Is Gene Therapy Permissable - Essay Example

The procedure of gene therapy involves replacement of a defective gene with an accurate one or thump a mutated gene that has lost its activity by establishing a novel gene to eradicate an anomaly. Besides promises that the therapy bestows, the process presents numerous possibilities of unavoidable hazards which need to be well thought-out before the therapy is declared safe and effective. The inserted gene does not function inside the cell on its own, instead a vector is required to transport a gene, these vectors are modified viruses for instance retrovirus which is capable of binding with the chromosome in human cell, on the other hand adenovirus only release DNA into the nucleus of cell.

The process of injection is either performed intravenously into a definite tissue or patient's cells are removed and insertion in performed under laboratory conditions, then the cells are inserted back into the host to rectify the protein function. In these cases, the question that keeps pondering is how far we are benefitted? Are we getting the desired results? Medically, it is evident that the results procured may possibly be devastating as the gene inserted could alter the physiological functions or controls the actions of other gene(s) as well, where the motive of gene therapy is to relieve suffering the process may end up into a challenging disaster!

Genetic therapy could be the first line of help to those who are facing premature death but the process of genetic enhancement then paves the way for human selfish motifs that results in genetic hazard making the process of gene therapy ethically precarious. There is a very thin line of demarcation between treatment and enhancement, what is considered to be the disease in one society could not be considered an anomaly in other, for instance colour blindness is considered as a grave issue in Africa where as it is not considered to be a serious issue in USA.

Thus the social bias and outlook becomes imperative in judgement. It is essential to understand that gene therapy could direct to such a social network where society is going to be entirely homogeneous, where people possess same aspirations and longing with similar values and any divergence from this is believed to be a disease (Murphy, 1994)! The predicament of gene therapy illustrates that gene therapy is capable of repairing any defect on somatic cells encompassing muscles or brain tissues.

It is a serious ethical quandary to exploit gene therapy further than health. The process engage genetic enhancements in terms of greater intelligence, sharper memories, disease free physiology (Sandel). It is unethical to take drugs and play, it is unethical to determine the sex of the child before birth, it is unethical to copy and write in an examination, it is unethical to use calculators where it is prohibited to use, it is unethical to drive at a speed which is not permissible, it is unethical to kill someone, it is unethical to commit an abuse, it is unethical to do robbery!

All these and many more are the issues that pose a tag of being unethical; if an individual commits any one of these as it is against the set social norms, but, what one should say if gene therapy is demanding to make things better through genetic manipulations! Is it ethical to manipulate the future generation as per the needs of parents? Does the future progeny possess no right to have his own autonomy in the sense of