Liberal studies
Liberal studiesLiberal Studies
Medicine and its derivatives have made countless novel advances throughout history, developing in tandem with the human species itself. We have gone from primitive cavemen, using fire to seal wounds, to a society, at least in America, which can prevent and cure some of the once deadliest afflictions. We pride ourselves on being able to treat illness, overcome pain and constantly seek new ways to improve upon current methods, eternally questing for an improved quality of life. However, it is often the case that along with new ideas and procedures moral and ethical debates develop, asking what limits should be imposed upon the implementation of our knowledge. Such is the case of gene therapy, a controversial field seeking to improve human life, but in a manner that many see as disagreeable.
Gene therapy can be defined as the treatment of certain disorders, especially those caused by genetic anomalies or deficiencies, by introducing specifically engineered genes into a patient's cells. It comes in two distinct forms, each of which must be looked at separately because of their distinctly different applications for the future of medicine and human society. Somatic gene therapy entails the alteration of genes within non-reproductive cells, all cells excluding sperm and eggs, thus theoretically having no influence upon the genetic make-up of future generations. However, germ-line gene therapy is the specific alteration of sperm or egg, thus having not only an effect upon the immediate progeny, but also on all successive generations.
Yet, before the ethical implications of such practices can be discussed, one must have an idea of why such procedures would be developed in the first place. Many of the most degenerative and dehabilitating diseases: Huntington’s chorea, sickle-cell anemia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, hemophilia and some “2,800 [other] specific conditions are known to be caused by defects (mutations) in just one of the patient’s genes.”1 These genes normally code for the production of a specific enzyme, but when the gene is defective, either the protein is not produced or is altered in such a way that it no longer functions in the necessary way and can play a harmful, instead of beneficial, role. One must treat such diseases at the genetic level, as this is from where the defect stems.
So enters the alteration of genes outside the body, which can later be implanted in vivo, inside the body, into the tissue or organs normally associated with the production of the enzyme needed for normal function, thus resulting in tissue that can produce the correct enzymes and prevent the disease. Such a method is an example of somatic gene therapy, as only non-reproductive cells are being altered and there is no future impact on successive generations. This procedure was first done in humans to treat ADA deficiency, a rare disease causing immunodeficiency, making its suffers prone to repeated serious infections, usually resulting in a life span of no more than a...
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