G. Khushf “ Gene therapy: ethical and social issues.” J So Carolina Med
In September 14, 1990, an operation, which is called gene therapy, was performed successfully at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. The operation was only a temporary success because many problems have emerged since then. Gene therapy is a remedy that introduces genes to target cells and replaces defective genes in order to cure the diseases which cannot be cured by traditional medicines. Although gene therapy gives someone who is born with a genetic disease or who suffers cancer a permanent chance of being cured, it is high-risk and sometimes unethical because the failure rate is extremely high and issues like how “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy can be distinguished still haven’t been answered satisfactorily.
Green, Ronald M. "Human Genetic Engineering Should Be Allowed." Opposing Viewpoints: Genetic Engineering. Ed. Noel Merino. Farmington Hills: Greenhaven, 2013. 46-52. Print.
Lopez, Gerald Gabriel. "Gene Therapy: the Scientific vs. the Societal" The Resource. Jan. 1998. 10 Apr. 2001. .
Rubanyi, G. (2001). The Future of Human Gene Therapy. Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 22,3, pp. 113-142.
Panno, J. (2005). Gene therapy: Treating disease by repairing genes. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc.
Gene therapy is a method used by doctors that ‘uses genes as medicine’. It repairs faulty or damaged gene copies by transferring a therapeutic or working gene into specific parts of faulty gene copy. This means that gene therapy can be used to replace a faulty gene or to introduce a new gene whose function is to modify the clinical course of a condition or to cure a problem in the gene (Refer to image 2). Image 1 shows how gene therapy is completed using an adenovirus vector while image 2 explains the method of gene therapy and shows how cells are removed, altered and injected back into the patient. Gene therapy has potential to treat and cure many medical conditions such as various types of cancer, degenerative diseases and viral infections such as AIDS. Research into gene therapy still needs to be done before this approach to the treatment of certain conditions will realise its full potential. Trials are being conducted in the United States and Europe and a modest number initiated in other countries, including Australia. The majority of these trials are focussing on treating acquired conditions such as cancer (European Society of Gene & Cell therapy, 2011).
Coker, Jeffrey Scott. "Genetic Engineering Is Natural and Should Be Pursued." Genetic Engineering, edited by Noël Merino, Greenhaven Press, 2013. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,
Bergeson, E. (1997) The Ethics of Gene Therapy [Online] Available at: http://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/plsc431/students/bergeson.htm [Accessed 14 July 2011]
One of the biggest concerns involved in gene therapy in humans is the lack of knowledge and the possibility for consequences later on or i...