Should human gene therapy be continued, Biology

Assignment Help:

Debate over ethics of using gene therapy for treating human beings started since the discovery of recombinant DNA technology. The mere fact that it involves the alteration of DNA was a matter of concern for a large number of people who were against playing with nature (Sade and Khushf, 1998). This therapy comes with certain high end promises along with a few risk factors. However media had a strong role in exaggerating the negatives of gene therapy. Reports demonstrating that use of genetic vectors are associated with unwanted inflammatory responses and rejection of corrected cells by immune system has raised an alarm within the scientific community. This created a misconception that gene therapy is dangerous (Mavilio, 2010).

Slowly somatic gene therapy was accepted and considered to be an extension of normal medical treatment as a result of new research and clinical efficiency. Large numbers of inherited diseases, like retinal degeneration, SCID and adrenoleukodystrophy have been cured in the recent past using this therapy (Mavilio, 2010). In some cases this therapy made it possible to procure the normal treatment at affordable price. For example a patient suffering from SCID due to insufficient synthesis of ADA within body can be treated by drugs containing ADA. But this enzyme is costly and the addition of gene for ADA through gene therapy techniques is cost effective and provides a long term solution (Sade and Khushf, 1998).

However the ethical issues related to germ line theory are being debated to date. People who stand against gene therapy put forth the following arguments:

 


Related Discussions:- Should human gene therapy be continued

What are the functions of the osseous tissue, Q. What are the functions of ...

Q. What are the functions of the osseous tissue? The main functions of the osseous tissue that are to provide structural rigidity to the body and to delineate the spatial posit

What are the constituent elements of the blood, What are the constituent el...

What are the constituent elements of the blood? The blood is made of a liquid and a cellular part. The fluid part is known as plasma and in it there are several substances, suc

Merits of micro propagation, Merits of Micro Propagation The special m...

Merits of Micro Propagation The special merits of micro propagation are: 1. It considerably increases the rate of multiplication 2. High rate of multiplication can be ma

How to antioxidants work in cancer prevention, How to antioxidants work in ...

How to antioxidants work in Cancer Prevention? As cells function normally in the body, they produce damaged molecules called free radicals. These force radicals, we learnt are

Show classification of englearn dprantls system, Q. Show Classification of ...

Q. Show Classification of englearn dPrantls system? The outline and basis of classification of englearn d Prantl's system are given below: 1) Plant Kingdom has been divided,

Eretmochelys imbricata, Ivory was much in demand for production of a variet...

Ivory was much in demand for production of a variety of jewellery and artifacts in the past. Reptile leather from crocodiles, lizards and snakes has quite a high demand for manufac

Estrogens, Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE ...

Normal 0 false false false EN-IN X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Explain food applications of agar, Food Applications of Agar The bakery...

Food Applications of Agar The bakery industry has been the largest user  of agar because of its heat- resistant gel properties. Confectionary products, such as agar jelly candi

What is the diameter of this nucleus, By bombarding atoms in a thin metal s...

By bombarding atoms in a thin metal sheet with energetic particles, Rutherford found that most of the mass of an atom is concentrated inside a very small volume. What is the diamet

What is radiographic template, What is Radiographic Template Radiograp...

What is Radiographic Template Radiographic Template : You should always use it while taking a panoramic radiograph of the patient. It is done to counter the effect of magnific

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd