Gene Therapy Saves Lives
Tim was diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease this morning. He is only five years old with the rest of his life ahead of him. It isn't his fault that he received this disease or even his parents'. This disease comes out in anyone's body that has a defected gene. The disease has made Tim live in a sanitized bubble the last year because of the fear that he might catch any common bug and die. He has severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID. The disease lacks a gene in charge of the body's immune system called adenosine deaminase. Tim could be helped through a process called gene therapy, but he won't because there is too much debate on the ethnicity of gene therapy; too much even to save his life.
The use of gene therapy to prevent illness and disease by changing a person's genetic makeup is a good use of science. Gene therapy is an approach in science to treat, or ultimately prevent disease by changing the expression of a person's genes. The way a gene is expressed is something like a person's hair color. Gene therapy is still in its very early stages of development. Any gene therapy that is being worked on today is still in its experimental stages. It will not be used in humans for extensive use for a while. The only humans are ones who are in clinical trials ("Gene Therapy").
Gene therapy can be done by using either somatic, which are from the body, or germ, which are from egg or sperm, cells. In somatic gene therapy the recipient's genome, genetic makeup, is changed, but the changes are not passed down to the next generation. In germ line gene therapy, the parents' egg and sperm cells are changed with the goal of passing on the changes to their offspring. Germ line gene ...
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Modern molecular genetics has given hopes and heartaches to thousands of people around the world. These people are looking towards gene therapy for an answer to their questions. To some people such as NIH director Harold Varmus the answer is a better understanding of basic genetic research and to others the answer is a cure, a hope, that their lethal disease will someday be cured. This essay touches on the background of gene therapy for Cystic Fibrosis (CF), current social and ethical issues facing gene therapy for CF, and some thoughts on the importance of this controversial subject.
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.
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.
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).
Domestic violence (DV) is a pattern of controlling behavior that involves abuse by one family member or intimate partner to another (e.g., marriage or cohabitation). There are varied forms of DV that range from subtle, coercive forms, to violent abuses, which can result in death. According to affects Jain & Chaturvedi (2010), “DV affects humans of all age groups, worldwide”. It takes place in various relationships, such as heterosexual or LGBTQI relationships and it can also be directed toward children in the family. For the purposes of this paper, the author will analyze the impacts of DV on the health of children. This will be done in attempts to broaden current knowledge on this issue from a social work perspective.
"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.
Jasanoff, S. (1998). The Eye of Everyman: Witnessing DNA in the Simpson Trial. Social Studies Of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.), 28(5/6), 713.
The Sports Education model curriculum is designed for grades that range from upper elementary to high school students. This curriculum focuses on team sports for the length of full seasons rather than different activity units every week. Although the teacher will explain the sport being played, overall, it is a student-lead and student-centered curriculum that works on objectives such as developing student’s cognitive, locomotor, affective , and teamwork skills. The model was originally created by Daryl Siedentop in 1986 and since its creation, it’s been implemented as a way of teaching across the nation.
Few would disagree that witnessing the assault of their mother is a very disturbing experience for children. However, not all children living with domestic violence witness the direct physical assaults on their mother but they will be acutely aware of the abuse she suffers. Children do not have to directly witness any violence to be profoundly affected by it. There is a wealth of research which has highlighted the negative impact witnessing domestic violence can have on children. Abrahams (1994) found that ninety one per cent of the mothers within her research thought their children had suffered negative effects due to domestic violence. Furthermore, eighty six per cent believed these negative effects continued into adolescence.
High profile adverse events resulting in disproportionate media attention have prevented a greater difficulty for the field, with the death of Jesse Gelsinger in a trial of gene therapy for ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency undermining public trust of clinical research in the US. There is a danger that the gene therapy field may have become too risk-averse in response to these adverse events, and that this could manifest as fewer trials that take longer to commence. In the context of a research environment that is increasingly turning to the developing world for the expedient conduct of clinical trials, it is imper...
Gene therapy has been a very controversial issue since its origin in 1990 when A four-year old girl became the first gene therapy patient. She has adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency, a genetic disease which leaves her defenseless against infections. Gene therapy involves substituting normal genes for the genes associated with a disease or disorder otherwise altering a person’s genetic makeup. Each gene has a specific code for what it is supposed to do. So, on top of our genome, we have a complex epigenome. These epigenomes consist of all kinds of different markings. The genes themselves are not altered when epigenetic effects occur; however, their effect is altered. Gene therapy can be categorized in to two different types—somatic cell therapy and reproductive cell also referred to as germline therapy. Somatic cells involves targeting
By way of decreased taxes and budget cuts schools unfortunately have had to decrease numerous amenities. The price of education has affected my life through the cost of tuition increasing nearly 24 percent over the last five years. Because the economy helped create these escalations, I made the chose to attend a two year college instead of going straight to a four year university. Based on (Collegeboard.com) I will save an average of $6,000 a year while attending a junior college. Since I have decided this path I have been able to save extra money while continuing to get a decent education. The benefits of attending a junior college are being able to live at home and have many of my expenses paid for by my parents. These expenditures include rent, food, and household essentials that I would have to supply myself if I moved away to college.
Image what it would be like if doctors could cure Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, or even hemophilia. Could this be possible? With gene therapy this all could be reality in the near future. Gene therapy is a potential approach to the treatment of genetic disorders in humans. This is a technique where the absent or faulty gene is replaced by a working gene, so the body can make the correct enzyme or protein and consequently eliminate the root cause of the disease (BIO, 1990).
For many years now, the government has been working effortlessly to control the loss of business endured by businesses due to the widespread of substance abuse. According to an article, “drug use in the workplace has been linked to low productivity, high absenteeism and increases in the number of workplace accidents (Jeanty, n.d., ¶ 1). Yet, drug screening employees and benefit recipients have become a discussion of privacy invasion and the Fourth Amendment. Many would argue on the basis of defamation from their employers and how they have been singled out from the rest of the employees. The government attempted to cease the use of illegal drugs in the workplace while assisting businesses with proper policies and laws to help eliminate the loss in which they have accrued.
There are 5 main characteristics of Sports Education that you will want to be aware of. Sports Education involves seasons, not units. Typically in a PE class you have units, and in each unit you are doing a certain activity or skill that you are learning and practicing. But, in Sports Education you use seasons just like if you were on a sports team, it makes it more realistic. At the end of each season there is a major event. Instead of just ending a unit and going onto the next, they have a big event at the end that the students can look forward too. The