The Pros And Cons Of Somatic Cell Gene Therapy

The only ethical concerns associated with somatic cell gene therapy is similar to that of a medicinal drug in terms of “weighing potential harms and benefits, establishing of procedural fairness in selection of patients for research, assuring that consent to experimental treatments is informed and voluntary, and protecting privacy and confidentiality of medical information”. Germ line therapy is more controversial than somatic cell gene therapy because any change affects the patient’s descendants. For instance, if there is mistake in the injected DNA sequence, then the child and the future generations may have an increased chance in another disease or disorder. Thus, there is a potential risk in using germ line therapy. On the contrary, if

In order for malaria to be nonexistent in the human population, mosquitoes must all be eradicated. Scientists inhibit the gene of malaria in the mosquito with CRISPR. Then, this mosquito mates with a wild mosquito and the offspring has one normal and one edited trait. When our altered mosquito mates with a wild mosquito, the offspring will inherit one edited and one normal copy. Then CRISPR cuts out the normal trait of the offspring and edits the offspring to have an edited gene instead. Thus, the offspring has two copies of the edited version of the gene. Second, gene drives can make only temporary changes. We can use them to spread traits that we consider desirable even if they are deleterious to each organism, but natural selection will eventually undo our best efforts if we give it long enough. Another issue with gene drives is several generations are needed to spread the healthy gene. Scientist can change easily change insects that reproduce fast and live a short life. On the other hand, it would take years to change the genes in populations of long living organisms. As a result, centuries will pass before diseases are eradicated in the human

These gene drives will greatly affect the ecosystem since it will alter the balance of nature and life. If malaria is eradicated, then more species will flourish which increases competition and causes overpopulation. This leads to limited space and more diseases. Gene drives could possibly alter the genes and population size of non- domesticated species. However, eradicating diseases in agriculture, humans, and medicine have little impact on the ecosystem because they do not survive in the wild and are domesticated. Thus, using CRISPR as a gene drive for AUD would be ethical if there are no mistakes in the edited DNA sequence. The nonexistence of AUD increases the health of society and does not disturb the balance of the ecosystem. In response to those claiming all gene drives for animals with disease harms the ecosystem, Gene drives might actually benefit biodiversity. This is because it helps control populations of invasive species like rats who are carriers for diseases. People can also use CRISPR to target these species and help reduce the population. Gene drives can also increase the production of agriculture by eliminating pests. Thus, germ line therapy is as ethically acceptable as somatic cell gene therapy but precautions must be taken for gene drives in germ line