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The ethics of gene therapy: balancing the risks
Conclusion on gene therapy
The ethics of gene therapy: balancing the risks
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The Dangers of Gene Therapy Treatment "What's the worst that can happen to me? I die, and it's for the babies," said Jessie Gelsinger as he left for the hospital to receive gene therapy treatment. (Stolberg) People risk their lives everyday in the name of science. One such science that people have recently been drawn to is gene therapy. Although, gene therapy may be new and exciting and it may be helping to find cures to diseases we only dreamed of curing, we have to remember it is dangerous. It needs to be done with much supervision. Every new step we take in the advancement of gene therapy should be thought over because the consequences could reach farther then we ever believed they could. There are so many dangers of the techniques used that can lead to consequences as serious as death. The government imposes many guidelines, and it needs to stay that way. The biggest dangers, however, may be in what is to come. General dangers of the techniques of gene therapy are a large concern. One problem is that the new gene may be inserted in the wrong location in the DNA. Experiments with rats showed this could cause cancer or other damage. In addition, when DNA is directly injected into a tumor there is a chance that the DNA could be introduced by mistake into reproductive cells, producing changes in offspring. The consequences of this are discussed in more detail later on. Another disturbing thing to think about when pondering the safety of gene therapy is the fact that once gene therapy has taken effect it cannot be stopped and is irreversible. It is not like drugs, the genes cannot be stopped from multiplying. Viral vectors use viruses to transport a modified gene into a patient's body. They are right now be... ... middle of paper ... ...e Therapy." National Reference Center for Bioethics Literature. Feb. 2000. 28 Mar. 2001 Kelley, Kevin. "How Safe is Gene Therapy." Gene Therapy 2000. Feb. 2000. 2 Apr. 2001 Li, Julang. "Mechanisms Involved in Targeted Gene Replacement in Mammalian Cells." Genetics. Vol. 156, 809-821. Oct. 2000. Lopez, Gerald Gabriel. "Gene Therapy: the Scientific vs. the Societal" The Resource. Jan. 1998. 10 Apr. 2001. . Ruggles, Amanda. "Ethics of Human Gene Therapy" 1996. 10 Apr. 2001. . Schneider, Norman. "Gene Therapy: Are Clinical Trials Safe?" USLaw.com. Mar. 2000. . "Sometimes things fall through the cracks: The death of Jesse Gelsinger and what it means." 2 Apr. 2001. . Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. "The Biotech Death of Jesse Gelsinger." New York Times, Sunday Magazine, Nov. 1999. Vogel, Shawna. "Gene Therapy Hearing Begins." ABCNEWS.com. Jan, 2000.
Zielinski, Sarah. "Henrietta Lacks ' 'Immortal ' Cells." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 11 Nov.
Over 20 years after the proclamation of these specific ethical guidelines, we are introduced to the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Human Gene Therapy’s study on a delivery mechanism for gene therapy that resulted in the death of an 18 year old research subject Jesse Gelsinger. Gelsinger suffered from partial OTC (ornithine transcarbamylase) deficiency caused by a defective single gene (Obasogie, 2009).
There have been four somewhat recent successful gene therapy treatments. The four deal with correcting hemophilia, bone marrow transplants, skin cancer, and vessel growth. In the success with the bone marrow transplants, French researchers collected bone marrow cells from patients, used gene therapy to correct the bone marrow, and then returned the bone marrow to the patient. This was 80% successful as reports 16 months after the transplants showed. Squamous cell carcinoma, skin cancer of the head and neck, was treated using gene therapy as well. The fourth trial was where DNA was used to carry a substance that stimulates blood vessel growth to damaged heart tissue and in this trial there was much success noted.
Human gene therapy is a method used in the medical field that treats diseases at a molecular level, by solving the source of the problem; our genes. Today, diseases and disorders are commonly treated by solving the symptoms, the surface of the problem. Many disorders and diseases are caused by defective proteins and within those defective proteins are damaged and defective genes. These defective genes can be treated through gene therapy. Gene therapy is not new and has been developed and improved by researchers for the past couple years. Being an experimental technique, gene therapy also has its pros and cons, but so far is showing positive and rising success rates.
20. D. Prockop, "Stem Cell Research Has Only Just Begun" (Letter), 293 Science 211-2 (13 July 2001)(citations omitted).
Gene therapy works in three ways; it works to replace a missing or defective gene with a normal one, replace a faulty gene so that it will function properly and it works to activate and deactivate a gene, allowing it to “switch” on and off. Gene therapy is done by the deliverance of a gene to a cell via a carrier, or vector, such as a virus. Scientists lean more towards using a virus because they can seek out particular cells and transfer pieces of deoxyribonucleic acid into them. Scientists also take advantage by deactivating their harmful characterizes and modifying them to carry particular gene into designated cells. After gene therapy is done, the genes can then stimulate the production needed for standard functioning, allowing that gene to return to its previous normal state. Therefore, if a patient were to be in the beginning stages of cancer, gene therapy would seek out the cancerous gene and replace it with a healthy one and minimizes the disease from
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.
Web. The Web. The Web. 14 Apr. 2013. The. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/technology/news/2009/03/09/5745/eight-reasons-to-applaud-action-on-stem-cells/> Keiper, Adam, and Yuval Levin.
Before it can be perfected, several studies have been shown that there have been serious health risks, such as toxicity, inflammation and cancer, since the technique is relatively new it, medical researchers and regulatory agencies are working to ensure the that gene therapy is a safe procedure. The ethical background on gene therapy is harshly surrounded around on things such as high cost and affordability depending on the severity of the disease and if only the wealthy will be able to afford the treatment, another is who decides which traits are normal and which constitute a disability or disorder. The biggest controversy is if people should be allowed to use gene therapy to enhance basic human traits such as height, intelligence, or athletic
In this paper, I will argue that genetic therapies should be allowed for diseases and disabilities that cause individuals pain, shorter life spans, and noticeable disadvantages in life. I believe this because everyone deserves to have the most even starting place in life as possible. That is no being should be limited in their life due to diseases and disabilities that can be cured with genetic therapies. I will be basing my argument off the article by “Gene Therapies and the Pursuit of a Better Human” by Sara Goering. One objection to genetic therapies is that removing disabilities and diseases might cause humans to lose sympathy towards others and their fragility (332). However, I do not believe this because there are many other events and conditions in society that spark human compassion and sympathy towards others.
From the perspective of some activists against gene therapy, they feel as though if it were to be used in a way to enhance one's own abilities. It could possibly have a destructive outcome especially if applied to an unborn/newborn child. These activists believe that if possessed in the wrong hands it may cause ethical issues such as altering a child's basic height, weight so forth. This type of treatment is called germline therapy, however the Government does not allow the research to be funded, so it is all only theory as it has not occured yet. But in factuality the cells that are implanted inside a patient's body may cause dozens of issues, as shown in the statement “Several studies have already shown that this approach can have very serious health risks, such as toxicity, inflammation, and cancer.” (GHR) With these issues it will cause even more problems, especially if someone is being treated for cancer. If they were to either retain the cancer or develop a new possibly worse type of cancer it will affect not only the patient but it will also halt the research of gene therapy which in turn will slow down the process for finding a safe
Medical News Today. Retrieved from http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/147142.
Since its inception, gene therapy has captured the attention of the public and ethics disciplines as a therapeutic application of human genetic engineering. The latter, in particular, has lead to concerns about germline modification and questions about the distinction between therapy and enhancement. The development of the gene therapy field and its progress to the clinic has not been without controversy. Although initially considered as a promising approach for treating the genetic of disease, the field has attracted disappointment for failing to fulfil its potential. With the resolution of many of the barriers that restricted the progress of gene therapy and increasing reports of clinical success, it is now generally recognised that earlier expectations may have been premature.
Sherlock, Richard. "Bioethics." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 193-200. Student Resources in Context. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. source 23
Gene therapy assists in explaining the nature of infectious diseases, in particular, the interactions between an invading microbes and their host’s immune defense system. A gene must be carried by a “vehicle”, or vector in order for the therapeutic gene to counterattack the disease. The use of vectors (genetically engineered retroviral) infect human genes, which overwrite defective genes and become functional again. The gene of interest is to efficiently infuse larger cells without activating an immune response against ourselves. “The immune system has developed means of detecting and killing the cells that harbors the invaders. All these stratagems are programmed into the genes of human ce...