The Dark Side of Genetic Therapy

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Recommended: The controversy of gene therapy

Still in its youth, genetic therapy has made progress, however it still needs much more advancements. When looking at the surface, nearly every clinical test that has been conducted has resulted in failure. There are many reasons for this, including media, investors, and rush testing. Biotechnology is a serious field of science, therefore its studying and research should not be rushed, valuable information could be surpassed. However, reality sheds another light and the testing is rushed, failure has resulted. The failure in the past tests of genetic therapy is the result of many different factors.

Prior to solving the major puzzles of gene therapy, scientists must first figure out the smaller fundamental problems, many of which have not been worked out so that the technology can be advanced. According to an article titled “Gene Therapy” by Eric B. Kmiec most of the techniques of current gene therapy consist of attempting to replace a defective gene, with one that is fully functional. One of the major problems has been getting the gene into the nucleus of the cell and fitting it in its proper place. On top of that problem, the new gene must function properly like a normal cell would. Many genetic disorders are the effect of a malfunction in a gene. Through gene therapy the malfunctioning gene can be replaced by a working version of the gene that carries out its normal cellular functions. To make things even more difficult on scientists, fixing the DNA in a few cells will not be beneficial for the patient. The scientists need to fix the DNA in a numerous amount of cells in order for the gene therapy to be beneficial. Also the fixed genes must not only be expressed by the cells but they must also become integrated into the chromosomes. If the new genes do not include a promoter, “on switch”, then they will have no effect on the cell. In contrast, if the promoter is not functioning correctly, it could cause cell division too often thus causing the same effects as cancer. There are many steps to fixing a gene, scientists cannot move on to step two until they have successfully completed step one.

Among these technical holdups, research in biotechnology has run into serious problems. In his article titled “Human Gene Therapy: Harsh Lessons, High Hopes”, Larry Thompson, tells of more setbacks the industry has come upon.

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