Germline Gene Therapy Essay

Germline Gene Therapy Essay -In this kind, functional genes that have been incorporated into the genomes of sperm or egg cells alter them. These cells come together to create a zygote, which divides to give rise to every other cell in an organism. Therefore, genetically altering a germ cell results in altered genes in other cells of the organism. This makes it possible for children and future generations to get the therapy. 

Despite the impending usefulness in treating genetic disorders and other inherited diseases, the use of this technique on humans is still illegal in a number of nations, including the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Israel, and Germany due to ethical and technological issues. Inadequate knowledge about potential consequences on future generations and higher risks than using non-interactive vectors are two of these worries.

One of the biggest problems with gene therapy is determining how effective the treatment was. The ethical and technological problems in research are problematic. Human gene therapy trials are conducted to evaluate the safety, efficacy, administration, and functionality of the therapy, similar to clinical medication trials.

The selection of diseases for trials is based on the severity of the ailment, the viability of the treatment, and the ability to anticipate the outcome of the treatment using animal models. It is obvious that many people lack impartiality while sending family members to study to discover a cure for a critical ailment, notwithstanding reasonability. It is also unclear how to identify conditions or features that call for gene therapy.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell the difference between gene treatments that aim to enhance favorable features and disease genes. Arguments that illnesses immediately qualify for gene therapy because they result in pain, incapacity, and death are illogical. However, there is a fine line between what is considered an “illness” and a “trait” in an otherwise healthy individual, such as dwarfism disorder, achondroplasia, and typical shortness.

Although gene therapy for improving desirable traits or correcting potential socially unacceptable traits may improve a person’s quality of life, ethical concerns worry that gene therapy for trait improvement will have a negative impact on social norms and thus encourage discrimination against people who are thought to possess ‘undesirable’ traits.

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