Argumentative Essay On Gene Therapy

Imagine if we could make disease a thing of the past and extend the average human lifespan past 100 years. With genetic engineering, someday this future could become reality. Genetic engineering can cure genetic diseases, and extend and empower human life. However, many people have overestimated and reacted to ethical and safety concerns associated with this new technology.

Scientists and doctors alike have long been looking for cures to diseases like cancer. For years now, there have been countless fundraisers to cure this and cure that. And yet, it seems as if there's never any progress. There may be a brief headline in the news about a new discovery, but they always seem to never go anywhere. Maybe the problem is that they've been looking in the wrong places. Maybe the cure doesn't lie on a medicinal level, but instead the genetic level, in genetic engineering and gene therapy. Direct manipulation of an organism's genome can be used in gene therapy as a means to alter genes, causing both positive and negatives effects as well as discussions about the ethical boundaries of modern

The FDA had, in August of 2017, approved the first gene therapy product available in the United States [7]. They approved Kymriah, a CAR T cell therapy, for children and some adults with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Kymriah involves collecting a patient’s T cell, a part of their immune system, modifying the cell via adding a protein which can help the T cell destroy Leukemia cells, and adding the modified T-cells back inside the patient. It is, in theory, similar in design to the gene therapy which DeSilva had participated in. There are currently 16 gene therapy trials approved by the FDA [10]. The FDA is also take actions to speed the approval of gene therapy [11], as it released a regenerative policy framework on November on 2017 which gives companies working the gene therapy space guidance on what regulatory actions they must take [13]. While gene therapy certainly has regulatory and ethical challenges, it is becoming more and more common. As stated by FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, “This [gene therapy] is no longer the stuff of science fiction. This is the practical promise of modern applications of regenerative medicine”

Although these are major issues that could occur there are possible complications with even the simplest procedure. All gene therapy is overseen by the Food and Drug Association (FDA) and the National Institutes to ensure that these therapies are

Gene therapy (otherwise known as somatic gene therapy or therapeutic gene therapy) is a process that is used to correct defective genes responsible for development of various diseases. (www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BA/Gene_Therapy_Overview.php) There are two main types of gene therapy; somatic (body) cell gene therapy and germ line gene therapy. As it suggests, somatic gene therapy is correcting the faulty genes of normal body cells. Germ line therapy is altering genes in gametes. Everyone on earth carries a few defective genes. Most of us are unaware of this fact however, unless we are afflicted with a genetic disease. Approximately one in ten people have, or will develop, a disease that is

The second technique used in gene therapy is ligation, which is used to ‘glue’ the removed functioning ADA gene into the viral DNA so that recombinant circular DNA (cDNA) can be created. Viral DNA is obtained from a virus, such as an adenovirus (often used for gene therapy treatments) which has been ‘purified’ so that it does not cause harm (infect host with the virus) to the human body when introduced. The ADA gene is then spliced into the open vector (viral cDNA), using the enzyme ligase which glues the ADA gene into the viral DNA by bonding the sugar phosphate groups together along the backbone of the viral and human DNA. This means that recombinant cDNA has been formed using the viral cDNA from a virus such as an adenovirus and the

      Tim was diagnosed with a rare and deadly disease this morning. He is only five years old with the rest of his life ahead of him. It isn't his fault that he received this disease or even his parents'. This disease comes out in anyone's body that has a defected gene. The disease has made Tim live in a sanitized bubble the last year because of the fear that he might catch any common bug and die. He has severe combined immunodeficiency, or SCID. The disease lacks a gene in charge of the body's immune system called adenosine deaminase. Tim could be helped through a process called gene therapy, but he won't because there is too much debate on the ethnicity of gene therapy; too much even to save his life.

The idea of extending human’s life has been a controversy for many years, since the scientific revolution of 1543. Since then, our medical field has brought new technology, that offers us to make this idea possible. However, this technology has brought up stakeholders that are among the medical community and patients, since they are using our genes and changing them to creating a longer life. Scientist call this process gene editing which is "the ability to precisely and accurately change any part of any genome" (Andrew, par 1). Where the genome can be determined as "one haploid set of chromosomes with the genes" ("Genome"). Making the most complex species of chromosomes are changeable, by a simple attachment or detachment of nucleotides: T, A, C, and G making up our very own DNA. However, this idea has brought spouses to believe that using gene editing, to eliminate disease which is passed on making then not being a problem anymore. But on the other hand, there are some who fear the change, believing in their moral beliefs, that messing with the balances of life and death, causing interference. Arguing that we should just allow these defaults since we born as.

Image what it would be like if doctors could cure Huntington's disease, muscular dystrophy, or even hemophilia. Could this be possible? With gene therapy this all could be reality in the near future. Gene therapy is a potential approach to the treatment of genetic disorders in humans. This is a technique where the absent or faulty gene is replaced by a working gene, so the body can make the correct enzyme or protein and consequently eliminate the root cause of the disease (BIO, 1990).

Gene therapy is a technique used in attempts to cure or prevent genetic diseases at the molecular level (basically at the source) by correcting what is wrong with defective genes, a good version of the defective gene is introduced into the existing cells. This technique is still considered experimental, only being done through clinical trials. This idea was first suggested during the 1950’s. The basic idea was “if the basses can be arranged incorrectly then why can’t they be rearranged in the correct way?”

Genetic manipulation or modification is the process of scientists changing a person’s DNA before birth to help benefit that person’s life. This process is fairly new and inexperienced and many people believe that it is wrong and outlandish. The benefits of genetic manipulation outweigh the repercussions and the full extent of those benefits is yet to be seen. I believe that genetic manipulation needs to become a more widespread operation in order for doubters to see the benefits that come from the process. Also, in order for genetic manipulation to be considered normal to the common person, there needs to be more cases where genetic manipulation changed a person’s life for the better. There are only a handful of cases around the world, and according to Annabel Ferriman, “the scientists, from the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science at St Barnabas in New Jersey, said that 30 babies worldwide have been born as a result of this technique, known as ooplasmic transfer.” The world needs to know more about these cases of genetic manipulation in order to more fully understand it. People who disagree with genetic manipulation often say that it is not right to do to an unborn baby who does not have a say in the matter of being genetically manipulated. Opponents also say that it will limit the gene pool and that some may take it too far.

Last Sunday, I was shopping with my mom at the Kroger grocery store. Suddenly, I saw a carton of soy milk that was labelled “Non-GMO”. I did not know what the label indicated so I asked, ‘Mom, what does “Non-GMO” mean?’ Mom quickly turned around from the end of the aisle at the dairy section and walked towards me. She grabbed the carton of soy milk from my hand, looked at the label and explained to me with a smile, “It just means that this soy milk is not made from any genetically modified organisms, also known as GMO.” As we walked down the aisle, I noticed that there was more unlabeled milk than “Non-GMO” labeled milk. Therefore, I asked my mom whether all the ones without labels were modified genetically and she replied immediately with a confident “Yes.” I was shocked and confused. Since I want to be a physician and make a difference in people’s lives in the future, I have always been interested in different new technologies that can possibly improve our health and quality of life. Particularly, I am very interested in genetic engineering because I think deliberately modifying an organism’s traits by manipulating its genome is very complicated, yet it is a beneficial technique if it is being used correctively. For example, this technique can be used to replace a gene that can cause the chronic disease with the normal and healthy gene so that the patient will not suffer from the chronic disease. GMO are the results of the new genetic engineering techniques and they are

In the United States, 85% of the food we eat spends more time growing in a laboratory being genetically modified, rather than on a farm. It all started in 1994 when the first genetically modified organism (GMO) product, the Flavr Savr tomato was introduced to American consumers. Unfortunately, the non-GMO tomatoes did not sell well because not only was an inferior-tasting product, but it was more expensive than the regular tomato. Genetic modification is a dangerous practice that negatively affects people and the environment and should be prohibited in the United States

The process of modifying or adding new DNA to an organism to add new traits or characteristics that are already not found in that organism is known as genetic engineering. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a molecule that contains the genetic code of all living things that determines height, eye colour, hair colour and other physical characteristics. DNA mutations can sometimes cause diseases and disabilities. Using genetic engineering to eliminate disease is a relatively newfound breakthrough, and is generally conducted on human foetuses in order to prevent later illnesses and defects that could affect the foetus in the long run.

Gene therapy has been around for over two decades. It has had setbacks, but thanks to the advancement of technology and medical understanding, has become more effective in