Gene therapy is the planned introduction of the genes into an individual. The purpose of gene therapy is to correct the defective genes or alleviate the symptoms of genetic diseases when the gene is inserted into the individual. Therefore, gene therapy is the name given to the treatment of hereditary diseases through genetic engineering of the genes that are dysfunctional. Gene therapy is part of a larger field that is genetic medicine. This field involves the screening, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of the inborn genes in humans. The results obtained from the genetic screenings are known to pinpoint the potential problem to which gene therapy offers solutions to in the end. The genetic materials organisms have are passed on from generation to the next. Consequently, the genes are responsible for the control of hereditary traits in individual organisms since they provide the biological code for living organisms. Genes that are mutated or defective are the cause of genetic diseases in living organisms. The sole purpose of gene therapy is to replace the defective genes that occur in the human system and replace them with the normal copy of the same gene to ensure there is a restored function of the gene. The biological basis of gene therapy is to understand how the genes work in the living organisms. The scientists have known that the defects in genes are a causative to genetic diseases like cystic fibrosis, sickle-cell anemia and others. However, as the genetic study is advancing and the scientist discover the altered genes can also make the living organisms have diseases (Giacca, 2010).
One of the underlying social implications of gene therapy is uncertainty in the outcome of a child’s health. There are many opinions surrounding the topic of germline therapy. Germline therapy is a procedure where the egg or sperm are genetically modified before the birth of an individual. First, this raises controversial sentiments because the outcome of the procedure is not one hundred percent guaranteed. With one miscalculation, the child could suffer from undetermined outcomes that will affect their health for the rest of their lives (Giacca, 2010). Furthermore, children do not have the option to decide if they want to undergo this gene therapy since they have not yet been born. This uncertainty regarding the outcomes of germline therapy causes society to distrust the procedure and they begin to argue about the ethics surrounding the procedure. If there were no uncertainty or ability for the germline therapy to have bad consequences, there would be less societal discourse surrounding the topic of ethical behavior.
Consequently, germline therapy could be revolutionary in the field of medicine. The families trying to conceive who would be interested in germline therapy are already aware of the potential diseases the child might be born with. Therefore, by applying germline therapy to the egg or sperm of the parents who are carriers of this genetic disease, the child has the chance of being born without the genetic disease and leading a normal life. This chance of prevention of genetic diseases in the unborn child is often considered a risk worth taking by parents. Without germline therapy, these parents might opt to avoid conception all together, or taking the option of adopting or finding a surrogate mother. This path can often can unforeseen psychological implications in the life of the entire families and many parents would like to avoid this possibility.
Another example of gene therapy is in the treatment of cancerous cells in order to save a person’s life. This process would involve targeting the cancerous cells and altering them in a way that their growth is impeded or they are destroyed. Alternatively, this process could involve targeting healthy cells in order to enhance their ability of fighting cancerous cells. The risk involved in this kind of procedure that has major ethical implication is in the nature of altering the genes. The way genes are injected into cells is through a viral vector. This virus carries the strand of genes that the doctors or researchers are interested in utilizing to fight the cancer in some way. Many unintentional mistakes might be made by inserting this gene into cells. For instance, a gene targeting cancerous cells might accidentally be introduced to the healthy cells, having disastrous consequences. Additionally, the gene may be inserted into the wrong sequence of the DNA, which can create bad mutations in the DNA or can even cause cancer itself. Furthermore, when the virus is inserted into the person’s body, there is a small chance that it can accidentally be inserted into the person’s reproductive cells. This would mean that the future child of this patient would have genetic mutations that are potentially fatal or incredibly detrimental to their health. These potential mistakes are the cause of many ethical debates in the society and are often addressed by the official health ethics board, the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Program, which were established in the 1990’s (Ginn, & Alexander, 2012).
Many of the ethical quandaries that are raised in this study are that there are a lot of uncertainty surrounding the issue. If the virus is potentially injected into the wrong cell, there can be tremendous consequences on the life of the patient and their children. Again, the children have no control over their future situation. Furthermore, the fact that the doctors cannot tell the patient with certainty what the outcome will be on their health makes the patient not make an informed decision. On the other hand, these procedures have a large chance of saving the patient’s life or that of their children. This argument is equally as compelling regarding this issue.
In my personal opinion, the idea of a clinical trial is a good one (Robillard, 2013). If these procedures were mandatory for patients with cancer or people who are carriers of genetic diseases who want to have children, there would be a serious moral quandary. However, in most of these procedures, one can choose whether or not they want to opt in or opt out. For people who are desperate to become parents and willing to risk the life of their child, they can select this procedure. Furthermore, I do not believe that these germ cells represent children who can make their own decision (Robillard, 2013). For instance, a mother who knows she will die if she gives birth to a 3-month-old fetus, should be able to opt in for an abortion. In the case of patients with cancer, it is their lives and they can make their own decisions regarding their health even with this degree of uncertainty. If they know they will die from the cancer and this is their only chance to save their life, there is no reason they should be legally or morally prevented from following through with the procedure.
References
Giacca, M. (2010). Gene therapy. Dordrecht: Springer.
Ginn, S., & Alexander, I. (2012). Gene therapy: Progress in childhood disease. Journal Of Paediatrics & Child Health, 48(6), 466-471. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1754.2011.02204.x
Robillard, J., Whiteley, L., Johnson, T., Lim, J., Wasserman, W., & Illes, J. (2013). Utilizing social media to study information-seeking and ethical issues in gene therapy. Journal Of Medical Internet Research, 15(3), e44. doi:10.2196/jmir.2313
