Genetic Therapy: The Future is Now

What if there was no need to worry about inherited disease? I know it would put my mind at ease, since heart disease runs in my family. Through gene therapy inherited disease would never be a problem again. That means no more cancer, no more heart disease, no more Alzheimer's, no more inherited disease at all. I hope by the end of this article you will understand what gene therapy is, what the benefits are, and why most controversial points are irrational.

Let me explain what genetic therapy is. The Centre for Genetics Education states that gene therapy is, essentially, taking a faulty gene and replacing it with a good gene. There are three ways to use gene therapy are inactivating a mutated gene, replacing a mutated gene, or introducing a new gene into the body to help fight disease.The good people at the Human Genome Project explain that there are two different types of genetic therapy. Somatic "which is done in the adult cells of persons known to have a disease." And germ line "which is done in egg and sperm cells and prevents the trait from being passed on to further generations."

Life Steps, the health promotion program, points out that the potential scope of gene therapy is huge. Over 4200 diseases have been identified as resulting from abnormal genes. Germ line gene therapy has the potential to completely prevent any inherited disease, including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's. Somatic therapy can be used to prevent and treat many horrible diseases. Including Aids. Somatic and germ line gene therapy may also be the only way of addressing many diseases. As pointed out in the gene therapy policy statement from Macalester college germ-line therapy offers a true cure, and not simply symptomatic treatment.

Of course with any new and upcoming form of treatment, controversy will arise. For instance: Some people may say that right now this process is too expensive. But I ask, can you put a price on a human life? Besides that, all new research is expensive at first, but inevitably the price will come down. Some people may also say that it is unethical to change the genes of a human. But isn't it unethical to abstain from action and knowingly let someone be born with the chance of disease when it could be prevented. The US Department of Science also points out that there is a fear of searching for cures because it will demean the lives of people with diseases. But this is a ridiculous argument; scientific progress should not be stopped just so people's feelings aren't hurt. No, there is no downside to gene therapy, curing disease is a good thing, I think we can all agree on that.

Genetic therapy has the potential to save millions of lives so I hope that I have adequately explained what gene therapy is, what the benefits are, and how so many of the points against gene therapy are flawed. Gene therapy is a relatively new science and has yet to reach its full potential, but as it develops and becomes more accessible I hope that you keep it in mind as a possible option of treatment.

Works Cited

Hunt, Katherine,& Odle, Teresa.(2004). Gene Therapy. Retrieved October 10, 2006, from Life Steps. Web site: http://www.lifesteps.com/gm/Atoz/ency/gene_therapy.jsp

US Department of Energy Office of Science. (2005). Retrieved October 11, 2006, from Human Genome Project Information. Web site: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml

Bushelle E, Hertz E, Hubbard D, Saylor K, Slyker A. (2003). Retrieved October 17, 2006, from Gene Therapy Policy Statement. Web Site: http://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/GeneTherapy.htm

Centre for Genetics Education. (2004). Retrieved October 10, 2006, from Gene Therapy. Web Site: http://www.genetics.com.au/factsheet/25.htm#Top