Ethical implications of using Gene Therapy

Original Paragraph:

• The biology of human gene therapy is very complex, and there are many techniques that still need to be developed and diseases that need to be understood more fully before gene therapy can be used appropriately. In addition, because gene therapy involves making changes to the body’s genetic setup, it raises many unique ethical concerns. This clinical was considered successful because it greatly improved the health and well-being of the few individuals who were treated during the trial. However, the success of the therapy was tentative, because along with the gene therapy the patients also continued receiving their traditional drug therapy. This made it difficult to determine the true effectiveness of the gene therapy on its own, as distinct from the effects of the more traditional therapy.
  
  Measuring the success of treatment is just one challenge of gene therapy. Research is fraught with practical and ethical challenges. As with clinical trials for drugs, the purpose of human gene therapy clinical trials is to determine if the therapy is safe, what dose is effective, how the therapy should be administered, and if the therapy works.
  
  Unfortunately, the distinction between gene therapy for disease genes and gene therapy to enhance desired traits, such as height or eye color, is not clear-cut. No one would argue that diseases that cause suffering, disability, and, potentially, death are good candidates for gene therapy. However, there is a fine line between what is considered a "disease" and what is considered a "trait" in an otherwise healthy individual. Even though gene therapy for the correction of potentially socially unacceptable traits, or the enhancement of desirable ones, may improve the quality of life for an individual, some ethicists fear gene therapy for trait enhancement could negatively impact what society considers "normal" and thus promote increased discrimination toward those with the "undesirable" traits. As the function of many genes continue to be discovered, it may become increasingly difficult to define which gene traits are considered to be diseases versus those that should be classified as physical, mental, or psychological traits.
  
  To date, acceptable gene therapy clinical trials involve somatic cell therapies using genes that cause diseases. However, many ethicists worry that, as the feasibility of germ line gene therapy improves and more genes causing different traits are discovered, there could be a "slippery slope" effect in regard to which genes are used in future gene therapy experiments. Specifically, it is feared that the acceptance of germ line gene therapy could lead to the acceptance of gene therapy for genetic enhancement. Public debate about the issues revolving around germ line gene therapy and gene therapy for trait enhancement must continue as science advances to fully appreciate the appropriateness of these newer therapies and to lead to ethical guidelines for advances in gene therapy research.

Key ideas:

• Gene Therapy is very complex, techniques are still developed to be appropriately used.
• Success of Gene Therapy was tentative.
• Traditional drug therapy is still used after gene therapy treatment.
• Ethicists are afraid that gene therapy for trait enhancement could negatively impact what society considers "normal".
• Discrimination towards people who inherited undesirable traits.
• Argues of gene therapy being used to cure diseases or used to enhance desired traits.
• People are worried that genes will be used in experiments.

Source in MLA:

"Ethical and Social Issues in Gene Therapy." Ethical and Social Issues in Gene Therapy. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2014. <http://www.genetherapynet.com/ethical-and-social-issues-in-gene-therapy.html>.

Paraphrasing:

With Gene Therapy known as a complicated scientific procedure, wide ranges of techniques are expanded to be appropriately used. Considering Gene Therapy as a method that changes its gene structure, many ethical concerns were discussed. It has been told that in some situations, patients who goes through gene therapy still continued their medical drug treatments which give its people second thoughts on how effective the scienctific solution is. Sadly, arguments between the solution used for curing diseases nor as an enhance in trait occurred with a reason of fear that gene therapy may be used more as a trait enhancement which by then could badly effect the society and developments in discrimination rises towards people who did inherit unwanted traits. Confusions also enlarge difficulties in comparing traits that are examined as a disease and traits that defines mentally, physiologically and physically. In addition, large amount of ethicists doubt how useful the solution is as well as concerned on how might these genes later be used for future experiments involving genes. As a matter of fact, debates questioning the problems of gene therapy were pursued to permit newer advances that will limit implications regarding assorted factors.

The video explains social as well as ethical consideration regarding to gene therapy in particular.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XowV39JF8eY