gene therapy
...rent ways to alter oneself would be to able change their hair color, skin color, eye color and most everything else imaginable on the human body. But, unlike a tattoo or plastic surgery, this cosmetic surgery would be extremely hard to be reversed. With any surgery, there is always risk; it is just a matter of what is an ‘acceptable risk’. Just like plastic surgery, only the wealthy will be able to afford this procedure. Although only the wealthy will be able to afford this procedure, it may soon trickle down to the price to the point where the upper middle class would be able to afford it. While some might see this as a negative issue, the majority sees it as a positive issue. Just because the wealthy will be the only ones able to afford it, does it mean that they should not be able to use their hard-earned money on what they desire? Of course they should be able to, they have the right to do what they want with their money. If that means genetically altering themselves to make them feel better about their self, then so be it. Along with the cosmetic side of gene therapy and genetic engineering, there is also a very beneficial side, which is the chance to cure gene-related diseases. Unfortunately, genetic diseases are exactly the ones that we are not yet able to cure. These diseases are found on different genes that, when mutated, produce a side effect that causes the abnormal function of that gene. The only way to be able cure the body of the disease is to replace that specific gene throughout the whole body. Without replacing the faulty gene throughout the whole body, there will be extremely infrequent side effects because of the defective gene. In simple terms, it is necessary to re-configure one’s genetic pattern to completely get rid of all the symptoms. “We’ve all known that the day would come when we’d decide whether or not to allow the re-configuration of humans through genetic technology,” exclaimed Dr. David King (qtd. in Hayes 3). Through genetic technology doctors will be able to cure such diseases such as cystic fibrosis, which over 2,000 babies are born with every year, in the western world (GT 1). But before doctors can even diagnose the problem they must find out which gene is the faulty one. To find the damaged gene doctors will be sending in DNA probes to quickly and correctly identify the faulty gene. Once that is done, they will use the somatic gene therapy or the germ line gene therapy to fix the problem. Somatic gene therapy includes all cells of the body except the reproductive cells, which means that the offspring will still inherit the defective gene. The way to prevent this from happening is to perform germ line gene therapy. Germ line therapy is where it contributes to the genetic heritage of the offspring, meaning that the offspring will not inherit the defective gene (GT 11). The germ line therapy will obviously be used for the use of protecting one’s offspring from receiving the defective gene, and somatic therapy will be used to correct the problem only in the initial carrier. By replacing the faulty genes in one’s body, it is made possible that one day these genetic flaws are going to wiped out once and for all. While doctors are making efforts to fix the defective gene problem in adult humans, they are also looking at genetically enhancing babies before they are even born. Genetically enhancing babies is now an extremely important issue. While a parent would have the opportunity to be able to pick whether their child was gifted mentally, physically, or even both, they could also make sure that the child had no genetic disorders. Many parents in these modern days are looking for that ‘perfect’ child, and now, with the miracle of genetic engineering, they have the option to do that. While the parents of the unborn child are selecting the features it shall have, they are also helping wipe out future genetic mutations by making sure it has ‘perfect’ genes. By making the ‘perfect’ genes, these babies will be the ideal organ donors when they are older. Because of the enhancement of them, their organs will be in much b...