Thursday, March 12, 2009
Week 10 - Gene therapy
I think that gene therapy, in the right hands can do great things and save many lives. I would not be the person to deny a child, parent or person the right to alter their genetic make-up in order to survive a disease, inherited disfunction or cancer. I hope, but am skeptical, that we exercise caution when introducing this into the world of medicine. I can see it becoming the way to secure a "blue -eyed baby boy, tall, with athletic build and above average intelligence". This kind of gene "therapy" is not far from the aforementioned. This kind of abuse of privilege frightens me for the future.
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You bring up a great point about what the definition of "therapy" is - does it apply to curing a genetic disorder or to superficial traits selection? I guess someone will have to nail down that definition and I imagine that will be very controversial.
ReplyDeleteI was also struck by the use of "therapy" which seems to denote the use of genes to alter something, whether it be a disorder or something more superficial...it's difficult with things like this because the strong upside is inextricably linked with the potential dangers and ethical issues.
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