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Ethical issues with gene therapy
Ethical issues with gene therapy
Ethical issues with gene therapy
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Gene Therapy
Gene therapy is a powerful new technology that has the ability to change the way medicine is practiced in the future. The potential of gene therapy offers great hope for cure and alleviation of suffering from genetic disorders that now plague numerous people. Within this past decade, much research has been conducted to learn about the aspects of gene therapy, but there is still much to learn before it is an effective medical treatment. Despite failures to prove any clinical efficacy, many experts of gene therapy predict that the first clinical success will occur in the near future. Gene therapy is a highly controversial topic that entails numerous ethical issues that need to be thoroughly analyzed before it is widely available to the public. While gene therapy may pose practical medical benefits for people, ethical considerations must be addressed in order for society to utilize the potentials of gene therapy appropriately.
What is gene therapy?
Gene therapy attempts to cure or treat genetic diseases by correcting the genetic errors responsible for it. Genetic diseases can be either inherited diseases such as cystic fibrosis as well as acquired diseases such as cancer ("What is Gene Therapy?"). These diseases are caused by the absence or defective structure of specific genes that change the composition or pattern of proteins expressed by the cell ("What is Gene Therapy?"). Gene therapy attempts to treat these genetic disorders by inserting a normal gene into diseased cells to replace an absent or defective gene or to enhance the production of proteins that are needed to correct or prevent genetic diseases ("What is Gene Therapy?"). Essentially, gene therapy modifies the expression of a person's gene to p...
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Licking, Ellen. "Gene Therapy" Business Week 12 July 1998:94-104.
Palmer, Julie Gage and Leroy Walters. The Ethics of Human Gene Therapay New York: Oxford Universtity Press, 1997.
Roberts, Leslie. "A Promising Experiment Ends in Tragedy" U.S. News and World Report 11 Oct. 1999: 43.
Taylor, Robert. "Superhumans" New Scientist 3 Oct. 1998: 24-29.
Torres, Juan Manuel. "On the Limits of Human Gene Transfer: Drawing the Line" Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Feb. 19997: 43-53.
Wadman, Meredith. "Germline Gene Therapy Must be Spared Excessive Regulation" Nature 26 March 1998: 317.
"What is Gene Therapy?" Transgene 1999 Internet. 8 Oct. 1999. Available: www.transgene.fr/gene0062.htm
Zallen, Doris T. "We Need a Moratorium on Genetic Enhancement" Chronicle of Higher Education 27 March 1998: A64.
As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,
Gene therapy is the application of the technique where the defect-causing "bad" genes are replaced by correct "good" genes. The idea of gene therapy is to treat the disease by correcting the "bad" DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid) rather than the current me thod of providing drugs, or proteins not produced by the defective gene. Gene therapy addresses the problem first hand by directly working with the genetic information causing the disease. From the book Shaping Genes, Dr. Darryl Macer says "It is like f ixing a hole in the bucket, rather than trying to mop up the leaking water." There are two kinds of gene therapy, somatic cell gene therapy and germline gene therapy.
The paper will discuss minicases on ‘The White-Collar Union Organizer’ and ‘The Frustrated Labor Historians’ by Arthur A. Sloane and Fred Witney (2010), to understand the issues unions undergo in the marketplace. There is no predetermined statistical number reported of union memberships in this country. However, “the United Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) excludes almost 2 million U.S wages and salary employees, over half of whom are employed in the public sector, who are represented at their workplaces by a union but are not union members. Not being required to join a union as a condition of continued employment, these employees have for a variety of reasons chosen not to do so. Nor do the BLS estimates include union members who are currently unemployed” (Sloane & Witney, 2010, p.5). Given this important information, the examination of these minicases will provide answers to the problems unions face in organizational settings.
Savulescu, Julian. “Genetic Interventions and the Ethics of Human Beings.” Readings in the Philosophy of Technology. Ed. David Kaplan. 2nd ed. Lanham: Roman & Littlefield, 2009. 417-430.
R.A.Huttenback, The British Empire as a "White Man's Country"-Racial Attitudes and Immigration Legislation in the Colonies of White Settlement, Journal of British Studies , Vol. 13, No. 1 (Nov, 1973) , pp. 108-137
According to Rijken (2009) any activity that involves the recruitment, transportation, or receipt of a person using coercive or deceptive means with the intent of exploitation is defined as Human Trafficking. If the victim is under 18 the coercive or deceptive means in unnecessary to call such conduct trafficking (p. 212). There are 12.3 million victims of human trafficking worldwide at any given moment (Hepburn & Simon, 2010; Nack, 2009). Statistics show that 43% are forced into the sex trade, 32% are used in forced labor, and the remaining 25% are trafficked for mixed or undetermined reasons (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). In the United States alone, 15-18,000 women, children, and men are trafficked annually. People of all genders, races, and ages are at risk of becoming victims of human trafficking. We can’t simply prosecute our way to social justice. Of course people who exploit people should be punished. But definitions of trafficking often cast a wide net, encompassing all sex workers. While law enforcement has the biggest role to play, the quest to end modern slavery must have other champions. Forced labor and sex trafficking is the second most profitable criminal enterprise, and the fastest growing. Yet the level of awareness within the United States is not commensurate. To truly confront this most egregious of crimes, civil society must be a lead proponent. Organizations already exist that help in a variety of ways, such as providing training to those who could identify victims. (Ergas, Y.; "Online Journal - JIA SIPA.")
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).
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. "The Biotech Death of Jesse Gelsinger." New York Times, Sunday Magazine, Nov. 1999.
Human Trafficking is the trade in humans, mostly used for purpose sexual slavery, forced labor, or sexual exploitation, prostitution. Others may use the humans for extraction of organs. “Human trafficking is one of the most hideous crimes in today 21st century ” said the ICE Department. Human trafficking in today society is modern day slavery. Victims pay to be illegally transported into the United States only to find themselves in the hands of traffickers. They are promised a new life where they can start all over in the U.S. Usually the people that are trafficked across continents are from poor social classes and are fed lies so that later they can be trafficked and abused by others. Most of the people trafficked are forced into prostitution, involuntary labor and other forms of servitude to repay the debt that they owe. The FBI states “Human trafficking represents an estimated $32 billion in international trade yearly, illegal international trade estimated at $650 billion in 2010”.
Human trafficking is among the fastest growing categories of crime in the world right now, rivaled only by the drug and weapons industries. A 32 billion dollar global enterprise annually, its effects are far reaching and highly damaging to all involved. In reality, “human trafficking” is essentially a politically correct term for slavery. Through books, articles, and interviews, the two phrases are used interchangeably and are used to mean the same exact thing. There is an endless list of myths and misconceptions in regards to human trafficking, but I plan to keep all the information here very clear and concise. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Human trafficking is the acquisition of people by improper means such as force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them.” (1) This means that innocent people are taken from their homes and families, kept in secret and forced to work for their captor or whomever they are sold to. This work may be physical labor and it may be sexual in nature. The living conditions are usually harsh, and it is not uncommon for the captor (or
“Injuries of human dignity and Human rights of a globalized society. Nobody may be held in slavery or peonage; Slavery and slave trade are in all forms forbidden”. These are the words of the Universal declaration of human rights (United Nations, 1948).Human trafficking is just another name for modern-day slavery, where the victims involved are forced and deceived into labor and sexual exploitation. Exploitation referring to using others for prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, or the removal of organs. The numbers are scary. Almost 600,000 to 800,000 women and children are annually trafficked across national borders. This does not count for the numbers that are trafficked within their own countries. Human trafficking is very much hidden and accurate data and the extent of nature of human trafficking are hard to calculate. Trafficked victims are often in dangerous positions and may be unwilling and too scared to jeopardize their lives to report or seek help from authorities. Victims live daily with emotional and physical abuse, inhumane treatment, and threats to their families, like they are going to torture...
Diamond, J. (1987). The worst mistake in the history of the human race. Discover, 8(5), 64-66.
Human trafficking is a form of slavery, forcing victims to engage in sexual activities and labors against their will. These activities can be taken place through force, fraud, or constraint. Human trafficking is not just affecting one group of people, it is a worldwide issue, affecting all different ages, genders, ethnicities, and socio-economic backgrounds. Human trafficking is such an immense problem, apprehending the true size, knowing how to help, and how to keep the issue from reoccurring. Human trafficking is and is still becoming such a serious issue that something needs to be done about.
Human trafficking is the third most profitable and fastest growing criminal activity in the world, after guns and ammunition and drugs. Roughly 2.5 million people are trafficked every year, they are recruited through some form of coercion or deception and exploited, mainly for forced labor or sexual exploitation. The market value of human trafficking is approximately $32 billion per year. (Polaris Project.) “This is a global problem, no country is spared.” (Slavery Today). About three out of every 1,000 persons worldwide are trafficked at any given point in time. Women and children are the primary targets, but men are also trafficked. Forced labor claims 20.9 million victims, of whom 90% are exploited in the private economy (Slavery Today).
“Human trafficking ― or the harboring or transport of persons for the purposes of exploitation ― impacts around 1.5 million victims in the U.S, and 27 million victims worldwide, according to UNICEF.” (Ruiz-Grossman) It is an invisible crime that is not commonly seen to the public eye, but exists and occurs everywhere. Human trafficking is a crime that effects millions of victims, produces billions of dollars and can be prevented as more people are aware of its existence.