Gene Therapy Reaction Paper

2 Pages 587 Words

The human body, with its trillions of cells, is the most complicated structure on this planet. All people carry a unique set of instructions that make up who they are within their bodies. These instructions are contained within our DNA and are the materials that our body uses to survive. Most of the time, our DNA allows for us to function without any major mental or physical problems. Although in some cases, our genetic “software” has an error in its code. With over 3 billion letters of this code within our DNA, even the smallest error can have a deep effect on the way we live. However, new advances in gene therapy have lead to some thought on how to cure these kinds of diseases. Gene therapy is the ability to change a person’s DNA in order to treat or avoid certain genetic health problems.
The real debate with gene therapy doesn’t come with how we could help cure these diseases, but rather if we should. Does mankind really have the authority to play God? Today, we are on the verge of creating babies to their parents’ specifications. Do we really want to know our genetic fate? And if we do know what our fate is, who should have access to this information. Do we really want our insurance companies and healthcare providers knowing that we’re going to have cancer or diabetes in the future? When going to a job interview will it be required that we give our genetic profile. Gene therapy could very well lead to a new era of discrimination.
Since the Human Genome Project has been completed, there has been a great amount of debate over how such information should be used. The possibility of eliminating all diseases is no longer just science fiction. In the very near future, parents would no longer have to fear having a child with a genetic defect. Scientists would be able to remove any abnormalities before the child was even born. However, this type of power could quickly become misused when we start to improve DNA in order to m...